I would say this is a complex sentence. Because it has one independent clause(their more aggressive style did not pay of.) and two dependent clauses.
The approach that Baldwin suggests is that of seeing the gods not as personifications of natural elements, but as gods themselves. Baldwin believes this approach to be more charming and fairer to the stories.
The main reason why Baldwin argues this is that he believes this is what the Greek people intended when telling the stories. By arguing the opposite, we are putting our own ideologies and points of view on them, instead of appreciating things as they described them. We also attempt to give the myths a useful and practical meaning (which he describes as utilitarian) instead of appreciating the spiritual and aesthetic elements of the story.
