Dealing with an aspect of The Divine that makes you uncomfortable

[habbalah]

Re: Dealing with an aspect of The Divine that makes you uncomfortable

Most mythological "problems" seemed to have arisen when someone either forgot a god that assisted them, or when two (or more) gods took an interest in someone as a way to compete with one another, or specifically transgressed against a specific god and asked other gods for assistance. The thing to remember about Greek mythology is that our retelling of mythology comes from later writers inserting them into poetry, plays, etc...usually with a specific political or social agenda and at the very least with their own personal biases. Sort of like the King James Bible, lol.

I didn't mean any disrespect. Just trying to call on what very little knowledge I had to comment that I didn't recall any specific mention of "you are worshiping deity x, and only x", at least from a mythological standpoint.

[Dez]

Re: Dealing with an aspect of The Divine that makes you uncomfortable

Backing up to what Thal mentioned about specific locations (temples to Poseidon where there were a lot of fishermen), there's a lot of evidence of that in place names in Northern Europe. For example, the is some evidence that Odin became the head god of the Norse pantheon (comparatively) later in the game based on the fact that, unlike gods like Tyr and Frey, there are by few place-names linked to him. He was a warrior god needed for a warrior age, and so he suited the period where the Norse went a-viking perfectly. On the other hand, there are large portions of Denmark with a plethora of Frey-linked names (which makes sense, considering there wouldn't be a lot of grain grown farther north then that). In those areas, while other gods were referenced, Frey was most likely considered the most important god for regular worship, and traditionally the Danish kings claimed their linage to be from him.

Going back to the Mediterranean example, something else that probably often took place was smaller local deities being absorbed into the idea of a major deity. One example archeologists have good proof of is Diana of Ephesus, in modern day Turkey. She was a fertility goddess, shown with rows of breasts all down her front, and wild animals around her legs. Talk about a far cry from the virgin huntress! Yet, that is who she was linked to.

[thalassa]

Re: Dealing with an aspect of The Divine that makes you uncomfortable

I didn't mean any disrespect. Just trying to call on what very little knowledge I had to comment that I didn't recall any specific mention of "you are worshiping deity x, and only x", at least from a mythological standpoint.

I didn't think you were! I just know that (regarding where our telling of Greek mythology comes from) most people don't think about that (or know about it) when they think about what the myths themselves mean.