Mythology Buffs?

Question

I am going to college in 3 years for Mythology. The only stuff i know is Greek, and that isnt much. So if you could tell me everything you know about WHATEVER kind of Mythology, i would appriciate it alot. I cant go to anywhere but yahoo, so please dont give me references. Thank you!


I would like as many people as possible to answer this question, no matter if someone else already answered something that you know about as well. There are many different versions!

Answer 1

Here is what I found on Egyptian mythology
Gods
Early beliefs can be split into 5 distinct localized groups,

the Ennead of Heliopolis, whose chief god was Atum
the Ogdoad of Hermopolis, where the chief god was Ra
the Chnum-Satet-Anuket triad of Elephantine, where the chief god was Chnum
the Amun-Mut-Chons triad of Thebes, where the chief god was Amun
the Ptah-Sekhmet-Nefertem triad of Memphis, unusual in that the gods were unconnected before the triad was formalized, where the chief god was Ptah
Throughout the vast and complex history of Egypt, the dominant beliefs of the ancient Egyptians merged and mutated as leaders of different groups gained power. This process continued even after the end of the Egyptian civilization as we know it today. As an example, during the New Kingdom Ra and Amun became Amun-Ra. This "merging" into a single god is typically referred to as syncretism. Syncretism should be distinguished from mere groupings, also referred to as "families" such as Amun, Mut and Khonsu, where no "merging" takes place. Over time, deities took part in multiple syncretic relationships, for instance, the combination of Ra and Horus into Ra-Herakty. However, even when taking part in such a syncretic relationship, the original deities did not become completely "absorbed" into the combined deity, although the individuality of the one was often greatly weakened. Also, these syncretic relationships sometimes involved more than just two deities, for instance, Ptah, Seker and Osiris, becoming Ptah-Seker-Osiris. The goddesses followed a similar pattern. Also important to keep in mind is that sometimes the attributes of one deity got closely associated with another, without any "formal" syncretism taking place. For instance, the loose association of Hathor with Isis.

An interesting aspect of ancient Egyptian religion is that deities sometimes played different conflicting roles. As an example, the lioness Sekhmet being sent out by Ra to devour the humans for having rebelled against him, but later on becoming a fierce protectress of the kingdom, life in general and the sick. Even more complex is the roles of Set. Judging the mythology of Set from a modern perspective, especially the mythology surrounding Set's relationship with Osiris, it is easy to cast Set as the arch villain and source of evil. This is wrong, however, as Set was earlier playing the role of destroyer of Apep, in the service of Ra on his barge, and thus serving to uphold Ma'at (Truth, Justice and Harmony).

Given the diverse tapestry of religious history in ancient Egypt, it comes as no surprise that many different forms of theism evolved. Although mainly henotheistic in nature, at some point even monotheism, as introduced by Akhenaten thrived. What is important to realize is that it is very dangerous to try and cast the religion of the ancient Egyptians in any particular theistic form. Even more dangerous to claim is that, towards the end of the Egyptian civilization, a drive toward monotheism was taking place. The evidence of the time (Greaco-Roman period) seems counter to this belief: although syncretism was still taking place (sometimes and more frequently between Egyptian and non-Egyptian deities), many deities were still revered and served. As an example the following which Thoth enjoyed during these later periods. This is quite evident when one simply looks at the vast number of mummified Ibis birds offered to him. Also, the belief in Egyptian deities were spreading to countries other than Egypt. For instance the Roman belief in, and following of Isis.

The Egyptians believed that in the beginning, the universe was filled with the dark waters of chaos. The first god, Re-Atum, appeared from the water as the land of Egypt appears every year out of the flood waters of the Nile. Re-Atum spat and out of the spittle came out the gods Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture). The world was created when Shu and Tefnut gave birth to two children: Nut (sky) & Geb (the Earth). Humans were created when Shu and Tefnut went wandering in the dark wastes and got lost. Re-Atum sent his eye to find them. On reuniting, his tears of joy turned into people.

Geb and Nut copulated, and upon Shu's learning of children's fornication, he seperated the two, effectively becoming the air between the sky and ground. He also decreed that the pregnant Nut should not give birth any day of the year. Nut pleaded with Thoth, who on her behalf gambled with the moon-god Yah and won five more days to be added onto the then 360-day year. Nut had one child on each of these days: Osiris, Isis, Seth, Nephthys, and Horus-the-Elder.

Osiris, by different accounts, was either the son of Re-Atum or Geb, and king of Egypt. His brother Seth represented evil in the universe. He murdered Osiris and himself became the king. After killing Osiris Seth tore his body into pieces, but Isis rescued most of the pieces for burial beneath the temple. Seth made himself king but was challenged by Osiris's son - Horus. Seth lost and was sent to the desert. He became the God of terrible storms. Osiris was mummified by Anubis and became God of the dead. Horus became the King and from him descended the pharaohs.

Another version is when Seth made a chest which only Osiris could fit into. He then invited Osiris to a feast. Seth made a bet that no one could fit into the chest. Osiris was the last one to step into the chest, but before he did Seth asked if he could hold Osiris's crown. Osiris agreed and stepped into the chest. As he lay down, Seth slammed the lid shut and put the crown on his head. He then set the chest afloat on the Nile. Isis did not know of her husband's death until the wind told her. She then placed her son in a safe place and cast a spell so no one could find him. When she searched for a husband, a child told her a chest had washed up on the bank and a tree had grown up. The tree was so straight the king had used it for the central pillar. Isis went and asked for her husband's body and it was given to her. The god of the underworld told her that Osiris would be a king, but only in the underworld.

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Death
Egypt had a highly developed view of the afterlife with elaborate rituals for preparing the body and soul for a peaceful life after death. Beliefs about the soul and afterlife focused heavily on preservation of the body, or ba (The soul was known as the ka). This meant that embalming and mummification were practiced, in order to preserve the individual's identity in the afterlife. Originally the dead were buried in reed caskets in the searing hot sand, which caused the remains to dry quickly, preventing decomposition, and were subsequently buried. Later, they started constructing wooden tombs, and the extensive process of mummification was developed by the Egyptians around the 4th Dynasty. All soft tissues were removed, and the cavities washed and packed with natron, then the exterior body was buried in natron as well. Since it was a stoneable offence to harm the body of the Pharaoh, even after death, the person who made the cut in the abdomen with a rock knife was ceremonially chased away and had rocks thrown at him.

After coming out of the natron, the bodies were coated inside and out with resin to preserve them, then wrapped with linen bandages, embedded with religious amulets and talismans. In the case of royalty, this was usually then placed inside a series of nested coffins the outermost of which was a stone sarcophagus. The intestines, lungs, liver and the stomach were preserved separately and stored in canopic jars protected by the Four sons of Horus. Other creatures were also mummified, sometimes thought to be pets of Egyptian families, but more frequently or more likely they were the representations of the Gods. The ibis, crocodile, cats, nile perch and baboon can be found in perfect mummified forms.

The Book of the Dead was a series of almost two hundred spells represented as sectional texts, songs and pictures written on papyrus, individually customized for the deceased, which were buried along with the dead in order to ease their passage into the underworld. In some tombs, the Book of the Dead has also been found painted on the walls, although the practice of painting on the tomb walls appears to predate the formalization of the Book of the Dead as a bound text. One of the best examples of the Book of the Dead is The Papyrus of Ani, created around 1240 BC, which, in addition to the texts themselves, also contains many pictures of Ani and his wife on their journey through the land of the dead.

In later belief, the soul of the deceased is led into a hall of judgement in Duat by Anubis (god of mummification) and the deceased's heart, which was the record of the morality of the owner, is weighed against a single feather representing Maàt's (the concept of truth, and order). If the outcome is favorable, the deceased is taken to Osiris, god of the afterlife, in Aaru, but the demon Ammit (Eater of Hearts) – part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus – destroys those hearts whom the verdict is against, leaving the owner to remain in Duat
Temples
Many temples are still standing today. Others are in ruins from wear and tear, while others have been lost entirely. Pharaoh Ramses II was a particularly prolific builder of temples.

Some known temples include:

Abu Simbel – Complex of two massive rock temples in southern Egypt on the western bank of the Nile.
Abydos (Great Temple of Abydos) – Adoration of the early kings, whose cemetery, to which it forms a great funerary chapel, lies behind it.
Ain el-Muftella (Bahariya Oasis) [2] – Could have served as the city center of El Qasr. It was probably built around the 26th Dynasty.
Karnak – Once part of the ancient capital of Egypt, Thebes.
Bani Hasan al Shurruq [3] – Located in Middle Egypt near to Al-Minya and survived the reconstruction of the New Kingdom.
Edfu – Ptolemaic temple that is located between Aswan and Luxor.
Temple of Kom Ombo – Controlled the trade routes from Nubia to the Nile Valley.
Luxor – Built largely by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, it was the centre of the Opet Festival.
Medinet Habu [4] (Memorial Temple of Ramesses III)– Temple and a complex of temples dating from the New Kingdom.
Temple of Hatshepsut – Mortuary temple complex at Deir el-Bahri with a colonnaded structure of perfect harmony, built nearly one thousand years before the Parthenon.
Philae – Island of Philae with Temple of Aset which was constructed in the 30th Dynasty.
Ramesseum (Memorial Temple of Ramesses II) – The main building, dedicated to the funerary cult, comprised two stone pylons (gateways, some 60 m wide), one after the other, each leading into a courtyard. Beyond the second courtyard, at the centre of the complex, was a covered 48-column hypostyle hall, surrounding the inner sanctuary.
Dendera Temple complex – Several temples but the all overshadowing building in the complex is the main temple, the Hathor temple.

External influences
Egypt exchanged ideas with Libya during its early unsettled period. Egypt was also influenced by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt for 300 years. Cleopatra was the only Ptolemaic queen to rule on her own. Egypt was incorporated into the Roman Empire, and was ruled first from Rome and then from Constantinople (until the Arab conquest).

Libyan period
Main article: Third Intermediate Period of Egypt
22nd - 25th Dynasty

Egypt has long had ties with Libya. After the death of Rameses XI, the priesthood in the person of Herihor wrest control of Egypt away from the Pharaohs until they were superseded (without any apparent struggle) by the Libyan kings of the 22nd Dynasty. The first king of the new Dynasty, Shoshenq I, served as a general under the last ruler of the 21st Dynasty. It is known that he appointed his own son to be the High Priest of Amun, a post that was previously a hereditary appointment. The scant and patchy nature of the written records from this period suggest that it was unsettled. There appear to have been many subversive groups which eventually led to the creation of the 23rd dynasty which ran concurrent with the 22nd.

Ptolemaic period
Main article: Greek Egypt
304 BC - 30 BC

Started with Ptolemy I of Egypt and ended with Cleopatra VII. As Ptolemy I Soter ("Saviour"), he founded the Ptolemaic dynasty, which was to rule Egypt for 300 years. All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name "Ptolemy". Because the Ptolemaic kings adopted the Egyptian custom of marrying their sisters, many of the kings ruled jointly with their spouses, who were also of the royal house. This custom made Ptolemaic politics confusingly incestuous, and the later Ptolemies were increasingly feeble. The last of the Ptolemies, the famous Cleopatra, was the only Ptolemaic queen to rule on her own, after the death of her brother/husband, Ptolemy XIII.

Roman period
Main article: Roman Egypt
30 BC - 639 AD

Egypt was incorporated into the Roman Empire and was ruled first from Rome and then from Constantinople (until the Arab conquest). The most revolutionary event in the history of Roman Egypt was the introduction of Christianity in the 2nd century. It was at first vigorously persecuted by the Roman authorities, who feared religious discord more than anything else in a country where religion had always been paramount. But it soon gained adherents among the Jews of Alexandria. From them it rapidly passed to the Greeks, and then to the native Egyptians, who found its promise of personal salvation and its teachings of social equality appealing.

Around this time was also Akhenaten, who was thought to have been divinely inspired. However, it does not seem likely that Akhenaten simply decided out of the blue to make such a major change in religion at the time. Many early historians, determined to link Akhenaten's religion somehow to the Jewish religion, said that he was inspired by Joseph or Moses (Redford, p. 4, 1984). This is a possibility, considering that Joseph, at least, was around in roughly the same time period as Akhenaten. However, after close examination of Akhenaten's religion, this hypothesis seems unlikely. Akhenaten's religion did center on one god, but his major emphasis was on the Aten's visibility, tangibility, and undeniable realness. Akhenaten placed no emphasis, therefore, on faith. According to John Tuthill, a professor at the University of Guam, Akhenaten's reasons for his religious reform were political. By the time of Akhenaten's reign, the god Amen had risen to such a high status that the priests of Amen had become even more wealthy and powerful than the pharaohs. However, Barbara Mertz argued that Akhenaten and his courtiers would not have easily perceived this (Mertz, 1966, p. 269). Still, this theory remains as a possibility to be considered. It may be that Akhenaten was influenced by his family members, particularly his wife or mother (Dunham, 1963, p. 4; Mertz, 1966, p. 269). There was a certain trend in Akhenaten's family towards sun-worship. Towards the end of the reign of Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III, the Aten was depicted increasingly often. Some historians have suggested that the same religious revolution would have happened even if Akhenaten had never become pharaoh at all. However, considering the violent reaction that followed shortly after Akhenaten's untimely death, this seems improbable. The reasons for Akhenaten's revolution still remain a mystery. Until further evidence can be uncovered, it will be impossible to know just what motivated his unusual behavior.

All this is just copied and pasted though. from my favorite site wikipedia.org

Answer 2

yea, just putting what i know on norse mythology would probably take 2 or 3 pages on here. you had better get to a library then. no matter that it's "older" information, it is still the same information.

the more popular mythologies are probably greek, norse, and egyption. don't forget however, that christianity, buddism, hinduism, islam, and judaeism are usually mythologies as well.

the romans had their own religion, way back when, but it was kinda boring. it was a god for every hearth. not colorful at all. through all of their trading with the greek, they began to pick up their religion as well. but they renamed the gods with latin names. that's when you gotta remember when to use zeus, and when to use jupiter

then there are a whole lot of other religions that are not nearly so well known. for the greek tales, there is a book by edith hamilton, an awesome collection of pretty much all of the greek stories. for the norse, the problem is that not much was written down. the whole religion was told by mouth, so there are so many different versions of the same story. however, they were written down somewhere around 1400 i think, in iceland. the Eddas and the Sagas were their titles, and that is pretty much the only source of norse religion. H.A.Guerber wrote a nice book on that.

it's awesome to look into as much as you can before hand, but you'll be learning it when you get there anyway. i wish i could have gone to school for mythology, but nowhere around here supports anything more than a short class on it.

Answer 3

Can't you do a yahoo search for Norse Mythology, Celtic Mythology etc. or you just can't go anywhere at all? There's a lot of info in mythology, all the Gods and fairies and whatnot to put on here.

Answer 4

properly, wine is properly one merchandise. Bacchus no longer basically drank it, he gave it to human beings. And the close by American gods and goddesses (no longer frequently called that) apparently ate corn, no longer less than. certainty is, there is probable a god or goddess someplace that eats any organic nutrition. there have been (are?) easily those that ate meat, which contain human flesh in some cultures. yet I doubt if there are any that consume sophisticated sugar, vast Macs or Coca Cola.

Answer 5

Holy Crap.
There's Gilgamesh
Mabiogian, Ulster Cycle, Virgil, Orpheus... that doesn't even touch Egypt.
Don't start with me Lady, you'll learn it in college!
If you can type everything you know you don't know much. How bout asking a specific question.

Answer 6

okay go on the internet and research your self it would probably be better cause you wouldnt get bad info i hope you like this subject because if you don't know much about it u shouldn't take it.

Answer 7

if you cant google, yahoo search. if thats not possible go to your local library. they will have homers odyssey if nothing else and thats a great place to start

Answer 8

get an encyclopedia and look it up there