In my opinion, Greek "mythology" has one of the most realistic views of what a god, or gods, might be. Every religion or faith has its own unrealistic components, including Atheism. For me, Greek mythology is a bit more understandable than some religions. This is not to say that everything the Greeks believed in was completely accurate, but just to agree with their view of the gods themselves. Imperfect men and women, as a reflection of their own imperfect Gods and Goddesses. This is the only belief system that, to my knowledge, does not include at least some miner form of sexism. I appreciate that women of their faith are powerful figures.
Although the literal meaning of myth is not false or untrue, most people dismiss them as such. Like that of a unicorn or Pegasus, as a people, we don't consider these things to be real. I feel as though labeling the entire belief system a myth is a bit demeaning because of that fact. There are many polytheistic religions in the world, even still. Even so, Greek gods and goddesses seem to be the only ones that have been unanimously written off as fictional. Why have Greek beliefs been labeled mythological and not Christian or Catholic faiths? Perhaps it is because no major population still fallows these beliefs, but why should we if we've been tout it is a myth. Even so, when a creature goes extinct it is not thereon deemed a myth. No person needs to be asked if they believe in dinosaurs. So why treat a peoples' belief any different than the people themselves? What do you think will happen to happen to our memory when we are extinct? Will we leave behind a myth or a legacy?
A couple of things I want say. I'd like to give some more "mythologies" to look at. I'll mention the roman mythology first since they are basically the Greeks with different names and slightly different stories. next I'd like to mention the Norse since they rival the Greeks in terms of how many people have heard of them. finally I'll mention that the ancient Celts had an interesting pantheon as well. All of the religions I mention above are polytheistic in nature, there pantheons contain quite a few gods, goddesses, and other mythological creature, all of which had there flaws.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to mention that the reason why nobody questions that "dinosaurs" existed is because we have proof that they did. the closes thing i could think of to a "unicorn" is a narwhal.
next 1 of the definitions of the word "Myth" is (a widely held but false belief or idea.) {Thanks google}. I get that you were aiming for the other definition, but I wanted this to be clarified since it confused me.
Sorry to be so critical about the post it was just bothering me. I think you were trying to get a discussion on how we should think of these mythologies as old religions instead of folktales. If so I would argue that all religions are folktales. the original purpose of religion is to give moral guidance based on a their culture. so to answer that last question, I'm almost positive we are going to leave a myth.
I think people might view Greek Mythology as being fictional because there are so many different Gods and Goddesses whom also have a various number of powers. They're are a countless number of Greek Gods and Goddesses which were worshiped for a countless number of different things. Many religions also have different Gods but maybe the exorbitant number of these Gods and Goddesses compared to the far less number of Gods in other religions makes people think that these were just characters or a 'myth' just as there may be multiple characters in a book or in a tv show. Maybe some people don't take Greek Mythology quite seriously like they may other religions because some people may see worshipping or believing in only one or a few Gods to be more realistic. This is not my opinion but it is just why I think some people may be so hypocritical of this belief not being a recognized religion.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting strand. Why do you guys think that so much of the contemporary religious world is monotheistic? What happened to all the gods? Another interesting question: Why is so much of the developed world secular? Why do we in the USA, even though we supposedly have separation of church and state, care so much about the belief system of our political candidates? (during the next prez election cycle, notice how much the press and debates are dedicated to this issue)
ReplyDeleteI think the reason Americans are so concerned with religious background is because America is still very much a christian nation. I mean just look at the back of a $1 bill it says "In God We Trust". I feel if we somehow managed to take religion out of the government completely we'd have a more respected government, but I dought it would be without it's own problems.
DeleteAs science has progressed, and some things disproved, I believe that certain aspects of religion have become more popular. Polytheism perhaps became less believable once it became that several polytheistic beliefs were scientifically impossible. *(Like; the sun rises and sets because Zeus drags it across the sky, for example)* I think perhaps things like this within polytheistic belief systems might have led them to believe that polytheism in itself was flawed. Hence, “much of the contemporary religious world is monotheistic”. However, if that is the case then one could easily argue; based on the same reasoning, that the stories of Jesus Christ walking on water couldn’t be possible. Which, I suppose would be an argument for the secular part of the world.
DeleteThe individual could have one of many reasons for caring about a political candidate’s belief system. Perhaps for a reason as simple as wanting to know how much that person can relate to the candidate. However, as a nation, I personally believe that religion is simply another means for control. (When speaking in terms of politics). Our birth certificates have serial numbers, and are printed on bank note paper. I think that the USA acts more in terms of “E Pluribus Unum” than “In God We Trust”.