the Essential Nature Of Myth—page 6
about mythological gods and Religious gods
Since mythologies and religions both employ the term god,
mythologies and their gods are sometimes mistakenly confused with religions
and their gods. Here The Muse clarifies the difference.
Mythology
Cultures and societies that devise
mythologies vary from primitive to sophisticated and from ancient to
modern. Academic scholars study the stories of a mythology without
challenging their validity, looking for their cultural,
social, and psychological roots and significance.
religion
In religion, the meaning and use of the term god is quite
different. As in mythology, a religious god is a divine figure, but there
the comparison weakens. Religious scholars accept religious stories as
articles of faith and seek to understand a religion's god or gods and its
practices as objects of belief.
|
—note— mythological gods are not
religious gods
The Muse Of Mythology has nothing more to say about religious
gods. The Muse leaves that subject to others. |
related features—creatures, Fantastic creatures, and Deities
A creature is an animal, especially a nonhuman animal. As the term
is used by The Muse, a fantastic creature
is an animal, especially a nonhuman, conceived or appearing as if
conceived by an unrestrained imagination.
From a mythological perspective, a mythological deity (a god) is a
divine mythological character, a person or thing possessing the estate or
rank of a god or who is revered as a god or goddess.
Some mythologies have blurred the distinctions between these two concepts
and some myths have crossed their boundaries. As a result:
- Many (but not all) mythological deities are fantastic creatures.
- Many (but not all) fantastic creatures are mythological deities.
The Muse Of Mythology invites you to better understand the essential
nature of myth by exploring the difference between deities and fantastic
creatures. Investigate the two concepts, compare them, and analyze their
differences for yourself.
- Investigate the concept of deities. Explore the deities you'll find
at The Muse Of Mythology's feature called Welcome To The Table Of
Deities:
click here.
- After exploring deities at Welcome To The Table Of Deities,
investigate the concept of fantastic creatures at The Muse Of
Mythology's feature called Welcome To Fantastic Creatures Of The World:
click here.
- See artist's renderings of many of the deities and fantastic creatures you've explored in
the feature called Welcome To The Table Of Deities and in the feature
called Welcome To Fantastic Creatures Of The World. Visit the feature
called the Gallery Of Fantastic Creatures:
click here.
ETAF Recommends
The Internet contains a large amount of information about myth and
mythology. A good way to continue your exploration of myth and mythology is
to browse through a few of these . Here are suggestions for where to begin:
Books
- The Probert Encyclopaedia web site contains very concise
descriptions of a sampling of gods selected from each of a wide variety
of different mythologies and cultures. You'll find Greek, Roman, Norse,
Hindu, North American Indian, Egyptian, Sumerian Celtic, Aztec, Maya,
Japanese, and many more:
click here.
- If you're serious-minded about myth, plan to spend lots of time at the Mythology page of
the Digital Librarian web site. It contains scores of references to books and
other kinds of resources about myth, including over fifty links to some of the
finest mythology web sites:
click here.
...Coming.
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