One of the main differences between classical Greece and Medieval Europe was the ability for the Greeks to have logic and spirituality, logos and muthos, co-exist in such a way that the Gods were never threatened in Greek society by the empiricism of the Greek philosophers and scientists. Freeman writes:

One of the most sophisticated of the Greek intellectual achievements was the distinction between the areas of knowledge in which certainty was possible and those that were not subject to the rational.

A mathematical proof could be sustained by deductive logic and was unarguably true, while a myth was fluid and flexible, open to individual interpretation.

Myths had power but to the Greek mind the idea that a person could demand others believe a myth was true was absurd. In the Medieval world, power and politics conspired in such a manner that the Vatican and the successive rulers of the Holy Roman Empire were able to enforce through violence the requirement that myths were true and be treated as 'gospel'. Inquiry was treated as heresy and discouraged; the secrets of nature were wholly owned by myth, not reason.

Some more discussion on the book and issues at hulver.
Cam Riley: South Sea Republic. Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic.

Comments
  • On the one hand, one of the interesting things about most of the classical Greek philosophers is that they /rejected/ the myths of ancient Greece. Socrates was notable for not only rejecting them but saying that they had to be rewritten to leave all the bad behavior out, told as Noble Lies, and then made a mandatory part of education.

    And on the other hand, we all know what happened to Socrates when brought up on charges of impiety and corrupting the youth.

    I think a much more parsimonious explanation is that as civilization feel in many areas of western Europe, myth collapsed into reason. As an example, one of the early Christian emperors (I want to say Justinian but I could be wrong) banned the practice of burning witches under the rationale that witches had no real power. Fast forward a few hundred years and in parts of Europe they were burning witches again because they thought that the witches were doing them actual harm. Myth became reality.