It's hard to know how the ancients thought. Indeed, it's hard to know even how someone else thinks who's living in the same time and place as you.

My understanding is that there were elites and masses back then, just as there are these two main groups today. The educated elites were more sophisticated and skeptical than the masses, and the masses were pretty gullible--just as they are today. For instances, the Jewish and pagan masses would have taken their gods and myths literally. Visions of ghosts or angels were commonplace since folks interpreted coincidences and dreams as having supernatural importance--again, just as the masses today are into astrology, conspiracy theories, and so on.