<P> A few Greeks, like Achilles, Alcmene, Amphiaraus Ganymede, Ino, Melicertes, Menelaus, Peleus, and a great number of those who fought in the Trojan and Theban wars, were considered to have been physically immortalized and brought to live forever in either Elysium, the Islands of the Blessed, heaven, the ocean, or beneath the ground . Such beliefs are found in the most ancient of Greek sources, such as Homer and Hesiod . This belief remained strong even into the Christian era . For most people at the moment of death there was, however, no hope of anything but continued existence as a disembodied soul . </P> <P> Some Greeks, such as the philosophers Pythagoras and Plato, also embraced the idea of reincarnation, though this was only accepted by a few . Epicurus taught that the soul was simply atoms which dissolved at death, so there was no existence after death . </P> <P> Greek religion had an extensive mythology . It consisted largely of stories of the gods and how they interacted with humans . Myths often revolved around heroes and their actions, such as Heracles and his twelve labors, Odysseus and his voyage home, Jason and the quest for the Golden Fleece and Theseus and the Minotaur . </P> <P> Many species existed in Greek mythology . Chief among these were the gods and humans, though the Titans (who predated the Olympian gods) also frequently appeared in Greek myths . Lesser species included the half - man - half - horse centaurs, the nature based nymphs (tree nymphs were dryads, sea nymphs were Nereids) and the half man, half goat satyrs . Some creatures in Greek mythology were monstrous, such as the one - eyed giant Cyclopes, the sea beast Scylla, whirlpool Charybdis, Gorgons, and the half - man, half - bull Minotaur . </P>

How was religion in ancient greece similar to religion in ancient egypt