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Top Five: "Favorite Myths"
Jun. 3rd, 2008 07:57 pmComment, and I will assign you a top 5 or top 10 list to provide. Top 10 favorite cheeses, top 5 reasons why Colossus is the greats of the X-Men, top five time travel movies, whatever. In turn, others may comment and receive lists from you.
The Top Five Favorite Myths list
by request of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nuadha_prime (original post here)
1) The story of Persephone, Hades, and the pomegranate seeds. It's a lovely explanation of the turning of the seasons.
2) The various versions of the Vampire story. So many good and fun and profound stories have grown from the idea of the vampire. Explorations of disease, sexuality, horror, fear of death and transformation, all made possible by the vampire.
3) Immaculate conception/the story of Mary's pregnancy. No, really. The idiotic explanations people will come up with why an individual is exceptional are truly astounding. The theological loop-de-loops required by the drive to explain divinity/specialness of an individual, whether we are talking about Jesus or about Gautama Buddha (you should hear some of the myths of his childhood...many similarities with the Christ child stories) or L. Ron Hubbard, can be truly astounding in their complexity. The Christmas story was what first got me interested in what I have lately started referring to as "Forensic Mythology," thanks to a recent post in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
buddhists about untangling the original intents of stories that evolve into myth.
4) Time travel. Yes, of course it's a myth; either that or we don't understand causality at all. But it's such a philosophically fascinating one.
5) The creation of Athena from Zeus. Anytime anybody trots any old saw about penis envy, it is truly easy to cite this and similar myths (including Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) as cases of womb envy. Reproductive envy stuff cuts both ways.
The Top Five Favorite Myths list
by request of
nuadha_prime (original post here)1) The story of Persephone, Hades, and the pomegranate seeds. It's a lovely explanation of the turning of the seasons.
2) The various versions of the Vampire story. So many good and fun and profound stories have grown from the idea of the vampire. Explorations of disease, sexuality, horror, fear of death and transformation, all made possible by the vampire.
3) Immaculate conception/the story of Mary's pregnancy. No, really. The idiotic explanations people will come up with why an individual is exceptional are truly astounding. The theological loop-de-loops required by the drive to explain divinity/specialness of an individual, whether we are talking about Jesus or about Gautama Buddha (you should hear some of the myths of his childhood...many similarities with the Christ child stories) or L. Ron Hubbard, can be truly astounding in their complexity. The Christmas story was what first got me interested in what I have lately started referring to as "Forensic Mythology," thanks to a recent post in
buddhists about untangling the original intents of stories that evolve into myth.4) Time travel. Yes, of course it's a myth; either that or we don't understand causality at all. But it's such a philosophically fascinating one.
5) The creation of Athena from Zeus. Anytime anybody trots any old saw about penis envy, it is truly easy to cite this and similar myths (including Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) as cases of womb envy. Reproductive envy stuff cuts both ways.
