Mythology!

Ta daaaa! Mythology!

I can probably bet a lot of you are total Mythology geeks! What are your favs?

Do you have any Gods/Goddesses that you identify with?

I love Greek and Egyptian mythology. I used to be fascinated by Ancient Egypt as a kiddo, and when I started studying Greek philosophy in my teens I feel more in love with Greek Mythology too. I just think the stories are so interesting, I love seeing films about mythology, or using some of the themes.

Part of the reason I loved Tomb Raider TLR is because it was sooooo Egypt centris. Amazing! I think I'm going to change my av and sig set to the Greek Goddess Artemis for a bit, so if anyone wants to jump on a Mythology kick then join in! :D

Egyptian mythology was definitely where it started for me too, but since then it has leaked to all sorts of facets of ancient culture. It has been a long time since I've had a dig into this particular fascination of mine, should probably get some readin' and learnin' on soon.

Or play Age of Mythology, w/e.

Greek mostly. I watched a lot of Hercules and Xena growing up as a kid and Sailor Moon is heavily inspired by the mytho if I remember right. Don't have a god or anything I really identify with, but I haven't thought about it that hard.

I love Egyptian mythology and ancient history, it's why I fell in love with the Stargate movie and SG-1 straight away. I also like other culture's mythology too, especially Greek.

However, for some strange reason I am more highly inclined to Arabic and Persian mythology overall.

people wearing dragon shirts and waving swords around have ruined mythology for me and ripped from it any appeal it might once have had

I've never really looked into much Arabic and Persian Mythology Rostum, I think I will check it out! This will probably make me sound like a derp, but I really love the Prince of Persia games which I'm sure would have many roots in the Persian lore.

I've become quite fascinated by Aboriginal mythology and Dreamtime Stories since being here.

I really, really love Greek Mythology, I read books on it all the time. I find it so interesting.

It was mentioned before, but shows/movies/games like Stargate and TR:TLR really got me into Egyptian Mythology for a while. I think Daniel Jackson made me want to grow up to be an archaeologist when I was a kid too!

Big fan of Norse. I like all sorts though, mythology is just an absolute gold mine for great stories.

also yeah check out the Dreamtime stories if you guys can because far out they're awesome

I love Greek mythology ever since I studied it at high school. My favourite god/goddess are Hades and Aphrodite

Egyptian, Greek, Norse.

I find it insanely fascinating that the Aeons/GFs/Eidolons in FF are based on mythology of some sort.

Greek mythology: I love it and have read much of it but most "heroes" are colossus dicks.

The variety of Egyptian cosmologies are fun!

I know a bit of Nordic, it is interesting but a bit confusing at time.

Japanese mythology is rather interesting at times too.

This might come as a surprise to you, but I know a bit about norse mythology.

I honestly should know more about mythology, but my knowledge is pretty limited to Greek/Roman. I was obsessed with Egyptian mythology as a kid and would always go back and forth between my Egypt and astronomy on any reports I had to write in elementary and middle school. Most of that knowledge is gone now, though.

Greek/Roman mythology is fascinating, though. It's hard to say if I relate to any of their gods and goddesses just because they are pretty much all awful people, at least the male gods. The heroes tend to be pretty terrible people by my standpoint too, but they had a completely different culture and set of values. Despite being fascinated by the mythology, I don't really enjoy The Odyssey and The Iliad at all which is where a lot of what we know about the mythology comes from. I'm not a fan of Epic poetry in general, and the character of Odysseus annoys me. I did find The Aeneid enjoyable on the Roman side of things though. I much preferred reading about the gods and goddesses through the Percy Jackson books because the stories hold surprisingly true to the original mythology in general, but the heroes are more likable.

Egyptian, Greek and Norse as well for me. Anyone who knows me knows I often like to name my pets after gods or persons of mythological interest :jess:

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Originally Posted by Shauna

Egyptian mythology was definitely where it started for me too, but since then it has leaked to all sorts of facets of ancient culture. It has been a long time since I've had a dig into this particular fascination of mine, should probably get some readin' and learnin' on soon.

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Same for me! Egyptian was what led an interest into learning about others. I started reading about it when I was 9~ or 10~ or so and became quickly and lengthily obsessed. Everything surrounding their sending their deceased to the afterlife, The Book of the Dead, all of their lost pharaohs and tombs, etc. It was all so incredible! Egyptian will always be my favorite. (note: it's very possible that my obsession to learn about Egyptian came from watching Raiders of the Lost Ark at an early age, but I cannot confirm this because I don't remember.)

As for the gods themselves, I have always been fond of Anubis.

I like Christian mythology. I enjoyed Paradise Lost despite my professor's seeming attempts to make it as bad as possible to read.

I love Asgardian (Norse) mythology. Ancient Greece is a treasure trove the likes of which will never be seen again. Celtic myths are fantastic, that being said they're also very contradictory and less well preserved due to the destruction they faced at the hands of the Christians who took over.

Since I come from Vikings of some sorts at one point in time, I am most interested in Norse gods.

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Originally Posted by Spuuky

I like Christian mythology. I enjoyed Paradise Lost despite my professor's seeming attempts to make it as bad as possible to read.

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Paradise Lost is not Christian mythology.

I like Norse and Christian myself, chiefly. I'm quite knowledgeable about Greek, Roman, and Egyptian, but don't really like them, and I'm starting to delve into Japanese.

I'm a fan of Christian mythology too. I was just afraid to put the words Christian and mythology together earlier in fear of getting yelled at by somebody.

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Originally Posted by ToriJ

I'm a fan of Christian mythology too. I was just afraid to put the words Christian and mythology together earlier in fear of getting yelled at by somebody.

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Myth - a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

It's certainly debatable, but the idea of a myth always being untrue has long since fallen out of style. The word's meaning has vastly changed over the years, and I see no real reason to argue with the current usage. It's simple, and conveys the idea easily enough that anyone you are discussing it with will know what you mean.

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Originally Posted by Jinx

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

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Originally Posted by Spuuky

I like Christian mythology. I enjoyed Paradise Lost despite my professor's seeming attempts to make it as bad as possible to read.

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Paradise Lost is not Christian mythology.

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It's a fictional story centered around a fictional character from the Bible/Christian mythology. It counts.

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It reuses a couple names and otherwise completely ignores the source material. If Paradise Lost counts as Christian Mythology, then Final Fantasy counts as Hindu mythology just for using the name "Shiva", and counts as an extension of Kabbalah for using "Sephiroth".

Milton at least had Greek and Roman mythological epics in mind when he wrote Paradise Lost, including an invocation to a Muse at the beginning of Book 1. I've honestly only read bits and pieces of Paradise Lost, and I can't remember very much of what I did read. We had a lot of discussions about Paradise Lost and old Christian cycle plays in one of my college English classes that I should try to find some of my notes on, both from class discussions and my own research. Anyways, there are a lot of beliefs with regards to Satan that at least for a time were highly regarded as fact in Christianity that originate from Paradise Lost and some of these cycle plays. Well, if I remember right, they originated in those plays and were expanded upon by Milton. Either way, the epic held true to a lot of beliefs despite its deviations from the Bible.

Long story short, I'd say it would be pretty easy to debate that Paradise Lost should fit into a Christian Mythology regardless of how much it deviates from the Bible. Not that it really matters that much. I didn't find Paradise Lost too terribly interesting from the bits I've read.

My answer is obvious. In fact it's so obvious I'd be insulting everyone's intelligence by saying it and I've already had too many warning for insulting ppl with fragile sensibilities.

I also like Roman and Greek stuff. And Christian Myths. That fella Jesus. What a story! They should definitely make a film.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

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Originally Posted by Jinx

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

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Originally Posted by Spuuky

I like Christian mythology. I enjoyed Paradise Lost despite my professor's seeming attempts to make it as bad as possible to read.

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Paradise Lost is not Christian mythology.

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It's a fictional story centered around a fictional character from the Bible/Christian mythology. It counts.

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It reuses a couple names and otherwise completely ignores the source material. If Paradise Lost counts as Christian Mythology, then Final Fantasy counts as Hindu mythology just for using the name "Shiva", and counts as an extension of Kabbalah for using "Sephiroth".

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I'd consider that naming a couple of video game characters after gods and having no further relation to the gods' stories is far and away a different thing than fully centering an elaborative story around characters and events that happened in the bible and christian literature. It absolutely directly concerns the source material.

It also matters that Paradise Lost actually cares about and intends to extend the Christian mythos, and Final Fantasy does not attempt to do that with Hinduism. I'd also say that things like the Divine Comedy count. I don't see why they wouldn't.

I'd even say that a game like Darksiders is "Christian mythology" in setting or at least inspiration, even though it obviously has very, very little in common with the source material, however strict you want to be with the source material.

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Originally Posted by Spuuky

It also matters that Paradise Lost actually cares about and intends to extend the Christian mythos, and Final Fantasy does not attempt to do that with Hinduism. I'd also say that things like the Divine Comedy count. I don't see why they wouldn't.

I'd even say that a game like Darksiders is "Christian mythology" in setting or at least inspiration, even though it obviously has very, very little in common with the source material, however strict you want to be with the source material.

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If that's what the criteria is, I'll agree and accept it. I'd then list Stargate as participating in both Egyptian and Greek mythologies (since they attempt to explain and expand the mythologies), but whatever.

I count Paradise Lost as a Christian mythology fanfiction, rather than a member part of that mythology. It is an excellent piece, judged on its own merits, and only makes a few errors with the beliefs at its core, but it is full of events, struggles, and locales that simply never happened.

If I were to write a book, today, detailing the struggles and adventures of the Norse gods beyond the myths established by the Norse people, would that count as an addition to the mythology? I have seen many such books, and I am quite a fan of several of them, but I never consider them part of the mythology, since they deviate so far from the original material.

I suppose it is a matter of semantics. I'll concede it as a part of the "mythology", but not a part of the "lore" or "history". Will that work?


Mostly, I loathe the piece for the way it massively skewed the perception of the Christian mythology, rather than for its own merits.

Well, I certainly wouldn't call it Christian "history."

Stargate doesn't feel right, because I don't feel (from my uninformed position) that they're likely actually taking the mythology seriously, but rather intentionally building a fictional TV show for entertainment. Maybe that isn't so different from Milton, but I guess Milton is long enough ago and culturally significant enough to have passed some mystery threshold in my mind, and Stargate hasn't.

Then again, maybe you can include Stargate if that's how you feel about it, I can live with that.

Dude Paradise Lost is one of the most influential texts on Christianity since the Bible itself, so unless you are proposing that Milton actually wrote another Testament and was divinely inspired, it's Christian mythology.

My favorite mythology is XIPE TOTEC, OUR LORD THE FLAYED ONE.