ristians, and indeed there are a large number of inconsistencies within both religions themselves. The similarities of both religions concerning the afterlife, particularly the immortality of the soul, indicates that the foundations of both religions are essentially the same. Greek religion is polytheistic, that is, there is a belief in more then one God. In Christianity there is a belief in one God. The Ancient Greeks used mythology to precisely describe the afterlife. Later, Greek philosophers such as Socrates, disagreed with the mythological image of the Gods, and attempted to use philosophy to describe life, death and all that may lie beyond. Christianity is a lot less specific, and views on the afterlife have been vaguely interpreted from the Bible, as visions experienced by people throughout the ages, and also from the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and saviour of mankind in Christian religions. The Bibles description of life after death has been interpreted in countless different ways, and there are many different denominations of the Christian religion that have emerged due to this. Within Christian religions and ancient Greek religion, there is a definite belief in the existence of the soul and its immortality. It has thus far been proven impossible in either religion to clearly define what the "soul" actually is. The Ancient Greek philosophers referred to the soul as the "psyche", a word that means "life force", "mind" and "breathe". The soul, essentially, is the essence of man. The invisible substance that exists with the body but can be conceived to be separate. In both religions, the immortality of the soul is the basis of belief in the afterlife. Both religions have varying ideas of the nature of the soul and its purpose. In Ancient Greek religion, mythological views of the afterlife existed, and also the "doctrine of metempsychosis - or transmigration of the soul". Basically, the mythological view of the soul involved what was described as a "shade" by Homer, being released from the body upon death, and entering the afterlife. This "shade" was the soul of the person, and the afterlife was described as an actual place beneath the earth, where the soul lived eternally. The theory put forward by later philosophers, such as Plato and Socrates, involved concepts such as reincarnation and a cyclical approach to the soul's immortality. In "The Phaedrus", a book describing the philosophies of Plato, it is written: " All souls are immortal, for that which is ever in motion is immortal…it is only that which moves itself that never intermits its motion, inasmuch as it cannot abandon its own nature." (Plato, 1987:112). In other words, Plato is expressing the belief that the soul must be immortal, as it is a "motion that can set itself moving", and hence cannot cease to be what it is. The idea that the soul is reincarnated, and "transmigrates" across bodies, is expressed by the ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles when he stated "I have already been a boy, a girl, and a bush, and a silent fish in the sea." (Barnham, 1982:34) Pythagoras, another influential figure in Greek philosophy, also believed in "reincarnation". It is written that he cried at seeing a shield from the Trojan War and claimed that it was his shield when he was a soldier in a past life. (Barham, 1982:35) Modern Christian beliefs, although reincarnation has been widely rejected, still focus mainly on the immortality of the soul when explaining concepts regarding the afterlife. Christianity is similar to the mythological beliefs in Ancient Greek religion when it describes the soul. The Bible describes the soul as a "shadow", and also describes its immortality. The Bible does not offer a definition of the soul. Rather, it assumes that the soul and the person are one, that is, the concept of dualism is less predominant then in Ancient Greek religion. That is why the soul is rarely mentioned specifically in the Bible, however personal pronouns that

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Ancient Greek, Ancient Greeks, Plato Socrates, Minos Aeacus, Acherusian Lake, God Gods, Son God, Ancient Greece, Jesus Christ, Afterlife Greek, ancient greek, greek religion, ancient greek religion, eternal life, ancient greeks, modern christian, soul judged, christian religions, christian religion, religion soul, greeks believed, christian religion soul, ancient greek modern, modern christian religions, murderers eternal life,