Why are all these things similar in different culture?

Question

Why is it in many cultures and folklore, they speak of similar things like dragons, a creator of the world, the first man and woman, the demon beneath the world and angels? Are all these just mere coincidence?

Answer 1

No they are not coincidence. Many scholars believe that most religions derived from the ancient Sumerian tablets which are the oldest written records on the planet. According to the tablets there was a god in Sumer named Eniki, (also known as EA, Oannes), that was the creator, his emblem was a snake which is the sign for wisdom and medicine. He was also said to be the god of the Sea. He ruled what was called the underworld but back then the underworld was not under the earth it was the land below the horizon, or on the bottom part of the planet, like Africa.

As these stories were passed on orally over many thousands of years this god evolved into a serpent, in many cultures he was the winged serpent, later he evolved into a dragon, (winged serpent still), and in some into a merman, (Poseidon and Oannes half man half fish, god of the sea). Later the underworld evolved into being under the ground or hell.

In some of the creation stories he was the creator and his brother Enili was the lord of the gods and was displeased when he created man and gave him intelligence. He was afraid that man would try to be like a god so he cursed him, Eniki. And some believe that this is how the story of Adam and Eve eventually came about and the lord of the gods turned into god and the creator turned into the snake and was associated with evil. (Satan means adversary), and how the serpent/Satan eventually became associated with the underworld or hell.

Angels were the emissaries or messengers to the gods, they were not winged beings as people think of today. The word Angel means messenger. Angels only became thought of as winged beings thousands of years later when they were painted that way in works of art. The bible does not ever say that these angles were winged beings as we thing of today. Maybe, just a thought that this image may have came from the Roman/Greek god Mercury or Hermes because he was the messenger of the gods and wore a winged helmet and shoes and could fly.

Answer 2

Just coincidence, kiddo. There are plenty of cultures that do NOT refer to dragons, a creator, a first man and woman, or demons. Those that do are just attempting to answer some of the really basic questions people always have, being people.
Why are we here? Why is the world like this? Who's responsible?
Unless you have a pretty sophisticated science that can actually come up with real answers, it's usually chalked up to "god" or "gods."

Answer 3

I loved Zoser's answer. There's much truth to that. I do agree that it's fascinating to marry someone from a different culture. It's just fascinating getting to know people of different cultures anyway. There are mixed marriages in my family and it's so fascinating getting to know them and their families. I've discovered that even though people are from different countries, depending on where they're from or where their family is from, there are similarities in cultures. I think that there has to be some similarities of both cultures. For example, roles of the husband and wife, ways to raising children (i.e. discipline), dealing with family, etc... If those things are not clear beforehand, the marriage has a less probability of succeeding, due to disagreements, which would lead to dissatisfaction and conflict. However, if there are some similarities of both cultures and acceptance about the differences (which would require some open mindedness) and of course, love, then I believe it would be a successful marriage. Is this long enough for you, Mr Blank? --------------------------------------... Edit: Lovely Diamond brought up the excellent point of in-laws. Hany brought up important points, too. They brought up points that need to be addressed prior to marriage. --------------------------------------... Edit: Blank, you saw that note? LOL. I didn't think you did.

Answer 4

Man started in one place then slowly spread out, so it seems likely we took some of the very early beleifes with us. There was also an amazing mout of trade between nations. Ive read that Apollo was a god brought from the windy isles north of france (uk). I would guess thats how dragons got out of asia, along the silk road. After all would be a nice way to travel

Answer 5

once we were a united race then they build the tower of babel so we all started to speak a other lingo but we started of by all having the same culture and folklore as time went by we added to this either good or bad

Answer 6

Because all of us are humans!
Wherever they are, people have the same fear, the same desire, ...In the past, when people were surrounded by think they didn't understand (for example the lightnings) they wanted to find an explanation, where if came from...
It seems that we haven't a huge imagination or always the same, I think this is because we are "exactly" the same.

Answer 7

i know of a dozen cultures that dont mention these and rather mention apes and eagles instead of dragons , first tribes rather than one man and women, demons who live in forests and never heard of angels,
as many imaginary flights as many minds...

Answer 8

Who knows?
Some of it is probably man trying to justify his place on earth. But I do believe that some myths may also be based on fact given that they occur time and time again (UFOs and aliens, for example)

Answer 9

Because in the end humanity is humanity. We all have the same hopes, fears and desires, they are just shaped by the society in which we live.

Answer 10

Myths spread?