RELIGION IN THE HOMERIC AGE.--The Homeric poems give us a full idea of the early religious ideas and practices, (I) _The Nature of the Gods_.--The gods in Homer are human beings with greatly magnified powers. Their dwelling is in the sky above us: their special abode is Mount Olympus. They experience hunger, but feed on ambrosia and nectar. They travel with miraculous speed. Their prime blessing is exemption from mortality. Among themselves they are often discordant and deceitful. (2) _Relation of the Gods to Men_. They are the rulers and guides of nations. Though they act often from mere caprice or favoritism, their sway is, on the whole, promotive of justice. Zeus is supreme: none can contend with him successfully. The gods hold communication with men. They also make known their will and intentions by signs and portents,--such as thunder and lightning, or the sudden passing of a great bird of prey. They teach men through dreams. (3) _Service of the Gods_. Sacrifice and supplication are the chief forms of devotion. There is no dominant hierarchy. The temple has its priest, but the father is priest in his own household. (4) _Morals and Religion_. Morality is interwoven with religion. Above all, _oaths_ are sacred, and oath-breakers abhorred by gods as well as by men. In the conduct of the divinities, there are found abundant examples of unbridled anger and savage retaliation. Yet gentle sentiments, counsels to forbearance and mercy, are not wanting. The wrath of the gods is most provoked by lawless self-assertion and insolence. (5) _Propitiation: the Dead_. The sense of sin leads to the appeasing of the deities by offerings, attended with prayer. The offerings are gifts to the god, tokens of the honor due to him. The dead live as flitting shadows in Hades. _Achilles_ is made to say that he would rather be a miserable laborer on earth than to reign over all the dead in the abodes below.