Hamilton's view on the Greek gods is that they were one of a kind. Great civilizations before the Greeks had very intricate religious beliefs. The Egyptians for example were polytheistic (as were the Greeks) but their gods were not made in man's likeliness. Instead these gods were half human and half animal. "The Greeks, unlike the Egyptians, made their gods in their own image." (Hamilton 15) Hamilton emphasizes on the fact that "until then, gods had had no semblance of reality." (Hamilton 16) Because the Greeks made their gods in their own likeliness, these gods seemed to be closer beings rather than being an "omnipotent Unknown". (Hamilton 17) The gods lived in a real place and ate food (ambrosia) but the thing that makes them truly man-like is their human faults. Hamilton describes them as acting "in a way no decent man or woman would." (Hamilton 18) The people of that time created the gods also out of a sense of need which progresses through the time of the tragedians. This evolution of the manner in which gods were viewed changed the gods. This is shown when we look at why Zeus (who controls the rain) is more powerful than the sun god (Apollo). At the time of the Greek gods, Greece needed rain even more than the sun. This is the reason Zeus became the leader of all the gods. He had many human faults and his most denoted one is the fact that he cheats on his wife Hera and has had many bastard offspring. The gods soon evolved again because the weak and the helpless needed a god. And again this need formed Zeus into the "protector of the weak." (Hamilton 20) Then as time went by the gods became a more distant entity. .