The Hindu Tradition
1.)
Agni
Agni is mentioned as many different things such as: the household priest king god of sacrifice, most brilliant leader of all gods, wish granter, shines up in darkness, guardian of the order, lord of power and master of sacrificed food, always included in sacrifices to other gods, favorite priest, sharp sight of a poet, great speaker who inspires all with his shining speech, the first god to rejoice in human friendship, lord of tribes, the chief priest who finds riches and a combination of Indra (the strongest of all except Agni??) and the wide striding Vishna who is worthy of reverence.
Worshippers of Agni want to: hold a safe household, find riches and treasure, grow as a person in wealth and happiness, give animal (human?) sacrifice to him, be inspired by his speeches, protection of their tribes and always be granted what they wish for.
Angiras
Angiras was mentioned just once in this text as the mediator between heaven and Earth. This name is related to the English word: Angel.
Varuna
Varuna was said to have spread out the Earth, extended the air above the trees, put strength in horses, milk in cows, will power in the heart, fire in waters, the sun in heaven, Soma upon the mountains, caused rain by pouring his leather bag, moistened the Earth, to be the magic (maya) worker and measured the Earth to the Sun with a measuring rod.
Worshippers of Varuna ask for reconciliation from him and forgiveness of sins or offenses.
Mitra and Aryaman
These two were listed but there were not any writings about them except that they did have powers. I wonder whether Aryaman is the Leader of the gods for the Aryan people or tribe.
Manu
The first man on Earth according to the Rig Veda, he is the Clan founder or Adam, Noah, Abraham or Moses. He is only listed on these texts.
Indra
Indra is mentioned in these texts as: the bull, the strongest of all that exist (except Agni??), he is one of the most honored besides Agni, the warrior king of 33 gods of Manu, wielder of thunderbolt, a killer of dragons, killer of the first born dragon, overpowering the wily tricksters, the god who brought forth the sun, heaven and dawn, not having anymore enemies after Vritra, the greatest enemy of Indra, who challenged Indra, who is without shoulders. Indra killed Vritra with a thunderbolt, broke his nose and crushed him.
Many authors have employed the religious beliefs of their cultures in literature. The deities contained in Homer’s Odyssey and in the Biblical book of Exodus reflect the nature of the gods in their respective societies. Upon examination of these two works, there are three major areas where the gods of the Greek epic seem to directly contrast the nature of the God of the Israelites: the way problems are solved, the prestige and status that separates the divine from the masses, and the extent of power among the immortal beings.
The Popol Vuh is the most important Mayan document to survive the Spanish conquest. It is believed to have been written in pre-Columbian times in hieroglyphs. After the conquest it was transcribed into the Mayan language with Roman characters. The Popol Vuh is the most sacred book of the Quiche Maya. Like other holy books, it contains stories of human creation. The opening passage excerpted here refers to the Heart of Heaven and the Heart of Earth, a name given to the Creator and the Maker of Life. According to the text, nothing was on Earth in the beginning, only the silence of darkness. The Creator and his helpers united their "words and their thoughts" and brought forth the world. They then modeled humans from yellow and white corn. The Popol Vuh is not only a precious source of information on the pre-Columbian Maya but a source of inspiration to many contemporary Central American and Hispanic-American artists and writers. “This is the account of how all was in suspense, all calm, in silence; all motionless, still, and the expanse of the sky was empty. This is the first account, the first narrative. There was neither man, nor animal, birds, fishes, crabs, trees, stones, caves, ravines, grasses, nor forests; there was only the sky. The surface of the earth had not appeared. There was only the calm sea and the great expanse of the sky. There was nothing brought together, nothing which could make a noise, nor anything which might move, or tremble, or could make noise in the sky. There was nothing standing; only the calm water, the placid sea, alone and tranquil. Nothing existed. There was only immobility and silence in the darkness, in the night. Only the Creator, the Maker, Tepeu, Gucumatz, the Fore-fathers, were in the water surrounded with light. They were hidden under green and blue feathers, and were
After the waters of Apsu and Tiamat mix, the gods Lahmu and Lahamu ("slime, mud") emerge. And from this pair come Anshar ("whole sky") and Kishar ("whole earth"), meaning perhaps "the horizon, the circular rim of heaven and the corresponding circular rim of earth" (Jacobsen 168). Anshar and Kishar give birth to Anu, the sky god, who in turn begets what one translation calls "his likeness" (Heidel 18) Ea, the trickster god of the flowing waters, who is familiar to us as Enki.
To please this god, the priests convince the people of the tribe to make sacrifices. The Powhatan also told about the creator gods. A major god known as ahone was recognized. Ahone created the gods, who helped him make and care for the earth.
Kāne is the creator and gives life associated with dawn, sun and sky. No human sacrifice or laborious ritual was needed in the worship of Kāne. In many interpreted legends he has been the first to make up the four major deities. It says that in the beginning, there was nothing but Po, an endless black chaos. Then Kāne and the other deities Lono and then Ku also pulled themselves free of Po. Between them they created all the lower gods and spirits. Together, the three Gods used the lesser spirits to be their messengers and servants. Next they created the world to be a kingdom for the gods. Finally, they gathered clay from the all parts of the world, mixed the clay, and molded it into the shape of a man. Kāne then took a magical clay and formed it into a head. The other three Gods inputted life into the statue and created the first man. The first man was created in the image of
How did people revere their gods differently among three civilizations? Did they worship with the same general intent? What were gods’ role(s) in people’s lives? A brief exploration into the religions of Egypt, Greece, and the Hebrew people may bring insight to these questions. Although the main idea of higher beings remains constant throughout societies’ religion, their form of presence in people’s lives varies. I will present the relationship between the leaders and the gods, as well as resemblance to monotheism and systems of government.
Akhenaten was a major change maker to Egypt. He forgot 2,000 years of Egyptian history overnight. He made all of Egypt worship one god, Aten the sun god. The royal family only worshiped Aten the common people worshiped the royal family. Akhenaten was not strictly monotheistic compared to the Israelites. In inscriptions they mention solar gods and other abstract ideas of Akhenaten’s religion.
Nothing can be more life changing than when a god chooses to interact with a mortal man. Much of Greek mythology describes the natures of these interactions. The Olympian Gods meddle with the mortals they rule over constantly, but what is the result for these interactions, and how do they impact the mortals? The question that this paper tries to address is what is the nature of these divine interaction, and how does each side truly perceive each other? The Gods and mortals interact in a variety of ways, but the true natures of these interactions truly describe how the ancient Greeks perceived their gods.
Some of their gods are Baka who is the god of evil. They put curses on people who they don't like. Such as neighboring tribes and commute to him. Ague Mouie Soto is the god of war. When they are at war before they bless themselves so they are successful. Priests are men who do vodun and Mambo or Women who do vodun. They can obviously can be men or Women and women are limited though they cannot do the ritual for raising the dead. There is something about not being trained properly even if a man was training them!
A goddess in ancient Mesopotamia is considered a woman who is of the highest ranking and deserves the highest respect to be considered by men (Thompson). Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, has a small, destructive role in the epic. She essentially lets all fire and brimstone loose, which leads to a battle with Enkidu and Gilgamesh, which in turn leads to Enkidu getting the death penalty from the gods, which sends Gilgamesh off to his failed quest for immortality (shmoop). One more
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the similarities and differences of both Egyptian Mythology and Greek Mythology. As all Mythologies do they both hold some similarities and about an equal amount of differences. This paper will talk about different Gods from both Egyptian and Greek mythology. From the Greek mythology, this paper will discuss Aries, Athena, Hades, Persephone, Poseidon, and Zeus. From the Egyptian side, this paper will discuss Amon, Anubis, Aton, Atum, Isis, and Osiris. This paper will also talk about two main differences in mythology, such as the different ways the Gods were shown in each mythology and there are different ways of telling the story of their creation. The similarities between the two mythologies being discussed will be their forms of worship.
Amaterasu is Goddess, but it can be said that her existence itself is close to human, so it could be said that some famous woman for example Himiko, was apotheosized as a Goddes, Amaterasu.
In conclusion, through the remained literatures of the ancient Greeks, one can see that the Greeks believed that they were created to glorify their gods and that the exchange between human beings and gods are obvious. Hence, one should please the gods to be blessed.
Hindu mythology has interesting theories on how the Earth was created and the reincarnation of people, Hinduism is very different to many other mythologies and has some unique key features that make it stand out from the rest. History tells that there are over 330 million gods in Hindu mythology. There are six main gods in Hinduism. Hindu’s have an interesting belief of what happens to them after death, the afterlife Hindus believe in must be met by accomplishing a goal. Hinduism is a unique belief in many gods, the life cycle and reincarnation of its people.