The A§H Clan

Continuity and Change Over Time From 800 B.C.E to 323 B.C.E, Religious Beliefs and sacrifices continued, while political structure and Athenian dominancy changed from the Greek Archaic to Classical Greek.

At the start of the Archaic period and to the classical period, the greek population believed in the Poytheistic religion. Throughout both time periods they portrayed their predominately male gods and female deities gods, as anthropomorphic beings, such as Zeus, Poseiden, and the Olympian gods.. They represented the forces of nature and where given at times festivals or sacrifices by the Greeks. People would offer gifts and food along with wine to the gods as sacrifices. Even at times animal killings would be preformed. The Greeks also sought after prophecy and predictions about the future from the sacred sites known as oracles, in which gods spoke to the priestess. This remained consistent throughout the entire age of both Archaic and Classical.

What changed though was the political structure of Greece and the rise of Athenian power. In Archaic Greece, there was much rivalry between city-states and they were usually ruled by the aristocracy and kings and later followed by Tyrants. Eventually city states would overturn the tyrants and revolve to democracy and oligarchies. Now the turning point was in the classical period in which cities were finally unified under the Delian League and Athens rose to power. The Delian League, headed by Athens, was able to build and strengthen the navy primarily in Athens and set up a strong commercial empire compared to the leaser more primitive city states ruled with tyrants and aristocrats rather than politicians and democracy. The unification helped strengthen Greece for the better- and for the worst.

Greece had many factors that continued and much that changed. Religion for the most part continued and saw little change over both periods, as contrary to the change of the political geography of Greece.