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Euhemerism and Myth

The Hammer

[REDACTED]
Premium Member
Euhemersim (Noun):
the theory of the Greek writer Euhemerus (4th cent. b.c.) that the gods of mythology were deified human beings; theory that myths are based on traditional accounts of real people and events.

So, I thought I would open this thread with a definition, in case no one has heard of this term before, as it was a new concept to me. Euhemerus stated that the Old Gods were actually ordinary men or kings, who were later exalted into a deified/God status, and that modern myth are supernatural versions of what was once accurate historical accounts.

This was later used by the Christian church fathers to demonize or bring down the pagan Gods and beliefs as because " Those to whom you bow were once humans like yourselves " (Clement of Alexandria, in [Jean] Seznec 1972: 11 [The Survival of the Pagan Gods]).

What are your thoughts on this particular take on mythology? Was Euhemerus on to something by positing that myths are based on real people and events?

I don't think that Euhemerus was on the right track that deities were originally men (although a few men are now considered Gods in their own right (Romulus, Imhotep), but I do think it sheds light on the idea that many myths may have a kernel or two of historical truth within them.
 

Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
I think the idea has merit, but I would be more interested in reconstructing the myths to see if we can understand what actually happened and why deification happened.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Euhemersim (Noun):
the theory of the Greek writer Euhemerus (4th cent. b.c.) that the gods of mythology were deified human beings; theory that myths are based on traditional accounts of real people and events.
"Based on", yes, I agree. But that leaves a LOT of room in terms of how so, and how accurately. The purpose of a myth is to convey an ideal, NOT to convey the factual history of anything or anyone. So the myth will alter the facts to that end, as the myth-tellers deem necessary. Such that the possible historicity of the myth will be both un-discernible from the myth, itself, and irrelevant to the myth's existence.
 

Erebus

Well-Known Member
It's hard to view this theory in blanket true/false terms. There are certainly cases in which mortals were deified or the gods were said to have mortal or semi-mortal origins. As you pointed out, Imhotep is an example of the former and Dionysus is an example of a deity with a mortal parent. In fact it wasn't all that uncommon at one point for Greek nobility to claim divine ancestry.

There's also a somewhat more complicated version of this going on within the folklore of the British Isles. Various stories of the fey will include mortals being taken into the Otherworld and being made immortal or even inhuman. While the fey gradually lost their godly status over time, it's clear that at least some of them (the Tuatha Dé Danann for example) were at one point considered gods in their own right. Furthermore, it's perfectly possible that the stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann were at least partially inspired by early Irish tribes and rulers, giving them human origins. That was the view taken by some Christian writers.

That last point is of course one of the difficulties in determining what the Celts themselves believed as much of their folklore is either missing or else heavily filtered through a Christian perspective. As you yourself mentioned, it was a common practice for Christians to demote gods to the status of mortals, demons, ghosts or flat out fantasies.

All of this is to say that there's certainly some merit to Euhemerism, but I don't think it's true in every case. Some gods were very clearly the embodiments of one or more natural forces. The Greek primordial gods are a perfect example of this with Erebus being darkness, Gaia being the earth and so on. While it's perhaps possible that these too were first based on a living human before they became personifactions of nature, it seems unlikely to me.

People tend to deify things that strike them as especially impressive or powerful. Kings, queens and heroes are certainly candidates for that but so are mountains, animals, natural disasters or even more abstract concepts like love or war.
 

wellwisher

Well-Known Member
I think the idea has merit, but I would be more interested in reconstructing the myths to see if we can understand what actually happened and why deification happened.

A good place to investigate is by looking at some of the modern mythology, that the Democrats have created in the USA, based on President Trump. In many ways, Trump is a regular man of means, who has been given all the attributes of a mythological antagonist. He is now a hybrid of Hitler and the Anti-Christ about ready to gather the powers of evil to destabilize the planet wth pollution and war.

Another good one, by the same people, is more abstract and is connected to the need to save the planet. In this mythology, Democrats become like super heroes with divine power, that they try to use to rescue living planets from a mythological evil force emanating from an evil race of rich humans.

In both cases, the mythology becomes manifest because of emotional thinking, irrationality and unconsciousness, combined with other humans who take advantage of these weaknesses, for money and power. Fake news and propaganda play a role.

Similar mythologies were created around former presidents Obama and Bush. Both sets of mythologies, were once strongly active, but now both are less pronounced, even after a few years. The reason its this type of mythology, needs to be fed and reinforced, daily or it atrophies.

The Bush, Obama and even the Trump mythologies are different from many of the ancient mythologies. The ancient ones are more eternal and self standing, and can often be induced with a single account. The modern mythology needs constant reinforcement or they atrophy at a fast rate.

The difference has to do with how deep in the human brain's operating system the mythology triggers. Both types of mythology are analogous to command lines for the brain. The impact is based on how deep the coding can go within the operating system. The deeper in the psyche it impacts, the more able it can self perpetuate, due to the ancient and conservative nature of the core regions. On the other hand, if the mythology impacts shallow areas of the operating system, since these areas are more in flux, one will need real time reinforcement and novelty tweaks to maintain resonance.

Religious mythology command lines are able to reach the deepest areas of the psyche. The modern political mythology manipulators would love to be able to reach these deep areas. If they could, they could install kings and queens that could last for generations. However, these deepest areas are based on lock and key and need very specific keys to trigger specific connections. Religions are the keepers of the keys. How they can be triggered is often buried with the past. All we have now, are some of the keys, but not enough knowledge of all the locks.
 
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The Hammer

[REDACTED]
Premium Member
A good place to investigate is by looking at some of the modern mythology, that the Democrats have created in the USA, based on President Trump. In many ways, Trump is a regular man of means, who has been given all the attributes of a mythological antagonist. He is now a hybrid of Hitler and the Anti-Christ about ready to gather the powers of evil to destabilize the planet wth pollution and war.

Another good one, by the same people, is more abstract and is connected to the need to save the planet. In this mythology, Democrats become like super heroes with divine power, that they try to use to rescue living planets from a mythological evil force emanating from an evil race of rich humans.

In both cases, the mythology becomes manifest because of emotional thinking, irrationality and unconsciousness, combined with other humans who take advantage of these weaknesses, for money and power. Fake news and propaganda play a role.

Similar mythologies were created around former presidents Obama and Bush. Both sets of mythologies, were once strongly active, but now both are less pronounced, even after a few years. The reason its this type of mythology, needs to be fed and reinforced, daily or it atrophies.

The Bush, Obama and even the Trump mythologies are different from many of the ancient mythologies. The ancient ones are more eternal and self standing, and can often be induced with a single account. The modern mythology needs constant reinforcement or they atrophy at a fast rate.

The difference has to do with how deep in the human brain's operating system the mythology triggers. Both types of mythology are analogous to command lines for the brain. The impact is based on how deep the coding can go within the operating system. The deeper in the psyche it impacts, the more able it can self perpetuate, due to the ancient and conservative nature of the core regions. On the other hand, if the mythology impacts shallow areas of the operating system, since these areas are more in flux, one will need real time reinforcement and novelty tweaks to maintain resonance.

Religious mythology command lines are able to reach the deepest areas of the psyche. The modern political mythology manipulators would love to be able to reach these deep areas. If they could, they could install kings and queens that could last for generations. However, these deepest areas are based on lock and key and need very specific keys to trigger specific connections. Religions are the keepers of the keys. How they can be triggered is often buried with the past. All we have now, are some of the keys, but not enough knowledge of all the locks.

Because these persons are still alive, this is more akin to Apotheosis, as opposed to Euhemerism. Euhemerism is about the mythologies of the past (during his time, it was the Hellenic myths).
 
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