Questions tagged [comparative]
For questions that compare mythology or folklore from multiple cultures.
147
questions
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64 views
Could ancient myths of “giants” hint to contact with other species of homini?
Many mythologies mention some form of "giants". Those giants may or may not be described as greater in height, but are always described as greater in strength and are portraied as violent. Examples ...
5
votes
3answers
84 views
Why did Snorri Sturlson link the Norse Gods to the Trojans?
In the Prologue to the Prose Edda, he seems to develop a genealogy of the Norse Gods being descendants of the Trojans. Starting with the Trojan king Priam, he develops connections, like for example ...
0
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1answer
42 views
Whats are the similarities and differences between Greek gods and Roman gods?
I've seen that sometimes gods in Greek Mythology have different names than the gods in Roman mythology. I've also seen that they are basically the same god just with different names. What makes Greek ...
2
votes
1answer
37 views
What does internet-transmitted folklore reveal about how we generate and spread folkore?
Even before the internet, information was being faithfully replicated through global communication networks like faxes. Then they replicated through email chains, and finally broke free of a specific ...
0
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0answers
19 views
Is Hebe related to the concept of Xenia?
Does anyone knows if theres classical reference for relating the Goddess Hebe with Xenia or Theoxenia (receiving well the guests)?
I found relations of Hebe with marriage and pardoning supplicants, ...
3
votes
2answers
68 views
Are there any older cases of exorcism in other mythology than the Abrahamic religions?
In the Gospel of luke, Jesus exorcises a multitude of demons who call themselves Legion into a herd of pigs which he then drove into a lake.
26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is ...
5
votes
3answers
495 views
Castration myths besides Ouranos
I'd like to know of other castration myths besides the one with Gea, Cronos and that poor guy Ouranos.
I didn't find much with a quick Google search, and the only other case that comes to mind is ...
0
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2answers
87 views
What succession myths exist other than the Greek one?
Where the gods are killed/overthrown. Ragnarok sort of applies, though there's no replacement of the previous gods.
1
vote
1answer
65 views
How was Mongol religion influenced by Christianity?
One story stands out to me in particular. Erlik, a deity in Mongol mythology, was either the brother of or created as the first human by the supreme god Ülgen. I read that Erlik wanted to become equal ...
2
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1answer
71 views
How have ignorance and wisdom been represented in mythology?
Wisdom and Ignorance is a common dichotomy across many religions, and I was wondering if there are any specific examples of personifications or deities of wisdom and/or ignorance in mythological ...
4
votes
1answer
51 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
202 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 ...
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1answer
51 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
...
4
votes
2answers
152 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
36 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
107 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
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0answers
40 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
278 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
79 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
222 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
55 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
105 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
101 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
148 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
143 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
102 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
750 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
264 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
114 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
502 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 ...
8
votes
4answers
1k 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 ...
9
votes
4answers
421 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
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1answer
97 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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2answers
111 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 ...
7
votes
1answer
90 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
294 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
2k 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
166 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
10k 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
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1answer
491 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
192 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
98 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
745 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
1k 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
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2answers
152 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
129 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
57 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
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0answers
79 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
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1answer
125 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
1answer
189 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 ...
