Edited by Nan Nan
Preface
Around the 8th century BCE, Olympusia became the dominant and orthodox religion of ancient Greece and universally practiced by the Greek people.
Although there were still Dionysus and Orpheus in ancient Greek history, they could be integrated into the larger system of Olympus, and could be more popular among the common people, influencing the rulers less and less on the foreign political relations of the city-states.
Therefore, the ancient Greek religion referred to here mainly refers to Olympus.
Influenced the diplomatic thinking of the ancient Greek city-states
Greek religious mythology has a strong pioneering spirit and openness
The strong pioneering spirit and openness of Greek religious mythology are a reflection of the requirements of economic development under unique geographical conditions, and a reflection of the thoughts and spirit of the Greek ancestors.
It has promoted the formation of the idea that the city-states should actively carry out foreign exchanges and develop foreign relations.
In mythology, there are many examples of interactions between the Greek nation and other peoples or nations.
The great heroes praised in ancient Greek legends were all adventurous people.
Most of their deeds were also accomplished in individual or collective expeditions.
In ancient Greek mythology, there is no such concept as in traditional Chinese culture that "parents are here, not far away".
On the contrary, only the elders encourage the younger ones to go out and make achievements.
For the city-states and their citizens, these legends, and the spirit they contain, must have had a profound impact.
The second large-scale colonization in the history of ancient Greece and the vast and complex international relations of the ancient Greek world could not have been unrelated to it.
If it is said that such positive and open foreign relations are determined by the objective requirements of economic development, then religious myths have more or less cleared the way in the ideological field.
Greek religion contributed to both unity and division
Both of these ideas, the formation of a unified state and the maintenance of a divided city-state, were influenced by religion to varying degrees.
There was indeed a factor in the Greek religion that promoted unity.
During the period of the city-states, Olympusism was always the common religion of the Greek nation.
The Greeks had many national religious festivals and tournaments to worship the gods, and the belief in the gods of Olympus formed the spiritual bond that held the divided city-state and its inhabitants together.
The most important of these is the Olympia Games.
It is the most important festival in the entire Greek world and is attended by athletes, poets and artists from all over Greece.
And in myths and legends, the ancestors of the four major races of Greece, namely the Aeolians, Dorians, Ionians, and Achaeans, all belonged to the same family.
In this way, the Greeks were again tightly bound together in the doctrine of God, thus contributing to the Greeks' sense of national belonging and identity.
The influence of religion on the diplomatic thinking of the city-states was that when there was a crisis that threatened the entire nation, the Greek city-states could be united.
This is illustrated by the unprecedented unity of the Greek states during the Greco-Persian Wars.
However, there were also divisive factors in the Greek religion, and they seem to be stronger than those that promoted unity.
First of all, although the religion of ancient Greece was unified, due to historical reasons, most of the city-states had different patron gods and many different religious festivals.
Thus, Greece could at best produce a close alliance of neighboring city-states around the sanctuary of a common god, rather than relying on religion to achieve the unity of the whole nation.
At the same time, the religious festivals of the city-states tended to promote unity within the city-states, but thus limited the patriotic fervor of the citizens to the confines of the city-states, which often led the Greek city-states to put their own interests above the whole nation when considering foreign relations.
Even in the Greco-Persian Wars, Greece was not able to achieve complete unity.
Second, there is a certain degree of temporality and utilitarianism embodied in Greek theology.
God does not represent the highest good, nor does he have strict moral constraints on man.
It is recorded in the Divine Doctrine that when the gods Olympus overthrew the older Titans, they began to notice the newly created human beings and demanded that they be honored as a condition for their protection.
In heroic legends, there are many stories of people offering sacrifices and praying to God, as long as he does not commit a grave sin, God usually answers, even if he wants to invade other countries.
Thus, the Greeks, in their coveting of their neighbors, paid more attention to oracles and signs than to the unity of the nation.
Finally, there is a strong sense of freedom and equality in God's teachings.
In the society of the gods, there is a high and powerful king, but there has never been an autocratic hierarchy among the gods.
On the one hand, this gave the Greeks a spirit of freedom that they were proud of, and on the other hand, it also prevented Greece from forming a unified centralized empire for a long time.
It was not until the Macedonian invasion that the development of the productive forces in the Mediterranean region urgently needed to build a unified and powerful state, and Demosthenes, who represented the democrats, only insisted on the establishment of a League of Free Greek Cities.
Oracles and signs were important factors in the life of the Greeks, and they were considered divine and inviolable.
For such a major matter as foreign relations, the city-state had to send people to several famous Greek temples to obtain oracles, but also to pay close attention to various signs.
Such examples are abundant in the Histories of Rodot, the father of historiography.
Sometimes, an oracle can also influence the foreign policy of a city-state for a period of time.
Influenced the primitive international practices of the ancient Greek city-states
With the development of economy and politics and the frequency of diplomatic activities, accompanied by the influence of religion, the Greek city-states produced some common norms in foreign exchanges, and formed primitive international law in the way of international Xi.
There are many international Xi closely related to religion, and the following are two typical primitive international practices of the ancient Greek city-states.
Holy truce
This is a rule that must be observed during the races and festivals of the gods, especially those of the whole Hellenic era, which have a wide influence, as a way to show respect for the gods.
One of the most well-known is the sacred truce at the Olympia.
If a city-state violated this code, it was often punished severely, but such a thing was very rare in the entire history of Greece.
Preferential treatment for aliens and diplomatic envoys
There are many stories in Greek gods about gods rewarding, praising hospitable hosts, and punishing those who treated visitors roughly.
The point conveyed by these stories is that hospitality is a virtue, even with strangers.
The influence of religion itself on the course of the city-state's foreign affairs
First, the role of religion in war and peace.
War and peace constituted fundamental aspects of international relations in slave societies.
Ancient Greece also had the Greco-Persian War and the Peloponnesian War, which can be called the world wars of ancient society.
If it is said that in the early stage of the slave society, the war promoted the accumulation of slaves and wealth and developed the economy and culture of the slave society, then in the later period of the slave society, the decline of the Greek nation and the city-state system was accelerated by large-scale wars.
For a city-state, a series of issues in foreign political relations, such as alliances and protection, revolve around war and peace.
War or peace is ultimately determined by the respective political interests, but religion also has a unique role to play in this matter.
Religion had an impact on whether or not a city-state went to war.
When the city-states were driven by their own interests to expand, or when they were threatened to decide whether to fight or surrender, they would ask the divine will.
The oracles often influenced the decisions of the city-states.
When the Persian army came to Greece, the Athenian envoys went to ask for an oracle and decided to resist the invaders according to their own understanding.
In the History of the Peloponnesian War, it is also mentioned that after the Badas had decided that the Athenians would besiege Potidia and break the truce, they still sent people to ask God if they could fight.
Religion also has an impact on a specific war or campaign, and sometimes the impact on a single battle can even change the overall situation of the war.
According to the History of the Peloponnesian War, a lunar eclipse occurred at a time when the Athenian fleet on the expedition to Sicily was supposed to move rapidly, and according to the opinion of the majority and the predictions of the prophets, the commander Nicias decided to discuss the movement of the army after three nine days.
As a result, this delay eventually wiped out the fleet and affected the situation of the war as a whole.
In the previous Greco-Persian Wars, Sparta did not send reinforcements in time because of the practice of not being able to go out before the moon was full on the ninth day of the month, leaving the Athenians alone in Marathon, and once because of the sacred sacrifice of Carneia, only 300 men were sent out in advance, which led to the tragic Battle of Thermopay.
Fortunately, these two events did not change the outcome of the entire Greco-Persian War.
Second, religion also has an impact on matters such as alliances and protection.
The city-state system of ancient Greece made each state weaker on its own, so temporary or long-term alliances between city-states were common, and weaker states sometimes demanded the protection of large states for their own security.
Politicians use religion to influence foreign affairs, directly or indirectly,
Since the Greeks were godly, some politicians used people's reverence for gods and belief in mythology to their own ends.
During the Peloponnesian War, when the Athenian army was preparing for an expedition to Sicily, almost all the faces of the statue of Hermes in the city were smashed one night.
The political enemies of Alcibiades, the general of the expeditionary force, accused him of this and the blasphemy of the occult sacrifice, and summoned him to trial during the expedition.
This incident caused Alcibiades to defect and also directly affected the expedition and even the entire war.
epilogue
The role of religion as an ideology in foreign political relations that belong to the same superstructure cannot be ignored.
Especially in the specific historical environment of ancient Greece, religion has its own unique influence.
Ancient Greek religion arose in the period of transition from primitive society to slave society, reflecting people's psychology, thoughts, and cognition at that time, and serving as a carrier to enable these consciousnesses to be inherited.
As we have seen, religion influenced the perceptions and social psychology of the Greeks to a great extent, and thus the foreign relations with the human body.
Religion constantly permeated the process of the city-state's external relations, which, together with other factors, chose a concrete way of expression for inevitable historical trends.
Therefore, we can conclude that religion could not determine the foreign relations of the ancient Greek city-states, but the completion of the entire history of the foreign relations of the city-states was inseparable from Greek religion.
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