Questions tagged [comparative]
For questions that compare mythology or folklore from multiple cultures.
137
questions
3
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1answer
34 views
Does anyone know any good sources/books regarding ancient Armenian mythology?
I have been trying to find sources online about Armenian mythology but since the culture is so old and the Church burned so many texts about their paganism, I have difficulty finding anything. Most ...
1
vote
1answer
39 views
What Christian influences are there in the Prose Edda, besides the prologue?
I've often read that there are Christian influences in the Prose Edda:
Snorri’s Edda was later nicknamed the 'Younger Edda' because much of it derives from older sources. What those sources were ...
-1
votes
1answer
50 views
Where are these ancient texts online in Unicode format? [closed]
I am looking for some potentially lesser well-known texts from these languages:
Korea
Georgia
Kannada
Bengali
Persian (Avesta)
Gujarati
Amharic
Urdu
Cyrillic
etc.
Agama (Sufi)
Tantra
Thai
Telugu
...
3
votes
2answers
63 views
The Great Bear and Dragon encircling the Tree of Life
In "Yeats Poems" by W. B. Yeats, pg. 522, (in notes to his poem 'The Poet pleads with the Elemental Powers') it is written,
Yeats commented that the Great Bear and the constellation of the Dragon '...
0
votes
1answer
35 views
Are there any examples of human sacrifice in tribal societies?
Specifically, I mean human sacrifices of their own members (not outside members or prisoners). After watching a chilling movie related to the topic I started thinking more about human sacrifice and ...
2
votes
1answer
88 views
Why are Gods in the Greek pantheon portrayed as performing unsavory & amoral acts?
I was perusing the series 'Crash-course: Mythology' by John Green (Great Show) about pantheons. When it arrived on the Hellenic Pantheon, Its a web of confusing genealogy rivaled only by the Egyptian ...
3
votes
0answers
32 views
What is the relevant book for comparative mythology nowadays?
Since i am not in the field of mythology & folklore scholar but a reader.
I have interested some of topic in comparative mythology especially:
The diffusions of mythology across the world.
The ...
3
votes
1answer
67 views
Are there any Demigods who became gods of their own power?
The only "demigod" I know who would apply would be Dionysus in Greek mythology who had to prove his divinity but didn't need other gods to raise him up to godhood. Are there any others like him in any ...
1
vote
1answer
65 views
Do Modern Cults Create Their own Myths?
I would define a "modern" cult as being in the age of the internet. This is fair to me; a cult relies upon spreading its message and the internet has changed that. So the earliest cults were in the ...
5
votes
0answers
76 views
Is there any link between Achilles and Sigurd/Siegfried?
The two heroes are invulnerable, Achilles because he was dipped in the river Styx by his mother Thetis, and Siegfried because he took a bath in the dragon's blood.
Both have a weak spot though, ...
1
vote
0answers
51 views
Do Indians openly adopt and syncretize foreign religions? [closed]
I don't know much about Hinduism and the details of Indian history, but I feel that in India it is very common to nationalize foreign religions, beginning with the indianization of Sumerian deities, ...
5
votes
2answers
97 views
Are Greek Myths and Heroes Rooted in actual History and People?
I completed reading a book titled "Old Greek Stories" by James Baldwin.
It features some well known Ancient Heroes such as Theseus & Perseus.
But the way it was told seemed like several nations ...
5
votes
2answers
97 views
Are there any stories or fables in mythology that have an anarchist message?
Most mythologies that I read are used to justify the power structures in society.
Are there any that instead preach democracy, anti-authority, pro-education, or free love?
7
votes
2answers
137 views
Stories of children raised out of human society?
I am interested in the theme of human children nursed and/or raised out of human society (e.g. Mowgli or Romulus and Remus), whether by animals, gods, flowers, aliens, etc.
Are there any myths in ...
7
votes
2answers
121 views
What are some myths that combine the scatological and the sacred?
A quick warning to all, for obvious reasons this question will be very explicit. But to the point, when Carl Jung was a small boy he had the following thoughts on being overwhelmed by the beauty of a ...
4
votes
0answers
54 views
What are some sentient creatures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican mythology?
I have read a bit about the five suns world creation myth, and I am curious if the original peoples of Mesoamerica believed in other sentient beings similar to the fairies, centaurs and such of ...
3
votes
2answers
133 views
Do all (or most) religions believe in the existence of an afterlife?
I'm talking about both modern and ancient religions that we know of.
Christianity -> Heaven, Hell
Greco Roman -> Hades
Egyptian -> Anubis, Osiris
among many others. Are there any exceptions to this ...
4
votes
1answer
157 views
What mythological figures have died for love?
I was recently thinking about Orpheus, and different accounts of his death, and although they tend to vary, the versions that strike me as most compelling are those in which the loss of Eurydice may ...
5
votes
3answers
105 views
What are some mythological examples of emotionally-charged symbolic acts of grief?
I'm looking for mythological examples of loss leading to intense emotional and symbolic displays of grief, whether spontaneous, performative, ritual or some combination of the above. That is, grief so ...
5
votes
2answers
152 views
Are there any common concepts in Egypt and Norse mythology / civilization?
I'm looking for some concepts (could be objects, weapons, creatures, traditions, ...) that are common between both Egypt and Norse mythology/folklore or history/civilization.
Context: I'm working on ...
7
votes
2answers
385 views
Are the Nephilim the demi-gods of the bible?
The Nephilim were not aliens, angels, “Watchers,” or rock monsters; they were literal, physical beings produced from the union of the sons of God and the daughters of men.
When man began to ...
6
votes
4answers
309 views
Who was the first Satan like deity/creature/person in mythology?
There are satan/devil representations in other faiths/myths.
But who was the first to have a role and background similar to Satan?
Since religions sometimes take over traits of the old ones there ...
2
votes
1answer
89 views
Why do so many cultures have a myth of the world being made or remade from water?
In various creation and flood myths the world is said to be remade from water, why would different ancient cultures have this same theme?
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vote
2answers
100 views
A unified understanding and description of a “spirit”?
This is something I've been struggling with for a while now, something that I'm hoping someone with a background in mythology, folklore, and/or anthropology might be able to help me with.
I come from ...
4
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0answers
43 views
What are some references to Mathonwy in Welsh legends?
Mathonwy is the father of Math fab Mathony and a mother godess Dôn in Welsh legend, who is believed to be analogous to Danu from Irish and Vedic legends.
Are there any surviving sources, either ...
5
votes
1answer
156 views
What are the supernatural properties of gold in mythology and folklore?
I would like to research the supernatural properties and/or uses that gold shows in mythologies and/or folklore.
I am not talking about the properties or abilities of specific artifacts made of gold ...
2
votes
0answers
549 views
Is it Liberty or Columbia depicted in John Gast's “American Progress”?
In the 1872 painting American Progress, by John Gast, is the gigantic female figure in the center supposed to be Liberty or Columbia?
If it is Columbia, were other Columbias of the age dressed so ...
6
votes
2answers
131 views
When was a pair of Greek and Roman gods first identified?
There is a canonical correspondence between some Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, for example Ares and Mars.
However, these two were originally different deities and quite different in nature.
My ...
6
votes
2answers
5k views
How are Norse and Celtic mythology related?
I was in a charms shop a while back and they had a section laid out for Celtic Mythology charms and their meanings. I had a look and found Thor's hammer. I ask my mom and she said the Mythologies are ...
0
votes
1answer
391 views
Comparative Mythology: What stories have very clear similarities? [closed]
I was wondering if anyone knows of two stories/gods/creatures/etc in mythology that have very distinct similarities/connections when compared with each other? I want to make a list or a chart with all ...
4
votes
1answer
138 views
Persian Zeus in Xenophon's Cyropaedia
In the Cyropaedia, the fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, there are, at least, 26 instances of "Zeus", in many cases used like... "By Zeus!"
This is interpretatio graeca, of course, but, if we ...
6
votes
1answer
95 views
Why are the domains of sexuality and fertility commonly associated with battle & war?
For example, Semitic Astarte/Babylonian Ishtar, Hittite Shaushka, Slavic Radegast, Irish Anann, etc. In studying mythology and folklore, I can't help but notice that violence and sex are often ...
6
votes
1answer
447 views
How were sun-showers viewed?
A sun-shower is when it rains while the sun is shining.
In Japanese culture/Shinto Mythology, sun-showers were/are believed to be the result of two Kitsune (fox spirits) getting married. It was ...
5
votes
3answers
603 views
Mother Earth or Father Earth?
To explain my title, we humans call the earth 'Mother Earth'. I can trace this back to Gaia, the Greek goddess of the earth, Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture and others. But, I remembered ...
2
votes
2answers
108 views
What themes can be found throughout most mythologies? (Flood, Apocalypse, etc)
Looking for themes that can be found throughout different mythologies so that I can compare and contrast the story of them. A few themes I have thought about were creation myths, flood myths, and ...
1
vote
1answer
121 views
When are the flood myths in mythologies?
History places the flood myths as a culture's way to explain the end of the last ice age. This happened about 10,000 years ago. But this book I'm reading (The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica,...
4
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0answers
53 views
Which cultures worship boars?
I'm searching for a list of cultures/regions which worshiped/revered boars.
I only know of Hinduism of the Indian Subcontinent, where an avatar of Lord Vishnu, Varaha is worshiped.
Further, I'm ...
2
votes
0answers
78 views
How many lost continents are in Mythology?
A majority of people will know of Atlantis. It is a Greek, fictional island, misregarded as oral history. Atlantis is mentioned in Plato's works Timaeus and Critias and is placed in the Atlantic Ocean....
5
votes
1answer
112 views
Who says Abraxas is a prince of hell?
I asked a previous question about Abraxas here, briefly talking about what he is and asking how the number 365 relates to him in so many ways.
A few days later, I was talking to someone who happened ...
2
votes
0answers
83 views
Is there a Japanese equivalent to the three fates?
I am not looking for an exact equivalent(i.e. Shinto god/goddess/gods/goddesses of fate), but if there is, by all means, please let us know.
I am looking more along the lines of, do/did those who ...
2
votes
1answer
160 views
Babylonian, Sumerian or Mesopotamian
I was looking up the Babylonian creation myth(didn't find it) and clicked on one of their gods, Ereshkigal, Queen of the underworld, or Kur. The page says she is from Mesopotamian Mythology and the ...
7
votes
1answer
161 views
What are the 365 virtues?
I was researching and I came across Abraxas, a daemon(inferior god), an archon, an aeon, the "Supreme" god, an angel...
He has a place in many mythologies, and the number 365 keeps coming up. 365 ...
2
votes
4answers
4k views
Is there a connection between Odin or Zeus and the Christian God?
Could the Norse Odin or the Greek Zeus be Christianity's "The Creator" and father of Jesus?
7
votes
1answer
117 views
What are some iconic legends of human depravity and spiritual pollution?
My purposes are non-salacious, I promise. There's an undercurrent in mythology and folklore that I didn't get a lot of in school, but which I've noticed more and more of as I've read on my own.
...
7
votes
1answer
104 views
Is Greek mythology derivative of/influence by Ugartic/Canaanite mythology?
I know that the character of 'Adonis' is of Phoenician origin, but there are many other parallels which are too many to be ignored:
Phosporus- Shahar
Hesperus- Shalim
Zeus/Poseidon/Hades- Baal/Yamm/...
6
votes
1answer
137 views
Are there any close analogues to the Fairy King & Queen Titania and Oberon, in Indian/Hindu mythology?
I am looking to create a version of Titania & Oberon, the Queen & King of the Fairies in Midsummer Night's Dream, that would have context in India. Probably deities or mythological beings ...
9
votes
1answer
106 views
The concept that scripture is made to adapt to changes of society, technology, and language
I once heard of an attitude to interpreting religious scripture that goes roughly as follows:
The scripture was made such that it will always produce the correct ethics, guidance, and similar when ...
12
votes
1answer
460 views
Is there a common theme of dragon meat being toxic?
I have noticed a few stories that talk about dragons having toxic blood or meat. Their offshoots(?), wyverns, have a particular association with poison.
Despite this, there is a lot of culture ...
10
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the Norse equivalent to the Great Flood?
I have constantly heard that every mythology has its own version to explain why the ocean rose after the last ice age ended(roughly 10,000 years ago). But, I have only heard the christian version with ...
4
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0answers
159 views
Parallels between Hecate and the Devil?
Hecate was associated with crossroads, just as the devil was.
Do the similarities end there? Could Hecate qualify as a devil figure?
