/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.2929077]

Hi /lit/!

Do any of you guys ever read tales or mythology from any period? Religious texts are probably in the same category. I am reading through this, and it is delightful.

[Anonymous No.2929103]

But the tiger and the dragon are chinese folklore animals, did the japs steal them?

[Anonymous No.2929132]

Yeah, I really want to read the Jap and Russian folk tales from that collection.

I've also been meaning to acquire Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.

[Anonymous No.2929140]

>>2929103
Language, writing, folklore, architecture, religion, they sent people over to China/Korea for decades to learn things and bring them back to enhance their own culture.

[Anonymous No.2929143]

Well I've read The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Song of Igor's Campaign and Nart Sagas from the Caucasus, Beowulf and Poetic Eda is next on the list. When I was younger I was obsessed with Greek Mythology.

[Anonymous No.2929149]

I read that one, OP. Interesting (and sometimes funny) stories.
If mythology interests you and you want a broad spectrum, try Joseph Campbell's Mask of God series. It can be a sometimes dry read, but the whole is worth it.

[Anonymous No.2929182]

i own that book, op. same cover. puddy good, yo.

[Anonymous No.2929290]

>>2929149
I will follow your recommendation because you seem like a nice person.

>>2929132
Do it!

>>2929182
Right on!

>>2929143
I bought Heroes, Gods, and Monster of the Greek Myths as well.

[Anonymous No.2929311]

I love the Hebrew Bible. Specifically, the book of Job. It has some interesting ideas that can be applied to secular society. I also really like Mesopotamian mythology i.e. The Epic of Gilgamesh, Atrahasis, Adapa.

[Anonymous No.2929348]

>Religious texts are probably in the same category

[Anonymous No.2929357]

>>2929348

Why would anyone have a problem with this?

[Anonymous No.2929369]

>>2929357
Because I´m not an edgy atheist, maybe?

[Anonymous No.2929376]

>>2929369
Well, all of the mythologies I am reading were once religions, so I figured it would be appropriate.

[Anonymous No.2929377]

>>2929369
what the fucks it got to do with being an edgy atheist, fool? If you object to Pegasus being filed in the same mythical draw as Moses and his burning bush because you are on an anti-Dawkins crusade and scared of being perceived as an atheist, then you really need to sit down and re-evaluate things.

[Anonymous No.2929392]

>>2929369

But religious texts are routinely taught in mythology courses basically everywhere, where do you live that that counts as "edgy"?

[Anonymous No.2929391]

>>2929376

...do you not understand that from a secular point of view, there are enormous differences between long-extinct local folk religions on the one hand, and religious traditions that have developed and been practiced continuously around the world for centuries or millennia on the other? the fact that you don't believe in any of them doesn't mean that they have anything else in common.

[Anonymous No.2929408]

>any of them doesn't mean that they have anything else in common.

Uhhh, they're all essentially stories that attempt to teach a lesson by telling an interesting story. They are very similar.

[Anonymous No.2929422]

>>2929391
Nope. The age and duration of following doesn't detract from it's fundamental premise, and even if it did what then? Are Jesus and Mohammed supposed to be afforded any more respect than Zeus or Isis because they're currently the popular kids in school? No. There should be regarded the same.

[Anonymous No.2929675]

>>2929422
>2012
>not understanding the difference between myth and reveleation

[Anonymous No.2929685]

Mythology and scripture are two different fields OP. The former are stories and the latter are religion (a practice and tradition), but naturally the two have a long history of intertwining, parallelism, and antagonism.

That said I love reading and writing mythology and folktales.

[Anonymous No.2929691]

>>2929685
So ancient Egyptian gods are scripture? What about old Norse religions, is Thor considered scripture instead of Mythology?

[Anonymous No.2929704]

>>2929691

Your sarcasm aside (Thor is obviously not a book, a scripture) the gods exist beyond the myths around them. Myths are the stories that explain the nature of the gods to the listener. One god's cult in this place don't necessarily care about the myths we know of that pertain to that god. This is especially true in the Greek world; remember what Socrates says about mythology in the Republic, how they are slanders to the gods and because they are so would not be taught in his republic.

[Anonymous No.2929716]

How is being an atheist because I see no evidence for God considered edgy?

[Anonymous No.2929721]

>>2929716
Atheism is labeled as edgy because practically every pseudo intellectual is one, purely to try and make themselves look more intelligent. A lot of them are just as bad as theist's in their blind belief that there is no God.

[Anonymous No.2929727]

>>2929704
What I was questioning was your differentiation between stories and religion. To me Thor and Allah are in the same boat, because at some point in time, regardless that one of them is the present, people believed them to be real. I don't see how having tales in written form would stop the entity and surrounding stories from being Mythological. Would Islam not be a modern or current myth?

[Anonymous No.2929750]

>>2929727

Stories are things you hear. Religions are things you do. It does't matter that you believe "Allah" and Thor are in any boats; myth and religion are not the same thing. I realize that they are often used interchangeably and that you understand them that way, but this is wrong.

[Anonymous No.2929767]

>>2929750
So when the Vikings docked their longships on the east coast of Britain and raped and pillaged in the Name of Thor, they we're just being silly, because they didn't realise that Thor was a mythical god not a real one?

I am being Sarky, but I genuinely want to know. So once a religion is no longer practised, it becomes a myth? What if I started worshiping Thor and convinced a bunch of people that he was real, does he stop being mythical and become a religious icon? I mean is captain blabbermouth the talking snake of Genesis not a mythical snake?

[Anonymous No.2929796]

>>2929767

It's clear you're having a conversation with yourself, since none of this has anything to do with what I said or have been saying.

>Vikings
>"Pillaging for Thor"

[Anonymous No.2929888]

>>2929767

Alright, I'll try and actually answer the question. Here's the problem. A myth is not a lie- the word is not synonymous with a falsity. Yes, that is how people use the word 'myth', like how you are, but that's a colloquial misuse. A religion no longer practiced is still a religion- it's just not practiced.

Thor is not a myth, whether or not he exists. Thor is an Æsir, which we generally translate as being a god. For the Nordic polytheist, he exists in the world doing his work according to his nature. Thor is ALSO a -CHARACTER- in Nordic and Germanic mythologies. The Germanic people believed that gods existed, one of which they knew as Thor. Myths about Thor are -stories- about who he is, where he came from, what his characteristics are, and even what will become of him. Religions are ritual practices, in this case Nordic religions are devotions to the Nordic pantheon of gods, or a god in the Nordic pantheon. A scripture is a book related to the practice of -religion-. That is to say, it's not generally a narrative like a myth is- it doesn't tell a story, but how to sacrifice to Thor, or whatever. If you decide to start worshiping Thor and agree that he exists, he will still be a mythical being, in that he exists in mythology. Being 'mythical' and being 'fake', or 'unreal', are not the same thing.