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Favorite God/Goddess from antiquity

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by YankeeFan, Sep 2, 2014.

  1. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    I don't know how a divine intercessor can be grouped with other mortals. He interacted with God.
     
  2. Guy_Incognito

    Guy_Incognito Well-Known Member

    So did all the other prophets, he was just an extreme of the same type of communication. The greatest of a group, but part of that group.
     
  3. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I think it is a distinction. Judaic and Islamic myths include characters and heroes who are divine agents, but unlike other mythologies they do not include characters who are semi- or quasi-divine.
    Perhaps the representation of angels could be qualified as semi- or quasi-divine.

    Early Christian mythology clearly represents its key hero as semi-divine, although that character became fully divine as the mythology developed over time.

    In contrast, Gilgamesh is clearly quasi-divine character and Hercules is a semi-divine character.
     
  4. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    We're coming at this from two different viewpoints.
    I would also submit that Moses is mentioned heavily in the Quran and is a fairly significant figure in Islamic theology.
     
  5. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I didn't say he wasn't in the Quran. I'm not sure where that is coming from.

    Anyway, understand the study of mythology and comparative mythology. I'm not religious and I have no problem with Moses cast in the role of semi-divine mediator.
    I'm simply making a distinction in the classifications of mythic heroes.

    I'm using Hercules and Gilgamesh to draw a distinction. I think Moses is more akin to Odysseus, or even Perseus, although that latter comparison will draw more semantic disagreement because Perseus had divine lineage.
    Despite his divine lineage, though, Perseus displayed no superhuman abilities on his own. Like Odysseus, he was smart and capable among men. Like Odysseus and Moses, he benefitted from divine intervention to achieve feats he could not have achieved on his own.
    Hercules and Gilgamesh, being semi-divine and/or quasi-divine, often achieved superhuman feats without divine intervention.
     
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