Auroratrek said:
I went to a small Catholic high school, with classes taught by nuns. One such class focused on Greek mythology. Early into the semester--maybe even the first day--after talking about this god and that god, finally one kid named Charley (a tough kid and not exactly considered the brightest bulb in the room), who had been shifting uncomfortably in his seat, tentatively asked the teacher "What happened to them?" The teacher, sounding slightly confused, asked "What happened to who?" "All these gods," said Charley. He wasn't being a smartass, he was asking an honest question. The teacher of course proceeded to explain that "these were myths" and not real, and of course the rest of the class, myself included, thought "what a dope."
Looking back, however, it was probably one of the most (perhaps unintentially) astute questions I ever heard asked at that school, and one us more learned kids never would have asked since we already *knew* these were "myths." The ancient Greeks, of course, didn't see it that way: they were dead sure their gods were real, so much so that the ancient general Xenophon, for example, actually stopped his army and had his priests sacrifice a goat and read the entrails to get some guidance on whether or not to risk a river-crossing--while they were under attack and fleeing far superior forces.
The point being, of course, that the ancient Greeks--and the strong adherents of every religion past, present, and future--are/will be certain of the truth of their particular and often incompatible convictions, so anyone making an argument for any one religion based upon the strength of their belief is certainly welcome to their opinion, but they shouldn't be surprised or offended when a non-believer is skeptical and asks for proof.
