This makes so much sense, I’m going to have to read Parker’s book.
-ag

Robert Parker, in his recent authoritative survey, “On Greek Religion,” emphasizes the role of what the Greeks saw as experiences of divine actions in their lives. ”The greatest evidence for the existence of gods is that piety works . . . the converse is that impiety leads to disaster,”  with by far the most emphasis given to the perils of ignoring the gods.  There were also rituals, associated with the many cults of specific gods, that for some worshippers “created a sense of contact with the divine. One knows that the gods exist because one feels their presence during the drama of the mysteries or the elation of the choral dance.”

via Did Zeus Exist? – NYTimes.com.