comparing bible stories with roman/greek mythology?

Question

has anyone who has ever studied the bible and greek mythology ever noticed any comparisons between various characters and storys???

any other cultures mythology that can be compared to the bible?

DRZMOG-WHERE IN MY QUESTION DID I BRING UP JESUS AND JEWS?NO WHERE!!!DONT ANSWER A QUESTION THAT DOESNT EXIST!

Answer 1

Yes. One of the most interesting ones is the story of Sargon of Akkad, a great Mesopotamian king, which is almost exactly the same as the Moses story...but about 2000 years earlier. Or the Mesopotamian legend of Utnapishtim, who is basically Noah.

It is also interesting to see how the repression of the Jews affected their beliefs...for instance, the snake was revered as the symbol of immortality in the Middle East. Those people were repressing the Jews however, so the snake becomes the symbol of evil.

Have fun with it, early comparative religion is GREAT!

Answer 2

Greek Mythology And The Bible

Answer 3

Ever since I took Greek/Roman Mythology in class, I have questioned some things that are in the bible. The Book our class had to read was by Edith Hamlton. Although I haven't had my book with me at the moment I do remember some details that stood out to me. One of the stories in the Myth book was about the races. There are a certain number of races, us being the brass race (the most corrupt) I do believe. It basically states that the more decades that pass us by, Mankind becomes more corrupt and eventually Zeus will destroy all the living beings for their disobedience. Another story in the mythology book that comes to mind is similar to Noah's arc. The gist of the story is: two people, a man and women were warned about Zeus having Poseidon flood the earth so they built a box where they could both outlast the storm. After the flood took place and everything was in ruin, the box ends up landing on ground. The two people get out of the box. At first Zeus was angry that the two survived but then decided to let them live. A voice called out to them and said something like cast aside the bones of mother earth to form new life. They did so and thus new life came.

The first story reminds me of revelations in the bible, and the latter reminds me of Noah's Arc as I stated above. But what gets me is the fact that the bible was written after Mythology. There seems to be similarities in each of them which I couldn't dismiss, that made me believe that certain stories in the bible were taken from Mythology. I am not here to claim the bible to be false or anything of the matter. I am just curious what other people's opinions are. Maybe someone else's could enlighten all of us here?

Answer 4

RE:
comparing bible stories with roman/greek mythology?
has anyone who has ever studied the bible and greek mythology ever noticed any comparisons between various characters and storys???

any other cultures mythology that can be compared to the bible?

Answer 5

I would recommend reading the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is an epic Babylonian / Sumerian poem written around 2500-2000 BC about the hero-king mentioned above. In the poem, there is a man called Ut-Napishtim who is commanded to build a wooden ark because the Gods are going to flood the world. If you decide to read the poem, you will find many parallels with the Biblical story of Noah. It's not Greek mythology, but I hope this answer helps!

Answer 6

Yes, there are parallels between Judeo-Christian beliefs & the ancient religions which predate them.
The account of Noah & the Ark is much like the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh.
The name, "Jesus" has a certain similarity to "Zeus", the Greek King of the Gods.
Perseus & Hercules, sons of Zeus, were born to mortal women, just as Jesus, the Son of God, was born to the Virgin Mary.
The Egyptian myth of Osiris has themes of death & resurrection.
The list could go on. There are many commonalities among all religions.
As a Christian, I do not believe any of this negates my own beliefs.

Answer 7

By the truckload. Most of the historical parts of the bible have equivalent stories in other mythologies and not restricted to the Eurasian continent.

Answer 8

your right..alot of the greek "myths" match up with things in the bible...i belive that it all started out as the same story and then after a time one people group added thing into it to make it match up with their gods and godesses, while the other stuck to the original story line.

Answer 9

The deity most Christians, Muslims, and Jews think of as God is actually a version of the Greek god Zeus.

Answer 10

All I know is Jesus is thought to be son of god. Julius Caesar, emperor of Rome, told the Roman souldier to kill Jesus so basically its not the Jew's fault because they wanted to save JC, but couldn't cuz the guards will kill them. SO NO THE JEWS DID NOT KILL JC!!! YOU DUMB IGNORANTS HICKS OUT THERE. And fyi christian fanatics, you say the Muslim religion is wrong, but gues what dee dee dee? You both worship the same god. Geez im really gonna get flamed for this.......