History of Religious Evolution 721 



not to the Aegean civilization, in which a mother-goddess 

 seems to have been predominant, but rather to a north-eastern 

 source that may have centered in Medo-Persia or even Turk- 

 estan. Certain it is that Zeus was the all-powerful god of 

 Homeric poetry, and so was recognized by the ancient pre- 

 homeric clans. Few now incline to place the homer ic poems 

 earlier than 1000 to 1500 B. C. So it is fairly safe to conclude 

 that the great Greek god was the chief deity about 1500 to 

 2000 years B. C. It is impossible as yet to determine whether 

 the proenvironed human conception of Zeus was derived from 

 those of Ea, Re, and Marduk of the Iranian, the Egyptian, 

 and Assyrian pantheons, whether the reverse may not have 

 been the case, or whether each god was a separately proen- 

 vironed conception and response of these great ancient nation- 

 alities. The first seems the most likely origin. 



The religious principles associated with the name and wor- 

 ship of Zeus, the sim-god or god of the heavens, from about 

 1000 to 400 B. C. indicate that these were the summated 

 thoughts of a hardy, fearless moral group of people who loved 

 home, kindred, religious aspiration, and effort to conquer 

 nature. So his altar was often an integral part of the home, 

 and his worship was regarded as a highest duty. 



As with their rise in history, so with the religion of the Ro- 

 mans. The great deity of their pantheon Jupiter comes into 

 prominence hundreds of years later than Zeus, but many 

 attributes and qualities of the latter were associated with 

 him. He seems to have come gradually into prominence 

 during the royal period, and was fully recognized as the ruling 

 god by 500 B. C. About that time his temple on Cai)it()l 

 Hill was founded, and this afterward became unrivaled as 

 a center of religious magnificence. Round him all that was 

 highest, most stimulating morally, and most conducive to 

 happy home life, civic life, and national life clustered. In 

 other words, for four or five centuries at least, we might even 

 say during seven to eight centuries, for many of the best Roman 

 citizens Jupiter represented the highest summation of all the 

 tested and accepted principles that could guide and elevate 



