from where did the mythological gods originate?

Question

first we have two well known sets (there may be more, i dont know)...the romans and the greeks...now for obvious reasons we know where they originated but my question is whose brainchild were they...i mean we "know" who wrote the bible but mythology is just that as stated by its name so we know it to be a bunch of stories....from what i understand the romans were more strict in adhering to the religious practices and beliefs set forth by these gods and the greeks were more laid back about it...we know that homer wrote the famous illiad and oddesey so were the origins of greek mythology his or what?....was someone just sitting around one day going "i think i'll make up some mythological gods and creatures today"...if so who?...or were these stories invented more for entertainment value?

Answer 1

I think the gods were made up by humans, but in a different manner than you suggest.
Lokal spirits/demons called after a feature in the landscape, a dead hero or ancestor, or the common word for a natural phenomenon were carried with the believers, as the indoeuropean farmers spread westward, mixed with the local deities and became gods if they could gather enough followers. Their stories were changed in time also, things were added, others were left out, whatever suited the believers and especially their priests. We know a historical example, where Euripides was actually paid for putting certain words in Athene's mouth at the end of "Orestes", and for making Medea kill her children at the end of his play.
Not only history is written by the victors, mythology is as well.

Answer 2

The mythological gods were originated from the same place as all the other modern day gods. Somebody had to have a vision or an experience that created the idea of a god or numerous gods. There are a great deal more religions and gods than you have listed and I'm relatively sure all their roots and origins go far back into pre-history. In their own time these religions were as viable, as worthy and as believed in as Christianity, Hinduism or the Muslim religions are today. You say we know who wrote the bible, well I beg your pardon but we really don't, and to many non-believers Christianity is just as superstitious, pagan, illogical and as mythological as any. There's no historical records or actual proof Jesus ever existed either, and the Bible is just a bunch of stories about a super hero Savior guy with the same old timeworn magical mystical powers as all the other mythological Gods. The only difference being that all the powers of all the other Gods have been combined by the patriarchal Catholic Church to create the illogical male only trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Answer 3

Most myths are based on archetypes, and once you study them all (not just Greek, not just Roman, but all cultures) you will come to see how much the family of man has in common. We all basically do think alike and share mythologies (the Great Deluge is common to all cultures. Strange, huh?)

...And if you really want to go in depth and go places with this that are down a different path, try alernative ideas like those by Graham Hancock, Zechariah Sitchin, et al.

Answer 4

They seem to have originate from the same source because there are similar gods in other nations around them such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and Canaanites. For example, the concept of a god who is in control of the storms (hence, Zeus and his lightening) is also in Canaanite and Babylonian mythology in the form of Baal and Marduk. The goddess of love, Aphrodite has her equivant in Ianna (Sumerian) Ishtar (Babylonian, I believe) and Asherah (Canaanite or Ugaritic). These goddesses were also war goddesses so they resemble Athena as well. So it seems that their origins go back to the Sumerians of Mesopotamia who were the peoples of the first civiliation on earth and the first writers also.
Many people began to worship these gods not because they want to be entertained, but because they felt like they had to in order to survive. For example, Baal was the god of fertility and storms and if he was in a bad mood towards you, you would not get a good harvest. They probably added to their stories in order to personalize them more though.

Answer 5

i'm a North American Eclectic Wiccan. i'm also the severe Priest of Yarrow Coven, a small crew of twelve those who come mutually to fellowship and worship on our Sabbats and commonly on the Esbats. each and every human beings actually have a own spirituality outdoors of the crew. Our coven client Goddess is Breed/Breet/Bret/Brigid. My own Goddess is Epona. Pan and Lugh are the client Gods Of Yarrow. We worship those Gods and Goddesses because they communicate to us. i in my opinion did not pick my deities. They got here to me with the availability of ability and a properly-known. we've a Covenstead that has been used for decades and has aquired a lot residual ability about it. it really is likewise the abode of countless benevolent spirits. we've even given them names. Covens are small and are very a lot a family contributors. it really is problematical to affix one because the contributors are so close and in view that even one vote hostile to a Dedicant will commonly be adequate to no longer ask them to be Initaited into the coven. the alternative to a coven is between the various non secular communities which have sprung up over the stunning 20 years. those could have any form of contributors and some are very large. they commonly meet for our holy days and host retreats and gala's and different non secular and social activities. we can commonly write our personal 'scripture' and there has been a lot exceeded down the stunning sixty years in view that Wicca became first wide-spread. We believe that we'd want to continually save that which works for us and discard what doesn't. i comprehend that no longer all Wiccan traditions will believe our way of worship and our techniques of doing issues and that is okay. all of us save on with the needed ideas for the most section.

Answer 6

Over time, the greek gods developed from other gods before them, because the greeks weren't always the greeks, either. Their gods came from a mixture of other cultures too, as did many of the world's old religions. The roman gods are basically the greek gods with roman names, zeus is jupiter, athena is minerva, etc.

Answer 7

Peoples minds who wanted to explain things so they made up stuff. Greeks/Romans couldn't explain all the science of today so they made up all those storys.

Answer 8

I really don't know. But I do know that the story of Jesus and the bible are all taken from ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology.

Answer 9

I believe they originated w/ the same kind of nuts who gave us Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny.

Answer 10

Imagination!!