The Spirits of Fountains and Trees top
The earliest Greeks seem to have bowed down in prayer before the great forces of nature-thunder and lightning, wind and rain, flood and earthquake.
"There are powers back o fall these things." said the Greeks. "Let us worship them."
So it was that they knelt to the Spirits of Fountains and Trees, of Caves and Mountains. They did not then speak of such gods as Zeus and Hera, Hades and Hermes. Trees were supposed to have a special sacredness. Certain one were thought sacred to certain god-powers.
Large caves were worshiped because of the mysterious darkness within. People tossed dice in front of a certain cave and thought that the god-power would make the dice fall in such a way as to answer questions. In time the Greeks became tired of not knowing how the gods looked. Statues were made as images of the spirits of gods. What shape did they give to their gods? The human shape. That was natural, for what other creature on earth could they think so nobly made? It was also natural that they should make their gods look like the most beautiful persons who could be found.
Even after the gods had been put into human shape, their homes were mountains, caves, trees and fountains. The home of the chief gods was Mount Olympus. Other gods were located here and there all over the land and sea. Statues of gods and goddesses were often placed under the branches of trees. This was to protect them from rain and snow, to give them shelter. Sometimes statues were placed in hollows made in tree trunks. The tree-home for the gods was the beginning of the temple. Later on the Greeks made marvelous temples to house their gods.
