excerpt from Greek Popular Religion, by Martin P. Nilsson (1940)

I have emphasized strongly the fact that except for a few industrial and commercial centers ancient Greece was a country of peasants and herdsmen and that according to modern notions many of its so-called cities were but large villages. Certain provinces such as Boeotia, Phocis, and Thessaly, not to speak of Messenia, were always agricultural. In other ways also some of them were still very simple and backward in the classical age. Examples are Arcadia, Aetolia, and Acarnania. Except for those cities to which the leading role in Greek history fell, Greece depended on agriculture and on cattle and sheep raising. In early times, before the industrial and commercial development began, this was true of the whole of Greece, and it was then that the foundations of the Greek cults were laid.

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excerpt from Greek Popular Religion, by Martin P. Nilsson (1940)

Greek religion in its various aspects has been the subject of numerous investigations. Modern research has progressed along two lines especially, the search for primitive survivals and the study of the literary expressions of religion. The first is attributable to the rise of the science of anthropology since the seventies of the last century. In this science the study of Greek religion, viewed as a direct development from a primitive nature religion, has always taken a prominent place. I need only mention the names of Andrew Lang, Sir James Frazer, and Jane Harrison. While it is true that there were very many relics of primitive religion in Greek religion, it must be remembered that Greece was a highly civilized country and that even its most backward inhabitants were subject to the influence of its culture. It is misleading, therefore, to represent Greek religion as essentially primitive. The primitive elements were modified and overlaid by higher elements through the development of Greek culture. They were survivals and must be treated as such.

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I was recently asked about a comment made regarding the Twelve. The basic question was about the worship of the Twelve being distinct. What did that mean? The reader took from this declaration the writer wanted to imply honoring the Twelve was “distinct from” the Hellenic religion. The idea being that there were many cults in Greece that cannot be said to be indicative of the Greek religion. That the worship of the Twelve was its own unique cult within the Greek system, but cannot be said to define the Greek religion. I went to the site and read the whole comment, and in context it seemed to be a statement that there are more Olympians than just the Twelve, which is true, but this does seem to have reignited controversy in this topic. Therefore, I have gone back through my material, and had a long conversation with my friend Astalon. This is what we have (again) concluded.

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It has been a good number of years since I first encountered the debate over syncretism in the modern reconstruction of the ancient Greek religion. In recent days, syncretism has become the buzzword among several circles, and has been used to justify anything and everything that does not conform to reconstruction. Syncretism is now being used, by some, as a license to attempt moving Hellenismos in the direction of being simply another word for Eclectic Neopaganism. If Hellenismos is unable to be uniquely identified as being based on the ancient Greek religion, it stops being Hellenismos.
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I often find myself perplexed as to why some people feel the need to engage in intellectual masturbation. There is no great debate within academia regarding the ancient Greek religion and culture. So, why do we have people debating what is and is not Hellenismos? These people who make outlandish and ludicrous claims, and cause these great debates, are nobodies. Are they the recognized scholars regarding ancient Greece? No. Are they archeologists? No. Does anything they have to say, about the ancient Greek religion, call into question the work of Gilbert Murry, Carl Kerenyi, Jon Mikalson, Paul Veyne, or any other serious scholar and writer? No.
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