Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 2]

[atreideslioness]

"Good morning," Ghanima said cheerfully as the students trickled into class today. "I see most of you managed to survive your families! Thank whatever god you believe in and grab some coffee, because we have a lot to cover today."

"Polytheism is the belief in and worship of multiple deities, called gods and goddesses. These are usually assembled into a pantheon, along with their own mythologies and rituals. Many religions, both historical and contemporary, have a belief in polytheism, such as Hinduism, Shinto, Ancient Greek Polytheism, Roman Polytheism, Germanic Polytheism, Slavic polytheism, Chinese folk religion, Neopagan faiths and Anglo-Saxon paganism."

"Now, Polytheists do not always worship all the gods equally, but can be monolatrists, specialising in the worship of one particular deity. Other polytheists can be kathenotheists, worshiping different deities at different times," she said.

"The deities of polytheistic religions are agents in mythology, where they are portrayed as complex personages of greater or lesser status, with individual skills, needs, desires and histories. These gods are often seen as similar to humans in their personality traits, but with additional individual powers, abilities, knowledge or perceptions."

"Polytheism cannot be cleanly separated from the animist beliefs prevalent in most folk religions. The gods of polytheism are in many cases the highest order of a continuum of supernatural beings or spirits, which may include ancestors, demons, wights and others. In some cases these spirits are divided into celestial or chthonic classes, and belief in the existence of all these beings does not imply that all are worshipped."

"Some well-known historical polytheistic pantheons include the Sumerian gods and the Egyptian gods, and the classical attested pantheon which includes the Ancient Greek religion, and Roman Religion. Post classical polytheistic religions include Norse Æsir and Vanir, the Yoruba Orisha, the Aztec gods, and many others. Today, most historical polytheistic religions are pejoratively referred to as "mythology", though the stories cultures tell about their gods should be distinguished from their worship or religious practice. For instance deities portrayed in conflict in mythology would still be worshipped sometimes in the same temple side by side, illustrating the distinction in the devotees mind between the myth and the reality," Ghanima continued crisply. "Generally, mythology is considered one component or aspect of religion. Religion is the broader term: besides mythological aspects, it includes aspects of ritual, morality, theology, and mystical experience. A given mythology is almost always associated with a certain religion, such as Greek mythology with Ancient Greek religion. Disconnected from its religious system, a myth may lose its immediate relevance to the community and evolve—away from sacred importance—into a legend or folktale."

"Today's religion will be tomorrow's mythology, simply because that is how humanity operates. Things become lost to the corridors of time and changing belief, until no one remembers the source anymore."

"For your assignment today, I have handouts regarding various early polytheistic religions. Please pick a religion and a deity from that pantheon, and discuss with a friend or two why you think people during that era might have worshiped such a god."

[OCD up!]

Comments

Class Discussion!

[atreideslioness]

Look over the handouts regarding various early polytheistic religions that Ghanima's got stacked at the front of the room. Pick a religion and a deity from any pantheon, and discuss with a friend or two why you think people during that era might have worshiped such a god.

Re: Class Discussion!

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

Fiona looked down at the handouts and tried to find a deity that she was sure she hadn't met before. Then she gave up on that and tried to find a religion that made sense to her.

...she might just sit this one out.

Re: Class Discussion!

[bitten_notshy]

"Have you chosen a religion yet?" Jack wondered. "I've always been fond of the Romans."

Re: Class Discussion!

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

She looked down at the handouts and shook her head.

"No, not really. I mean, I haven't picked one."

She glanced down at the handout on the Roman deities.

"Are there any, um, deities you like?"

Re: Class Discussion!

[bitten_notshy]

"Ones I think are interesting, you mean?" Jack corrected slightly. "I always admired Minerva -- I like that one figure represents wisdom and war."

Re: Class Discussion!

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

"Well, I would think you'd have to like them as well," she said with a shrug.

"But Minerva is good. So is Mars. Mars makes more sense than Ares."

Re: Class Discussion!

[bitten_notshy]

"There's more going on with Mars, isn't there?" Jack said thoughtfully. "He's not war and only war."

Re: Class Discussion!

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

"Mars was also a fertility god and a god of the harvest," she said, thinking of a particular figure in a lucha libre t-shirt and boots, "as well as a god of the legionnaires."

She frowned at the handouts, and at the book in her bag.

"Ares had a lot of stories where he was a jerk."

And she ducked her head a little.

Re: Class Discussion!

[bitten_notshy]

"Perhaps the Greeks wanted to hear stories about jerks more than the Romans did."

Re: Class Discussion!

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

"Well, the Roman legions were a very different kind of fighting force than the kind of troops and tactics utilized by the Greeks, so perhaps their ideas on war were different too?"

Re: Class Discussion!

[bitten_notshy]

"That makes sense," Jack said. "You've thought about this."

Re: Class Discussion!

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

"I kind of have to," she said with a shrug. Then she tapped the handouts.

"So Minerva. Why would someone worship her, do you think?"

Re: Class Discussion!

[furnaceface]

Jono randomly grabbed the handout on the Germanic gods, kind of squinted at it for a moment, and then shook his head, amused.

It would be easy enough to worship such deities, he supposed, considering guys like Thor were totally real. And possibly hanging out with the Avengers nowadays. He didn't really pay much attention to that sort of thing.

Re: Class Discussion!

[momslilassassin]

Ben glanced over at Jono. "How'd your weekend go?" He looked at the sheet. "Maybe we can find some new gods to talk to about it."

Re: Class Discussion!

[furnaceface]

Jono's initial response was the mental equivalent of a sigh, yes.

//Member of th'team I was on before ending up here showed up,// he replied. //It was... Expensive, mate. I don't think it's anything any of these blokes would care t'help me out with. Yours?//

Re: Class Discussion!

[momslilassassin]

"Punched a version of my cousin in the head," Ben said, "and watched my dad beat my grandfather in lightsaber combat. Weird weekend."

Re: Class Discussion!

[furnaceface]

//Weird weekend,// Jono agreed, giving his head a shake. //But I'm still here, yer still here, we weren't carried away by any one of a million things that could've gone wrong with it. And now we've got a handout of the Germanic pantheon which I can't look at without shaking my head and thinking of action figures.//

Because if you were good enough at doing wildly stupid, somewhat heroic things, people might even immortalize you in plastic someday!

Re: Class Discussion!

[momslilassassin]

Ben grinned. "My dad's got an action figure of himself. He hates it."

Re: Class Discussion!

[furnaceface]

Jonothon chuckled some at that, shaking his head.

//It's a sad truth that most action figures look nothing like the blokes wot they're supposed to resemble,// Jono noted. //If I ever find one of myself- and that's highly bloody unlikely, mate- the first thing I'll have to do with it is burn it.//

And then it would be accurate! Until it melted.

//Something tells me that Thor here didn't get the option.//

Re: Class Discussion!

[momslilassassin]

"Think Thor's pants were welded onto his legs too?" Ben asked.

Um, Ben, this is a discussion about religion?

Re: Class Discussion!

[furnaceface]

This totally was discussion about religion! Absolutely!

//That'd explain th'hammer, mate. He'd need that and a chisel to get them off again.// A pause for consideration. //And yer know, I think he wears metal trousers. They very well could be.//

Re: Class Discussion!

[momslilassassin]

"Ow," Ben said, wincing. "You'd have to really love those pants."

Re: Class Discussion!

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen looked over the information on Chinese mythology and tried to think how that correlated with what she had learned back in the temple.

Re: Class Discussion!

[trigons_child]

Raven had the Greek handout but wasn't really reading it. Maybe later, particularly the parts about Aphrodite.

Re: Class Discussion!

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri had the handout on Chinese mythology and was studying it with a little more focus than she usually tended to, particularly the creation aspects, although the realization that the myths were adapted into three different belief systems was interesting too.