mind, each person had to keep their favourite gods and goddesses ‘on side’. But religion was not a personal relationship with the gods, and a bond of love was virtually unknown. It is true that the Greeks spoke of Zeus (known to the Romans as Jupiter) as ‘kindly Zeus’ and even ‘father’, and there are references and inscriptions to ‘dear’ gods, but this was more a matter of respect than affection. As one classical scholar has expressed it: ‘No Greek would ever have thought of keeping a spiritual diary’14.