Did the Greeks Believe Their Myths

It  pretty clear that at least some level of belief in the gods was part of community life among the ancient Greeks, just as it was for the Romans  (community life was more important than personal faith). There was a multitude of gods and goddesses in the polytheistic Mediterranean world. In the Greek world, each polis--or ​city-state--had a particular patron deity. The god might have been the same as the neighboring polis patron deity, but cultic observances might be different, or each polis might worship a different aspect of the same god. Greek Gods in Everyday Life Greeks invoked gods in sacrifices that were part and parcel of civil life and they are civil--sacred and secular meshed--festivals. Leaders sought the gods opinions,  through divination before any important undertaking. People wore amulets to ward off evil spirits. Some joined mystery cults. Writers wrote stories with conflicting details about the divine-human interaction. Important families proudly traced their ancestry to the gods or the legendary sons of gods who populate their myths. Festivals--like the dramatic festivals in which the great Greek tragedians competed and the ancient Panhellenic games, like the Olympics--were held to honor the gods, as well as to bring  the community together. Sacrifices meant communities shared a meal, not only with their fellow citizens but with the gods. Proper observances meant the gods were more likely to look kindly on the mortals and help them. Nonetheless, there was some awareness that there were natural explanations for natural phenomena otherwise attributed to the pleasure or displeasure of the deities. Some philosophers and poets criticized the supernatural focus of the prevailing polytheism: Homer and Hesiod have attributed to the godsall sorts of things which are matters of reproach and censure among men:theft, adultery and mutual deceit. (frag. 11)But if horses or oxen or lions had handsor could draw with their hands and accomplish such works as men,horses would draw the figures of the gods as similar to horses, and the oxen as similar to oxen,and they would make the bodiesof the sort which each of them had. (frag. 15)Xenophanes Socrates was charged with failing to believe properly and paid for his unpatriotic religious belief with his life. Socrates is guilty of crime in refusing to recognise the gods acknowledged by the state, and importing strange divinities of his own; he is further guilty of corrupting the young.From Xenophanes. We cant read their minds, but we can make speculative statements. Perhaps the ancient Greeks extrapolated from their observations and powers of reasoning--something they mastered and passed down to us--to construct an allegorical worldview. In his book on the subject, Did the Greeks Believe Their Myths?, Paul Veyne writes: Myth is truthful, but figuratively so. It is not historical truth mixed with lies; it is a high philosophical teaching that is entirely true, on the condition that, instead of taking it literally, one sees in it an allegory.