The Roman/Greek gods are mainly known for there individual characteristics such as Zeus specializing in lightning, Poseidon specializing in water, and Hephaestus specializing in fire. Yes, these all make sense because the people needed some way to explain how things worked and why they did, so making these "gods" be the reason behind it seemed reasonable. What they didn't understand was science. Yes, some of the greatest philosophers are Roman or Greek, but they didn't understand anything that was not in their world. All they knew was this planet and what was on it.
My question is how they came up with these "gods" the answer i find most reasonable is that they took the idea from something they saw. No, they did not see a god, what they saw were extraterrestrial beings that arrived from outer space. They could not fully grasp the technology because they were much simpler, so instead they compared it to objects they understood: chariot, trident, feathered wings, etc.
Zeus is such an iconic god because he represents strength and leadership among the other gods, leading people to recognize him more. What the Greeks believed to be sorcery that allowed Zeus to control lightning at his will was actually advanced technology that they couldn't comprehend. With our technology now we can create electricity and command it to our will, we are not far off from creating a bolt of electricity like Zeus. In fact Tesla coils are in fact similar to Zeus lightning bolt, they create high frequency alternating currents. So what if Zeus' lightning bolt isn't mere sorcery but just a more advanced version of our Tesla coil.
Going over to Poseidon and his great and powerful trident. Poseidon's trident is believed to have power to make roaring tsunamis, or calming waves. When he strikes the Earth with his trident an earthquake will happen. We currently have machines that simulates waves so it is not impossible to control the seas, while we have not yet been able to make a machine that could replicate an earthquake we do understand how they are made, so it would only be a matter of time until it is possible.
While this all seems out of this world and impossible it is actually a possible reality, for instance it was during this time period when we also believed that flying was something not able to be done by humans. Look at us now, we are able to fly into outer space! farther then what the Greeks believed to be where the "gods" arrived from.
Chariots are what the Greeks and Romans depicted the gods used as a means of travel, being pulled by horses, soaring across the sky. What if these chariots are actually similar air crafts to what we have today, that are able to zip across the sky in an instant. Going back to what i said before about misconception and relating to what they already know. The Greeks took what they saw, an airplane, and related it to something they understood, a horse drawn chariot.
There was also written about great battles that took place in the sky, battles that would last months and months. What was said about them is that you would see the great chariots of light fly across the sky battling on another. There were great big explosions that you could see from miles away that would occur during the battles. What if these battles are the extraterrestrials fighting for control of Earth. These chariots of light would actually be their ships zooming through the sky destroying other "chariots".
What i am trying to get at here is not these gods were fake but that they were just misconceived by the Greeks and Romans, and described using what we knew to be true at the time. That we shouldn't trust all that we read from books from the past, because their perception is different from ours, rather we take what they said and combine it with our present knowledge to find a truth in the middle of both stories.