I read in a previous post here, that religious life did not amount to much. All a person had to do to be counted religious, were periodical sacrifices. I wanted to ask if there was any serious belief that those who believed in Zeus, were the 'rightful' and those who did not were 'sinners' and went to Hades to join Sysiphus or Tantalus? Maybe like a classical equivalent of the Crusades.
hi! not discouraging direct responses to your questions, but you can get started on this topic in the FAQ (link on sidebar)
religious life did not amount to much.
It was similar to religious life today. There were rules to obey, rituals to keep, and there was a way to communicate with the deity, there were "places of worship" and "priests".
was any serious belief that those who believed in Zeus, were the 'rightful' and those who did not were 'sinners' and went to Hades to join Sysiphus or Tantalus?
Zeus was part of a vast family of gods and the ancient Greeks worshiped all of them. If you worshipped some other, foreign god, that was your problem because your god was definitely minor, and Zeus could eat him for breakfast if he so wished. Greek gods were pretty independent and very very powerful. They were also a bit whimsy so people had to try gain favour with them and definitely not make the gods angry. An angry god could get rather dangerous while a happy one could be quite helpful.
Hades was the god of the underworld, where all dead people went. If you were good you could go to to an area there with an easy afterlife and if you were a bad person, you may be punished and pained.
Maybe like a classical equivalent of the Crusades.
Crusades were not necessarily as the Greek Gods were considered pretty good in imposing their wishes. There were no relics to defend or conquer, but if you were a foreign leader and brought your armies to destroy a beloved Greek temple, then you might find yourself in big trouble.