2006-06-09 08:38:48 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
Classical mythology tells many tales of man and beast liasons that resulted in man-beast offspring; for instance, the minotaur. Some were mortal. Others, like Pan, were divine. They were potent fertility symbols--what made them popular in pagan times would be their downfall in the sexually-repressed Christian era.
The devil only acquired the features of these man-beasts when the Church tried to stamp out pagan practices in medieval Europe. By making their beloved fertility gods and demi-gods evil, they tried to stomp out their worship.
2006-06-09 08:41:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pan was the first god, and variations on the god of the woodlands are in virtually every pantheon from China to India to Africa to Europe to N. America. Sometimes he has horns, sometimes antlers, sometimes a tail ... but always part animal from the waist down.
When the Christers came along, they were really clever about following that old Roman tradition of co-opting all the gods, holidays and rites of the local religions they were hoping to supplant.
Now, as to why some became "saints" and "angels" and old Pan got made into "Satan" ... it said that you fear what you do not understand. Pan (or his local equivalent) was the major deity in a lot of the world. A Pan-like woods spirit, Cernunnos, was the primary deity of the Druids throughout most of Europe while the Bible was being cobbled together, so since the church had decided to wipe out the druids entirely, it made sense to demonize (literally) their main god.
So now you know.
2006-06-10 13:21:49 · answer #2 · answered by Grendle 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you're interested in that, look up the meaning behind the "Lucky Horseshoe." The Devil may need a new one, so people hung them up for good luck ... better to offer him a new shoe than to be tormented because his hooves hurt.
2006-06-09 18:10:21 · answer #3 · answered by pickle head 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the early church demonized Pan (Greek) and Cernunnus (Celtic) Gods that both had hooves for feet, as well as horns. No they were not evil.
2006-06-09 16:10:51 · answer #4 · answered by dougluvn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's just one of the many guises he uses and others use to describe him. He was Lucifer, God's most trusted Angel until decided he could do better and God showed him the door. Technically, he's a serpant since Genesis.
2006-06-09 15:43:27 · answer #5 · answered by Shrimp 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know. People just paint the devil in way they consider to be evil looking.
2006-06-09 17:11:19 · answer #6 · answered by greenstar 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Christian character of Satan's appearance was based on the Greek God Pan, the God of the shepherds.
2006-06-09 15:42:57 · answer #7 · answered by candied_arsenic 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mythology states that our lord & master has hooves because he is part horse/ part angel.
2006-06-09 15:41:41 · answer #8 · answered by Dr. Christopher Carter 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its something that is undesireble to have. its unhuman, and humans fear and feel more distant from whats not human, and thats what the church wants satan to seem like. it like how dragons and snakes are also used to represent satan. dragons are scary and destructive, snakes scare and disgust some people. its also why god is shown with human hands sometimes, to look human, and to make people not feel as distant and not fear him. it takes an atheist to look at things from a nuetral perpective, and nuetral perspectives are the best.
2006-06-09 18:56:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes I agree with douglas L .But also even the name Lucifer being the devils name came about because a translater hated another christain priest named Lucifer.
2006-06-10 17:27:43 · answer #10 · answered by drastx007 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋