Mythology repeats itself, over and over throughout the ages. Here is an interesting god from GodChecker.com. SERAPIS: Bearded Multi-cultural God of Healing and various Other Things.
He's something of an enigmatic figure, being a Greek God worshipped by the Egyptians as part of an export deal which saw him appear in several unlikely places including Babylon.
In the time of Ptolemy, like today, there was much political importance in worshipping the right God. Wars and friction were much less likely to happen if you didn't believe your neighbors were dirty stinking blaspheming infidels.
As there has never yet been a God that everyone can agree on, the Greeks and Egyptians cheated a little by inventing one. They took a statue of HADES for his good looks, mixed in the attributes of OSIRIS and APIS, added a touch of some impressive-sounding but obscure Babylonian God — and the result was SERAPIS.
This religious strategy was highly successful — in fact we highly recommend it to The Powers That Be in the modern world. Perhaps SERAPIS himself might fit the bill. He was associated with a cult of the divine bull and had a magnificently bushy beard. It could be worse.
So many gods, so little common sense amongst humans to recognize mythology for what it is. . . fiction.
2 comments:
I think that myth is quite important from a cultural point of view. As long as you know its myth I don't think it causes any great harm. Myths are also pretty good stories in the main which is a major reason why they've lasted so long.
Cyberkitten, I agree that myth is important from a cultural point of view. Like you say, as long as you know it is myth. I love the mythological stories and all the characters from all cultures. The great epics are my favorites, like Gilgamesh, for one. And some of the Native American myths are quite funny. Human beings are fascinating with the way they use their imaginations.
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