In its simplest form Greek religion means the worship of the Mount Olympian deities (gods or goddess') whose king Zeus resided among the peaks of Mount Olympus. Each deity had several different attributes. Thus Apollo was the god of light and music; Athena was the goddess of wisdom and war, and also patroness of Athens. The reality of Greek religion was, however, more complicated, since many other deities also existed, many of whom became identified with the Olympians. Greek religion for people of long ago was the worship of a god or gods. Religion in itself played a very important role in the lives of Greek people and had many different styles in which the worshipers could practice.
             This was made possible by what is known as syncretism, which in it's simplest definition means: a combination of different forms of belief or practice, or the "fusion of cults" (Westerdale 14). The Greeks had no word for religion nor any vocational priesthood. Nevertheless Greek religion was pervasive, playing a part in almost every activity of, polis or city - state.
             A principle form of Greek worship was sacrifice. This form of religious worship much of the time consisted of some gifts, often "the haunch of a selected animal, was offered to the gods at the alter, which was placed outside the temple" (Moncrieff 83). The purpose of sacrifice was to ask the deity to grant some favor or, more often, because Greek gods were naturally jealous and angry, to help refrain them from doing harm to people. Sacrifice would work only if the ritual was performed with rigorous precision. This "involved careful choice of an animal and of the method of sacrifice as well as the use of all the cult names of the gods" (84). In addition, sacrifice was an important preliminary right at the major oracles-the sacred places where a god would respond to questions asked by the worshipe
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