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I was watching God of War, and I began thinking of how to reconcile the existence of multiple myths: e.g., how the Greek mythology could coexist with the Norse one. It is said in the Bible, for example, that "Thou shalt have no other god before me"—this could very well be interpreted as the Christian deity accepting the existence of other gods, but demanding that humans only follow him.

Someone in the comment section of one of the videos stated that Greek mythology accepts the existence of other gods (gods outside of Olympus and such," but they did not specify which gods, and I was unaware of how to fact check it.

I hope I have made myself clear, but if I have not, please ask for clarification, and I will get back to this.

Thank you.

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  • PS- please link to God of War. is this the Korean television show?
    – DukeZhou
    Commented May 11, 2018 at 17:08
  • I've often wondered about this myself, re: Old Testament, but there, we'd need to at the Hebrew and the commentaries... You may also want to research syncretism
    – DukeZhou
    Commented May 11, 2018 at 17:10

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If I have understood your question correctly, you wish to know of examples of cultures that accepted the existence of gods other than their own?

Before the advent of Christianity, and even for a good while afterwards, this was the norm, at least in most areas. Cultures would meet, mingle and if the gods were similar enough (had similar domains) then they would assume it was the same god under a different name (See: Greek and Roman Pantheon) and merge them. Gods would bleed-through as people moved around and brought their gods with them. It is possible, that these pantheons formed out of gods of different areas, with the more dominant tribe's god being perceived as the more powerful.

I think due to the polytheistic nature of many religions of the time - with thousands of gods, allowing for things like the Lares & Penates (household gods) that it was considered much more flexible.

Even the biblical religions arguably allowed for the existence of other gods, and that early Jewish culture was more henotheistic than monotheistic:

"Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?" "for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God"

Even with active religions today, Buddhism allows for the existence of other gods (I think, my knowledge is not great in this area and would appreciate a confirmation from a Buddist)

'Free market' religion is not unusual in the scale of human history - the monopolistic religions of today are.

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  • Buddhism is ultimately atheistic, but I take your point. Also, it is my understanding that Judiasm was not so strictly monotheistic in the very early period. Solomon is interesting in this regard, having "turned his heart to other gods."
    – DukeZhou
    Commented May 11, 2018 at 17:07
  • The Bible also mentions two people, whose names I don't remember, being mistaken as Zeus and Hermes by a crowd and the crowd trying to make sacrifices to them.
    – DynamoBlaze
    Commented Jul 14, 2018 at 5:00

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