Anthropomorphism: looking at gods in other forms

When exploring the topic of anthropomorphism, it is important to assess the extent to which animals or indeed symbols related to specific gods affects the cult of a deity. When scholars debate the identity of a god they often relate it to the way gods are portrayed anthropomorphically, as often appears in Greek works such as vases. The seperate Greek cults for deities has been discussed as only being possible due to the anthropomorphic nature of Greek religion, the use of mortals being able to visualise and interact with representations of the Olympians. Bremmer and Erskine's edited edition of the gods of ancient Greece deals with the idea of ephiphets only coming from the correlation between the gods and anthropomorphic representations. "Without the anthropomorphic gods, the Greek ephiphanic experience would be very different; indeed, it might not exist at all. The numerous accounts of visual encounters between mortals and gods illustrate how a divine quality-anthropomorphism-can result in powerful modes of interaction" (Bremmer and Erskine: pg.33). The reasoning behind this theory is that if epiphany and anthropomorphism are linked it is possible for the Greeks to link cults with divinity without the Gods having to manifest their true identity; moreover, it is a way for the gods to increase their cult following by using symbols such as Aphrodite's rock.
The renaissance style image of Leda and Zeus as a swan is one example of how Zeus is often portrayed anthropomorphically.The story from the above portraiture of Leda nd Zeus appearing as a swan can be found at this web address http://www.pantheon.org/articles/l/leda.html. The swan is a juxtaposing image of how Zeus is often behaving in his mythology, in this seen he seems submissive where he is often raping his partner. This image of Zeus is a contrary image of what you would expect of the king of the gods, as it is a more modern conception of a Greek mythology (renaissance) it is harder to interpret the extent to which this is an exact portrayal of the myth. The anthropomorphic nature of Greek mythology is essential to analysing the way that we look at it through a modern Christianised view. The use of symbols and animals for gods to interact in the mortal world seems to be a normal method from a religious perspective; however, in terms of actually transforming into an animal is strange from a Christian point of view. The reason it may be interpreted for a Christian as strange is due to the gods actually being visible in our world and as earlier discussed in the clash between monotheism and polytheism as Zaidman claims Christians believe in a deity outside our cosmos. Examples of God appearing before mortals have been demonstrated in the old testament such as the burning bush to Moses, was simply a method of communication for God and not a ephiphany for the mortals.

Bremmer, J.N and Erskine A (2010) 'The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations' Edinburgh Press University p.33