I recall asking a docent at the Getty Villa Museum that houses antiquities how it was possible that the people of ancient Greece both developed mathematics, philosophy, democracy , etc. and believed that the god Mercury pulled the sun across the sky is his chariot.

He explained, “The situation then was not all that dissimilar to that of today’s United States.  Most of our scientists and urbanites are atheists, as were the people who lived in or near Athens.  But go out into the rural areas where most people were farmers, where highly educated people are rare, and folks tend to be deeply religious.”

Parallels Between Ancient Greece and Modern America