The incomers pantheon was headed by the Indo-European sky god variously known as Zeus (Greek), Dyaus (Indian), or Jupiter (Roman). Despite their variety of beliefs and rituals, though, it is possible to identify a set of beliefs and practices that distinguish the Greeks from others, allowing us to talk at least a bit about a coherent and identifiable system. But it is all myth and communal for others. Thus, whenever the Greeks performed a sacrifice, they burned the bones and gristle and the parts that were not good to eat for the deities, but ate the good meat for themselves. Other important deities were Aphrodite, the goddess of love; Dionysos, the god of wine and theater; Ares, the god of war; and the lame Hephaistos, the god of metalworking. What Purpose Did Myths Serve for the Ancient Greek People? - Reference.com The central ritual act in ancient Greece was animal sacrifice, especially of oxen, goats, and sheep. How Likely Is It That Scholars Will Find More of Sapphos Lost Poems. Greek Art and Archaeology. So the Adam and Eve story is indeed a myth, as you state, but the Boston Tea Party is not a myth. Im sorry. Greek mythology specially is part of the religion of Hellenism, which is still practiced today and is considered a religion. For instance, within twenty-first-century American Evangelical Protestantism, there are people like the founders of Answers in Genesis who believe that every story in the Bible is literally, historically true and that the findings of modern biology are false because they contradict the Bible. The Greek gods were equated with the ancient Roman deities; Zeus with Jupiter, Hera with Juno, Poseidon with Neptune, Aphrodite with Venus, Ares with Mars, Artemis with Diana, Athena with Minerva, Hermes with Mercury, Hephaestus with Vulcan, Hestia with Vesta, Demeter with Ceres, Hades with Pluto, Tyche with Fortuna, and Pan with Faunus. Greek religion is not the same as Greek mythology, which is concerned with traditional tales, though the two are closely interlinked. "Connecting Ancient Greek Mythology to Religion." The narrative of Moses and the Exodus used to be seen as a legend, with historical roots, but is now revealed as closer to a myth, with no basis in fact at all. One of the most widespread areas of this underworld was ruled by Hades, a brother of Zeus, and was also known as Hades (originally called 'the place of Hades').