How did Greek colonists spread the cults of their home city to new settlements?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

the gods on Olympus — Greek religion The gods on Olympus: Athena, Zeus, Dionysus, Hera, and Aphrodite. Detail of a painting on a Greek cup; in the National Archaeological Museum, Tarquinia, Italy.

During the heyday of the polis, Greek religion did not proselytize; instead, it spread through the establishment of new settlements. When colonists departed to found a new polis, they carried with them the cults of their home city’s gods and a portion of the sacred fire taken from the mother city’s hearth.1

Because "heroes" were essentially bound to the specific territory where they were buried, they were left behind during these migrations. Once established in new regions, Greeks often identified the deities of other cultures with their own, frequently at a superficial level, such as equating the virgin goddess Artemis with the chief fertility deity of Ephesus.1