There are many similarities and differences between the Greek gods and the Jewish god. These similarities and differences reveal themselves in the character and functionality of the gods. The revelation of similarities and differences can also be seen in man's relationship with his god or gods. Homer was instrumental in documenting the oral traditions of the Greek gods in his poetry. Moses, the Jewish leader, is credited with documenting what he witnessed from God in the Torah. The Greek and Jewish belief systems were established for the purpose of explaining the world we live in, the phenomena of nature, and the existence and purpose of man. The Greeks were polytheistic and had more gods than they could probably keep up with. The Jews, however, had only one God. Regardless, the Greeks and Jews shared the same desire: to find answers to questions about existence and the purpose of life. The character and functionality of the Greek gods varied from god to god. Zeus was the leader of the Greek gods and considered the most powerful. This may be a bit misleading because even though he held the highest rank, the lesser gods did not always submit to his authority. Sometimes the minor gods did things that they knew would go against Zeus' wishes. It is evident that all the gods did things for their own pleasure and men were the pawns in the games they played. This can be seen in Homer's Iliad. Zeus loved Sarpedon and wanted to intervene to save him from injury or death. Queen Hera advised Zeus that it would be unwise to intervene because the other gods would see it as favoritism. Petroclus killed Sarpedon. The god Apollo avenges Sarpedon's death by ripping off Petroclus' armor, rendering him defenseless, and thus he is killed by Hector. It is evident that the Greeks thought that the gods ordained their fate. According to Alexander Murray, “…man himself, and all that surrounds him, was supported by Divine power; that his career was marked for him by a rigid destiny in which...... middle of paper ......ary, the Greeks and the Jews shared the common belief that the gods or God had the ultimate word on the destiny of man. The gods were omniscient, omnipotent, and could be anywhere at any time. The gods were immortal and man was mortal. There are some contrasts, but these contrasts only show the differences in man's relationship with his god. The Greeks and Jews borrowed, at least in part, from other cultures. The Greeks were conquerors and the Jews were normally the conquered. This probably explains the difference in man's relationship with a god. In the end we see that the contrasts are not that different and that the comparisons are very similar. Works cited. Gibson, Michael. Gods, men and monsters. New York: Schocken Books, 1977.Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1942. Homer, The Iliad. The world masterpieces of the Norton Anthology. New York:WW Norton Company, 1999.Murray, Alexander S. Who's Who in Mythology. New York: Crescent Books, 1988. The Holy Bible. King James Version: Anchor Bible Concepts, 1996.Tenney, Merrill C. The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1967 ed.