Mythical beings

[Kyriakos]

Recently i read The House of Asterios, by Borges. The story has to do with a being of Greek mythology, which i shall not name soas not to spoil it for those who have not read it.

But it made me wish to include mythical beings (as references) in some of my works, and i wrote something which has allusions to the ninth chapter of the Odyssey (where Odysseus meets the cyclops Polyphemus).

What is your view of mythological beings? How do you think the mythologies came into existence, and why? Some times mythological traditions survive as the literal meaning they appear to have (as can be argued for example in the case of the old testament), but other times the prevailing view becomes that they symbolize other phenomena (a good example of that being Oedipus symbolizing what has become known as the eponymous complex).

I have mostly studied, to some degree, ancient Greek myths, i have a collection by Apollodorus which is centered on the Attic and Theban heroic circles. Then i know the ones in the old and new testament, and after those there are the collections of parables by Kafka, and the various legends, such as the creation of the Golem in Prague.

 

[Winner]

There are plenty of them in them in the Slavic mythology, many "surviving" to this day (because the Christianization of Slavs didn't manage to completely uproot their Pagan culture).

You know, vodník, hejkal, polednice, klekánice, etc. etc.

Interestingly, these creatures serve a purpose - they scare people off doing things that used to be dangerous many centuries ago. Vodník (literally 'waterman') drowns people who swim in ponds and rivers to take their souls (="don't go in deep water!"), hejkal haunts deep forests (="don't wander too far from the village!"), klekánice kidnaps children who're not at home by the evening (=self-explanatory), and so on.

 

[Kyriakos]

Interesting I once heard of a slavic urban legend about the "she-werewolf" (although i suspect this is not only slavic; in fact there were some werewolves in ancient greek myth as well).

 

[Winner]

Also, aren't vampires basically an import from Slavic* mythology?

* - Well, it came into the Western European mainstream from the Balkans, so it could be anyone. Also, many mythological creatures probably have their roots in the proto-Indo-European culture, so we have variants of them in many otherwise different mythologies.

 

[Kyriakos]

I read once that they were first mentioned in Mayar mythology as "oupires" (vampires).However it was a note in a short story by someone, so it might have been either not verified, or even utterly made up. In fact the latter is very possible, and i never went very far in that story...

 

[PeteAtoms]

Don't forget about the N. American Bigfoot, Mothman, Chupacabra, Jersey Devil, Skunk Ape, and the Bermuda Triangle.

Also: Zombies originate in the Caribbean IIRC.

 

[Winner]

One last thing ( ) - some of these myths inspired K. J. Erben (a Czech poet and writer) to write Kytice, a collection of ballads. It was made into a film a few years ago, and it wasn't bad. Vodník and polednice are featured It's actually quite scare at times...

Spoiler :

Link to video.

Svatební košile (The Wedding Shirts) is practically a horror story. (A girl prays to Mary so that her lover returns to her from war, and he does. He wants her to come with him so that they can finally marry, but he leads her to a cemetery. There she finally realizes he's in fact undead and wants her to share the grave with him. It turns out she committed blasphemy when she asked Mary to either return her lover, or take her life. You don't blackmail God, girl... )

In Polednice, a mother is trying to calm down a tiresome child by threatening to call polednice on him. When the creature arrives, she tries to protect her son, but she holds him so tight that she suffocates him. In the end, it's not clear whether the person who came to her house was really polednice, or just a hideous old crone begging for food.

As I said, scary stuff...

 

[Kyriakos]

Thank you for the link

Another main urban legend-magical theme in the Balkans is "the ballad of the dead brother". In it the sister is in trouble, and wishes her brother to return to save her. He does, only he has risen from the dead, something which she later finds out. Similar idea to the one you mentioned about the lover.

 

[katipunero]

the popular mythical creatures from where i'm from served the purpose of keeping children from wandering in the dark streets at night. modern renditions of the tikbalang and kapre however have increasingly become more and more a comical imagery of corrupt politicians.

sadly, the supposedly timeless traditions and narratives of our local folklore have been eschewed to make way for what would make them relevant in the present, like being used as a stupid tool for dumb satire.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

The topic has been studied in great detail. Myths are just folk tales, related either to explanations of origins or attempts to make sense of natural phenomena or cultural anxieties. The Greek myths, for example, featured a cast of characters that Greeks could relate to, such as over-bearing kings, heroes, and lurking monsters.

 

[holy king]

The House of Asterios is a great story, i really was like WTH...

also, magritte invented the... ah, dammit, you all knew what was coming...

Spoiler :

 

[Glassfan]

The Gitche Manitou or Wakan Tanka was originally a mighty forest spirit among the Amerinds until the Europeans came. This spirit gradually evolved into the Great Maker (God) due to the influences of missionaries.

 

[Berzerker]

Hamlet's Mill by Santillana and Oriental Mythology by Joseph Campbell are two of my favorites, but I'm into comparative religion. The Greeks borrowed a bunch of their stuff from eastern cultures, even their myths describe some of the gods coming from other lands.

I'm curious about whether or not our ancestors were able to transmit knowledge of ancient times to us today, like myths of our ancestors encountering Neandertals, H Erectus and archaic sapiens.
There is a widespread belief that people were preceded by more primitive beings, even the Garden of Eden refers to Adam and Eve in terms of their "innocence".

 

[Kyriakos]

Hamlet's Mill by Santillana and Oriental Mythology by Joseph Campbell are two of my favorites, but I'm into comparative religion. The Greeks borrowed a bunch of their stuff from eastern cultures, even their myths describe some of the gods coming from other lands.

I'm curious about whether or not our ancestors were able to transmit knowledge of ancient times to us today, like myths of our ancestors encountering Neandertals, H Erectus and archaic sapiens.
There is a widespread belief that people were preceded by more primitive beings, even the Garden of Eden refers to Adam and Eve in terms of their "innocence".

There does seem to be a very clear point in Greek mythology where an old order is replaced by a new one. The Titans, with Cronos as their arch-deity, lose in their war against the Olympian gods, and get banished to the underworld.

However it is interesting to note that the Olympians are not less austere than the preceding order, as can be seen for example in the myth of Prometheus, who is eternally punished for helping mankind. But it does seem that the pre-Olympian order was even more savage by comparison. Also it is worth noting that Prometheus is guarded by two titans again, Kratos (raw Power) and Bia (Violence).

 

[Ajidica]

How do you think the mythologies came into existence, and why?

Pak Protectors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pak_Protector

When you look at Pak Protectors and Genesis, it makes alot of sense. (Personaly I find Pak Protectors creating humanity to be a better creation account then an invisable guy-in-the-sky.)

 

[Kyriakos]

Pak Protectors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pak_Protector

When you look at Pak Protectors and Genesis, it makes alot of sense. (Personaly I find Pak Protectors creating humanity to be a better creation account then an invisable guy-in-the-sky.)

Interesting, i was not aware of that particular fictional creation mythology/apocalypse.

I also like the fact that the author tried to provide a reason for humans being able to live past their sexual prime, and also become more intelligent than is needed so as to simply reproduce.
But the ideas do not strike me as particularly enchanting. Never read the novels though, so i cannot say for sure

 

[Glassfan]

Do we differentiate between mythical and fictional creatures?

 

[cardgame]

Mythical creatures are on the whole more interesting.

 

[holy king]

There does seem to be a very clear point in Greek mythology where an old order is replaced by a new one. The Titans, with Cronos as their arch-deity, lose in their war against the Olympian gods, and get banished to the underworld.

However it is interesting to note that the Olympians are not less austere than the preceding order, as can be seen for example in the myth of Prometheus, who is eternally punished for helping mankind. But it does seem that the pre-Olympian order was even more savage by comparison. Also it is worth noting that Prometheus is guarded by two titans again, Kratos (raw Power) and Bia (Violence).

the diffference between the old and new order is that the titans are raw animal-like powers and the olympians human-like powers.
the titans represent instincts (hence why they're still there in the background), while the olympians represent human reason, emotions and concepts, like arrogance, hunger for power, jealousy, revenge, love.

 

[Kyriakos]

Might be true to an extent, but the titans were about more than mere animal instincts, in their display of cruelty and viciousness. Cronos attempting to devour his son, so as to disallow him from succeeding him seems like a reversed Oedipus myth, only that Cronos is not a tragic hero for he understands perfectly well what he is doing and finds it to be correct.
Also the titans and their allies remind me of some indian deities, with the 100 hands and the size of a mountain.