While most ancient cultures were taught to fear their gods, the Greeks tried to make their gods relatable by giving them human-like qualities. People gave food and other items as offerings to a specific god for blessings, but the gods never ate the food given to them. The Greeks said the gods had their own food and drink called ambrosia which caused their blood to be replaced by a special blood called ichor. This colorless, blood-like fluid was harmful to humans and if they came across it, it was said to kill human beings instantly. It was extremely rare for mortal eyes to see a god release ichor, however.
It was frowned upon for a human to eat or drink the food of the gods due to the incredible powers it contained, but there are cases where a god or goddess gave a mortal a taste of their blessed food. If a human was caught stealing ambrosia, they were punished harshly. Unlike contact with the gods’ blood, it didn’t kill them and instead, gave them immortality. They, too, ended up with ichor running through their veins just like the gods they worshiped.
Greek gods took an interest in their human worshipers and because of this, there were many children that came from the unions between humans and gods. There was a fifty-fifty chance that the child could also have this strange blood in their veins, giving them superhuman abilities. People born with these abilities were known as demigods.
Well-known demigods include Heracles (Hercules) and Achilles. Their powers could be things like incredible strength or courage, or even being nearly invincible.
Link/cite this page
If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content.
Link will appear as Ichor – Ancient Greek Element: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net - Greek Gods & Goddesses, October 21, 2019