groups

Here's where I may be showing my ignorance of the Bible, but I'm not familiar with the part where bad Angels made like Rob Lowe.

As for myth, yeah, I suspect quite a few myths had their basis in fact. Give a storyteller half a chance, and he/she will embellish a story based in fact to the point it goes from an historical account to myth. Nothing wrong with that, if for no other reason than myth, being larger than life, is entertaining. Plus, the story as it evolves tells us something about the values and perspectives of the listeners as well as the tellers.

I noticed several years ago, when I was reading a children's book of mythology, that the writer intentionally bawdlerized the stories for modern sensibilities. Example: in the story of Thor's visit to Jotunheim, the giants, who'd seen through Thor's ruse, chided him for being dishonest and generally a naughty person. End of story. Dude! What a crappy way to end one of Norse mythology's greatest stories. I was so PO'd, I sat down and wrote a testosterone-laden version of the story in the vernacular of the Deep South. It worked. I had a story that satisfied. (Maybe only me, but I was satisfied.)

A great story can stand the test of translation. Tell them you heard it here first.

To answer your initial question, I have read The Iliad and The Odyssey. Many of the passages in those works are long, repetitious and frankly dull, but when I got to the end, after Odysseus reclaimed what was rightfully his, I knew I'd done something no other kid in Miss Hamrick's 5th grade had done that year.

In high school I found the Iliad interesting reading. I was fascinated by the Gods and the story of Odysseus.

Today my fancy has turned to the possibility that these stories were inspired by dinosuar bones the greeks mistaken as human. ( The Discovery Channel ). I still think that in another plane of existance these stories were true. It is these stories that inspire scientist to seek the power of the Gods. Maybe thats why Early space craft where named ( Mercury ), ( Apollo ). :)

Yes Charles you could be right there.
I do think (because I believe the bible) that there is basis for truth in some of those fables/myths.....they are called that because we can not prove it. However when something is as widespread as those myths are there has to be something to it. I read both the Illiad and Odyssey in school so had no choice but it gave me a huge interest in what can not be proven. I went back and read some of the books from school days. The Anglo Saxon chronicles and Geoffrey of Monmouths account of the early settlers in England. How they met giants there and fought them. So....as his reports are based on even older documents that are in the British museum I guess that there is some substance to it. So intriguing. I see Wot out there rolling his eyes.....but I can not help it guys. I love this stuff.

"Here's where I may be showing my ignorance of the Bible, but I'm not familiar with the part where bad Angels made like Rob Lowe."

I think Espirit maybe referencing Genesis (6) versus 1-4.

1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the LORD said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
4 There were giants Num. 13.33 in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Now THIS is something I can sink my teeth into! One thing that I find fascinating is that in many old moths, there was a great flood. Also, the Celtic mythology closely resembles the mythology of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Native American myths. All myths and legends have a core of truth, around which are splendorous tales of heroism and high drama centered around a moralistic theme of some kind.

I feel sorry that Americans have lost their mythology. Mexico is still rich with it, and I believe mythology makes life sweeter. I still hail Joseph Campbell's Power of Myth series as something to be held close to the heart.

If so many ancient cultures had myths that carried a same theme, then there must be some amount of truth to all of those myths notwithstanding the trade routes and conquests. For me personally, I still speak to the Old Gods. Here in Mexico, many still adhere to the old gods as well as the Christian god. They live lives rich with the fabric of a connection between all elements and worlds, and they display a quiet wisdom of certainty, no matter what is going on politically or economically. This is the stuff of life, of LIFE, not just existence or the pursuit of happiness/material wealth.

Great subject..

Did Zeus, Ra, Orin really exist?

Or where the gods of yesteryear just mans abstractions of how the earth worked? Lets hear it!

Can you imagine the imagination of our forefathers before there was anything like science, or tv or telephones or electricity or developed economies and cities?
I think that mythology was a rich expression of how we saw ourselves in an age gone by. It was what dreams were made of that we still read about in wonderment today.
When I first came to Thailand in 1975, there was that intouch feeling with the earth. Everything was so backward and real. I had a friend die in a car accident here and he came to sit with me while I slept the next night. Makes you wonder if modernization strips away the reality of our souls in a simplistic setting.
TJ

Comment deleted by an Administrator

......I am looking for those people like me...Espirit

*****
Are you looking for people like yourself or people that like you?
I like you and your tooth fairy.

......I am looking for those people like me...Espirit

*****
Are you looking for people like yourself or people that like you?
I like you and your tooth fairy.

Now that is Mythological! lol