Divinity, Birth, and Virginity: The Greek Worldview

Abstract

To begin this exploration of divine birth in ancient Greece, we must first consider beliefs about the nature of divinity and the human being in antiquity. For the Greeks, deities were not only “up there,” they were also, in many cases, “down here”—or they could readily get here. Moreover, the dividing line between humans and deities was hardly clear-cut. Such perceptions enabled, and were enabled by, a belief in divine birth—even while Greek science held that such a phenomenon was not possible.