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Post by robinherne on Apr 11, 2010 17:27:58 GMT -1
Many mythologies feature tales of deities feuding with each other. Is this a human attempt to understand something going on between divine forces, and if so what? Many people speak of having divine patrons ~ what happens when two people following conflicting deities meet?
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Post by redraven on Apr 12, 2010 7:57:08 GMT -1
Many mythologies feature tales of deities feuding with each other. Is this a human attempt to understand something going on between divine forces, and if so what? I suspect this is more to do with the cultural aspects of humanity than what actually constitutes reality for divinities. No doubt in earlier times, the aspect of conflict would have been witnessed in various guises and it would have been probable that this aspect would have been carried over into the realms of the Gods. If you see conflict all around you, between humans, between animals (in the form of predation) and to a concept that placed the forces of nature into the "real" world of humanity, then conflict in nature, it would have been a step born of the prevailing understanding. It also then affords a class of divinity, the warrior God / essess, to emerge. These have to be representative of a particular period in time associated with the cultural thinking of that time and the pragmatic approach witnessed with the assumption the winning side therefore were in relation with the more powerful God was one that prevailed over a large period of history. Many people speak of having divine patrons ~ what happens when two people following conflicting deities meet? Whatever the outcome, it can't be worse than when two religions supposedly in reverence of the same deity meet! RR |
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Post by megli on Apr 12, 2010 10:09:48 GMT -1
Read Euripides' 'Hippolytus'!! You end up getting dragged behind your chariot and killed because Aphrodite and Artemis demand irreconcilable things from you....  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippolytus_(play) |
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Post by robinherne on Apr 12, 2010 12:04:13 GMT -1
Read it? I was in it (Uni drama society).
"These have to be representative of a particular period in time associated with the cultural thinking of that time"
RR, do you mean the myths were invented to explain perceived conflicts, or that (some at least) deities are constructs for explaining conditions?
Does anyone think that some certain deities just plain dislike each other? Or perhaps, in some cases, it's more akin to a chemical reaction ~ two forces that are fine when kept at a distance, but cause mayhem when combined?
regards, Robin
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Post by megli on Apr 12, 2010 14:20:13 GMT -1
Read it? I was in it (Uni drama society). Were you Phaedra?!  |
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Post by redraven on Apr 12, 2010 15:19:27 GMT -1
RR, do you mean the myths were invented to explain perceived conflicts, or that (some at least) deities are constructs for explaining conditions? Both. I suspect the answer was more subject to cultural considerations and how a particular society was structured. For a military society, I would suggest the former. For a more agricultural based society, then the latter. Either way, there would always be evidenced areas of conflict, both human and natural in origin. So conflict in this world would, one may suspect, have been to them evidence of conflict in the other world. Does anyone think that some certain deities just plain dislike each other? Or perhaps, in some cases, it's more akin to a chemical reaction ~ two forces that are fine when kept at a distance, but cause mayhem when combined? regards, Robin It's possible, but in my experience, characteristics like dislike originate from humanity. Opposites happen, but that doesn't mean their reactions are based in a human subjective context, their reactions are not subject to our interactions. As for mayhem, it would appear using current physics based information, to be the norm, suggesting "normality" or order created by interactions with humanity, are the exception to the rule! RR |
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