For thousands of years, people have followed and worshipped many gods of many religions. The gods of polytheistic religions usually each have an "area of expertise" such as weather or healing. People of polytheistic belief usually choose one specific god to worship most thoroughly, as this god most pertains to the person's lifestyle. Greek families did this often, for they were a polytheistic people. Farmers would often choose Diana as their patron goddess, as she is the goddess of the harvest by Greek belief. Travelers would worship Hermes because he was ordained the god of travelers and merchants. However, Greek families did not worship just one theistic power. When a great tragedy occured, such as a flood, all Greeks in the area would sacrifice to Poseidon or Zeus, the gods of the sea and the sky. The Greeks heavily leaned on all of their gods for protection, blessings, and prosperity. They would also look to the gods for explanations of happenings they did not understand, like illnesses, unfruitful harvests, wild behavior, and natural disasters. Worshippers of the Greek gods saw the wills of the gods as the determining forces of all occurrances, both big and small. However, though the Greeks fervently believed in and worhsipped their many gods, they overlooked an extreme number of inconsistencies in their religion.