The gods, in support or opposition of people. However more rational explanations began to appear, beginning with Hesiod in the late 8th Century BCE who gave a farmer's account of natural events and their effects in Works and Days. However intervention of the gods in human affairs continued on, with doubters given short shrift. Even today, billions still attribute events to divine intervention, and pray to them for relief and guidance.
The same way all ancient people used it: they made up fanciful stories about giant birds eating the sun to explain sunset and gods having chariot races to explain thunder.
EDIT:
The ancient Egyptians used religion to understand nature with their gods. For example: Anubis was the jackal the Egyptians thought that the jackal was an animal that controlled death(as the Anubis mask was worn in mummification), and made it the god of death.
EDIT2: Above that ancient egyptians related volcanoes , earthquakes and other natural disasters to religious figures as a rage of one of their religious gods.
The Greeks explained the seasons with the story of Persephone, daughter of the plant-goddess Demeter. Long-story short, Persephone was married to Aides, king of the Underworld, and stayed with him for half of the year, while for the rest of the year she stayed with her mother. Demeter was pissed so every year, when Persephone left, she let everything die until Persephone returned.
Storms were the result of Zeus, king of the gods, playing around with his thunderbolts and clouds.
Earthquakes and tsunamis were because of the sea-god Poseidon banging his trident on the sea-floor.
They used stories including their gods like Amon-Ra. He was a very special god, and they used stories to explain the natural events that happen in their natural events....
The Egyptians used their religion to explain events in nature. They had multiple gods that represented different events in nature.
They used myths from Zeus simply because they thought that the world was flat from the many pictures and murals made by the artists long ago.
To explain how the wold work. The ancient people wanted to understand why the rain was, why they could use the fire, etc., and they didn't really have scientifical experience. If the child asked the mother, "where does the wind go?", then she answered with a tale. These tales, myths also has affect on their thinking. And they can also tell a colourful history of a nation.
To explain the seasons.
The Greek gods gave the ancient Greeks a way to explain things they didn't understand. For example, the ancient Greeks used the myth of Persephone and Hades to explain the seasons. When Persephone was with Hades in the Underworld, she was miserable. So her mother, Demeter (goddess of agriculture) , kept everything from growing, causing winter. When Persephone was with her mother, she was happy, and Demeter brought summer to the world.
It was their way of explaining natural things like seasons, lightning, etc. There wasn't any science to explain those things, and most people who actually started to discover scientific explanations were shunned.
Sappho she did this because her daughter got taken away from her in the winter and given back to her in the spring.
Eighth/Seventh Century BCE writer Hesiod in his treatise Works and Days, being a farmer, explained weather and seasons in terms of its effects and cycles. Differently in Theognis (ascribed to him but obviously by a different author who is unlikely to be a farmer) it is the gods and their never-ending wrangles, which produce catastrophes.
They used myths from Zeus simply because they thought that the world was flat from the many pictures and murals made by the artists long ago.
Some ancient civilizations such as the Mayans believed in human sacrifice in order for the natural cycle of seasons to continue. The Mayans would sacrifice prisoners from the top of their stone temples.
When Persephone would return from the Underworld and was reunited with her mother, Demeter, there was happiness and this half of a year became spring and summer.
Myths often attempt to explain the origins of the world, natural phenomena (like the sun or rain), and the behavior of humans or gods.
they were created to explain why things happened, because they didnt know what we know today. they had no explanation of natural things like why spiders were there (Aranche), the seasons changing (Demeter & Persephone), why there are snakes in Africa (Medusa), and much more. Example: Demeter was created to explain things like; the changing of the seasons, plants, ect.
the ancient Chinese did so wear different clothing for different seasons
they didnt, they hated seasons lol
In Ancient Greece, that was their religion. They have so many stories about the gods and goddesses they worshiped to explain how things came to be and a way for them to understand the world around them (like the seasons, storms, and why the earth is never crushed by the sky). The stories that don't explain natural phenomena we probably used as entertainment and to teach lessons of bravery, ingenuity, humility etc.
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