Greek Mythology and Religion

I recently watched the move "Clash of the Titans", and I found it very strange that a son was born to a virgin, a prince none the less, a son of god (Zues). Now... Greek mythology was around before the bible... is anyone else seeing a connection here? Did whoever wrote the people get the story from this? Tell me what you think.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Greek mythology was an amalgamation of all sorts of beliefs, and was a constantly changing system, perpetually adding and subtracting stories to it's claims. Hellenism is notorious for incorporating whatever beliefs they want into their religion, just like wiccans today.
To suggest that it "existed" before the Bible is a crock of shit.

Nor could one say that the "prince" was born of a virgin, because according to ALL stories in greek mythology, a god comes down in human form and fucks a woman because he finds her desirable. Thus, she is no longer a virgin.
Finally, that movie is a TERRIBLE, I repeat TERRIBLE, retelling of the Perseus story. They mix all sorts of different, unrelated myths, into one. I would not be surprised if they felt like they should invent that "Perseus was born of a virgin" and such BS because they want people to think that somehow Christian beliefs were stolen from hellenistic myths.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well, they didn't have copyright laws back then, so who knows? It's possible that whoever wrote the Bible was very religious--- and very lazy.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by handzxxd0wn

Well, they didn't have copyright laws back then, so who knows? It's possible that whoever wrote the Bible was very religious--- and very lazy.

Do you even know how the Bible was written?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

See, you're making a shortsighted assumption here, Delorean - namely that the Bible is a made up story. Now, if the Bible really is the truth inspired by God, it would make sense that other cultures had similiar, but different stories that God was, in some way, trying to relate to them.

Actually there are quite a few examples of this. Just about every civilization had a flood story, for example. It could be that Moses stole it from someone, or it could (possibly, maybe, I dunno) have actually happened.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Sure, the wording and metaphoric stories within the Bible may draw from outside sources to have a better effect on those reading it, but that just makes sense. There's a saying for that: "Stick with what you know." The Bible is inspired by God, but some of what needs to be taken from it needs to have realistic meaning. However, I don't feel Jesus being born from a virgin fits into that category.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

It's simple common sense that no one person or people or civilization or religion can be 100% wrong. Most people have at least something right.

Originally Posted by Devo

Christianity took the idea of a "soul" directly from Socrates. And a lot of Christian ideals/ideas come from philospher theories.

Why do you think this? You do realize that Christianity came from Judaism, not Socrates, right? The prophets came before Socrates and most Jews probably never even heard of him at the time.

FELIPE NO

Quote:

Do you even know how the Bible was written?

do you? i do not.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Maybe the Greek mythology theory is no good, but have any of you ever heard of Mithraism? A 4000 year old offshoot of Zoroastrianism, Mithra was born in a stable to a virgin, on the winter solstice (yes I know the date of Christmas is not in the bible but it's common practice). Later in life, he had twelve followers, healed the sick, and preached morality. I won't even begin to talk about all the solar metaphors, geographical similarities, and linguistic connections that the two share.

That being said, I don't think that dogmatic homogenies in any way devalue the teachings of any religion. It simply shows that too much emphasis is put on the history of religion rather than the philosophy of religion.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Quote:

Finally, that movie is a TERRIBLE, I repeat TERRIBLE, retelling of the Perseus story. They mix all sorts of different, unrelated myths, into one. I would not be surprised if they felt like they should invent that "Perseus was born of a virgin" and such BS because they want people to think that somehow Christian beliefs were stolen from hellenistic myths.

Oddly enough, Mithra became associated with Perseus when the Romans encountered the god and his cult in Turkey, which is why he is portrayed as being born of a virgin in the movie.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Devo

A) Socrates was before Christ.
B) The bible was written by men after most events occurred.

A) So what? I addressed that.

B) As opposed to events that are written about before they occurred?

Actually depending on your faith, you could say that that's exactly what the books of the prophets were (which, as I've said, predate Socrates). Also, like I said before, two people can have the same thoughts independent of each other. If these two people both happen to be right about something, the likelihodd is even greater.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Here is some info on mithraism.
I have found Newadvent.org to be a remarkably reliable source of factual information in regards to anything, especially history.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10402a.htm

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Doesn't Greek Mythology almost relate to everything you pretty much do in life? Decision making-wise. Greek Mythology uses stories to portray logic in a comical sense, so I believe it to be. Such as, flying too close to the sun with wax assembled wings will melt the wax and cause your inevitable plunge to doom. Or, being sly and coy to others by tricking them into doing certain forms of work for you. Such as the story with Hercules and Atlas. Logic, doing what makes sense. "Hey, he's got super human strength too, so why can't he hold the Earth?"

But, to relate the bible to Greek Mythology now..... you'd have to say that everything we do in our lives is so closely related to the bible, that life would be the bible. This is where I don't think Greek Myths and the Bible are related. Oh sure, every book, belief, and story can tell you, "Live a good life. Work hard and your hard work pays off. Blah blah blah." What logic is there in the Bible?

I think most people forget that many Greek Myths were written by scientists. If not scientists, philosophers. People who spent their entire life thinking, thinking, and more thinking. Thinking about anything, their current life, their family, their friends, a possible greater being, the future, the past, right vs wrong, anything. Most of the time, about something that's uncertain, out of reach. Not by people who've spent their entire life praying, hoping, and dreaming.

This is just what I think, I could be wrong, but don't take my word for it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by knkwzrd

Maybe the Greek mythology theory is no good, but have any of you ever heard of Mithraism? A 4000 year old offshoot of Zoroastrianism, Mithra was born in a stable to a virgin, on the winter solstice (yes I know the date of Christmas is not in the bible but it's common practice). Later in life, he had twelve followers, healed the sick, and preached morality. I won't even begin to talk about all the solar metaphors, geographical similarities, and linguistic connections that the two share.

That being said, I don't think that dogmatic homogenies in any way devalue the teachings of any religion. It simply shows that too much emphasis is put on the history of religion rather than the philosophy of religion.

Yes I've actually heard of zoroastrianism. I took a class and most of what is in Judaism, Christianity and Islam come from Zarathustra:
A messiah born from a virgin
The very idea of heaven and hell as a place of reward and punishment. If you look at the history, heaven or hell did not exist in the bible until after the babylonian exile. So is the idea of the end of the world and a final battle between good and evil. Most ideas are a rip off from the persians.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/zoroaster.html

Yeah, it's a link. I'm tired of debating.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Mojougwe

Doesn't Greek Mythology almost relate to everything you pretty much do in life? Decision making-wise. Greek Mythology uses stories to portray logic in a comical sense, so I believe it to be. Such as, flying too close to the sun with wax assembled wings will melt the wax and cause your inevitable plunge to doom. Or, being sly and coy to others by tricking them into doing certain forms of work for you. Such as the story with Hercules and Atlas. Logic, doing what makes sense. "Hey, he's got super human strength too, so why can't he hold the Earth?"

But, to relate the bible to Greek Mythology now..... you'd have to say that everything we do in our lives is so closely related to the bible, that life would be the bible. This is where I don't think Greek Myths and the Bible are related. Oh sure, every book, belief, and story can tell you, "Live a good life. Work hard and your hard work pays off. Blah blah blah." What logic is there in the Bible?

I think most people forget that many Greek Myths were written by scientists. If not scientists, philosophers. People who spent their entire life thinking, thinking, and more thinking. Thinking about anything, their current life, their family, their friends, a possible greater being, the future, the past, right vs wrong, anything. Most of the time, about something that's uncertain, out of reach. Not by people who've spent their entire life praying, hoping, and dreaming.

This is just what I think, I could be wrong, but don't take my word for it.

Actually, yes, you are wrong. A great deal of what you said was wrong. First off, Greek mythology is meant to relate to daily life, yes, but more accurately, it is meant to relate to your relationship with your gods. One of the biggest cautions in Greek myth is an advisement against the sin of hubris, which is comparing yourself to/ believing you are better than a god. For instance, Arachne thinks she's a better weaver than a goddess. The goddess discovers this, humiliates her, and turns her into a spider. Some myths are amusing to us now, but may not have been then. The Labours of Heracles, specifically the Agean Stables make me chuckle. They may be intended to do so, but then again, they may not. They may just be a reminder to use your brain and not your braun. It's hard to tell with the Greeks. o_O

There's lots of logic in the Bible, you just have to look for it. The Bible uses a similar tool as Greek mythology, a tool that's pretty old. It makes a point by telling a story. Hundreds and hundreds of stories. The point isn't always clear, and there might not always be one single right answer, but it follows a similar pattern. The difference between the Bible and Greek myth is that the Bible doesn't paint the gods as so inextricably human. God is God, 'nuff said. The Greek Gods are clearly Gods too, but with a Soap Opera quality that makes them easier to relate to. "Hey, Zeus fucks up too! Maybe I'm not doing so bad."

Greek myths weren't written by scientists. For the most part, Greek myths are an amalgamation of folktales and deity stories from all over the place. It's possible to trace the evolution of many of the Greek gods, most notably characters like Pan, Aries, and Aphrodite, from minor spirits sacred to only one small town, to their eventual status as members of the Pantheon. It generally follows a sort of traceable evolution: Small local deity in charge of birth and the health of crops, deity grows and becomes more rounded as her fame spreads and her character is extrapolated on, cult springs up around deity and she gains popularity, she moves over trade and migration routes to new areas, features are added, and eventually we have Aphrodite. The details of how the gods relate to each other also grow in a similar fashion. This is nothing new; it has been happening since people created gods.

And that's my point, really. It's useless to argue over whether or not the Bible was influenced by the writings or beliefs of other cultures, because the answer is an unquestionable yes. As long as there was trade between two cultures, as long as people met and talked and shared stories, as long as there was any kind of cultural exchange whatsoever, it is reasonable to assume they influenced each other, especially in things like religion, folktales, and spirituality. Greek myth was heavily influenced by the Phoenecians, who they more or less replaced. The Phoenecians were influenced by those who came before them. The Greeks, given the great appeal and sophistication of their civilisation undoubtedly influenced those they came into contact with (most notably Rome). It would not be unreasonable to believe that some Greek, nee Phoenecian characteristics made their way into Judaism and Christianity. As a matter of fact, it would be much sillier to assume they didn't.

How ya doing, buddy?

"Why do you think this? You do realize that Christianity came from Judaism, not Socrates, right? The prophets came before Socrates and most Jews probably never even heard of him at the time."

Though there is the fact that the majority of Old Testament scripture imply that once you die, that's it. There's no soul that floats to heaven or hell. That's why in Revelation, at Christ's return, the bodies of the saints will supposedly raise from their grave; a physical resurrection is necessary in order for "eternal life." And this belief in itself negates, or makes pointless, the idea of a "soul" in the first place.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I could debate with you, but it actually doesn't even matter. It's not doctrinally important. It's like arguing over whether or not there is really fire in hell (probably not).

There's nowhere I can't reach.