>Well, if the events happened, but were not the actions of gods, you
>are now falling into euhemerism of the sort that the Romans used when
>demytholgizing their religions. I also dislike euhemerism.
>
>You *are* implying that it was humans and the equivalent who did these
>things, right?
Uh. No. Some myths do fit that category, some myths are based upon the actions of gods, many myths are also based upon the need of a people to explain natural events and history.
>>Figures, I'm living in Berkeley.
>
>You are familiar with Bishop Berkeley (sp?), aren't you?
You are familiar with humor, aren't you?
>Let me elaborate a bit. My outlook is that of the modern Western
>scholar. I am not a professional scholar myself, but my training an
>inclination has always fallen in there. (Like Sandy Petersen, I have
>a biology degree.)
Hey! And like me. (Genetics actually) Lets get together and have a materialistic/reductionist party, come as your favorite atom.
>understanding things, is similar to theirs. The GLs were as close as
>Glorantha got to scientists, to people who expected the world to
>behave predictably, to derive its complexity from relatively simple
>and understandable laws.
>I think the GLs were *right* in their understanding. (I have to, of
>course.) I always saw their downfall as the result of hybris, not
>incomprehension.
I disagree. As good scientists, I picture the GLs as materialists, but not reductionists. If they were better scientists they would have realized the 'laws' they were constructing were in some way incomplete. Instead, they changed the world to fit their laws. Science, yes, but bad science. They took diversity and created homogeneity where it did not truly exist. They should have examined the diversity and broken it down into it's component parts (no, these are NOT runes) to understand it.
>This is (again) NOT EARTH! In Glorantha, why can't there really be
>gods? I feel that Simon is using the fact that supernatural beings
>don't really exist here, in the real world, to devalue their
>"existence" in the fantasy world of Glorantha.
>
>We know that gods exist in "present day" (pre-Hero Wars) Glorantha.
>They show up. People talk to them. Heck *my characters* have spoken
>to some pretty significant gods. Why shouldn't they have existed
>before?
They did, they are just not the gods you think they are. You should really heroquest and see them for what they really are.
You have to understand that myths can be generated from various sources. A god can do a deed, have it recorded and have it turn into myth. A person can do a deed, become a god, have it recorded and have it turned into myth. An event can occur that needs explaining, it can become the actions of gods, have it recorded and turned into myth. A simple fact of life can need explaining, can become the actions or results of the gods, have it recorded and turned into myth.
Two Examples:
It is a mistake to assume All Myths are Created Equal. They are not.
eric
ps Bill Robertson says...
>As cultures, both the Brithini and Mostali detest reproduction. So,
>they've distanced themselves from the fertilty aspect of the
>death/fertilty duality. Thus they are distanced from the death aspect as
>well, and do not normally die from aging.
Actually, Mostali greatly enjoy reproduction, almost to an unhealthy degree. Unfortunately, there is a dire shortage of Clay Vessels. The foremen of each unit is therefore instructed to teach that reproduction is a painful and horrible process, so that anarchy will not erupt over the use of Clay Vessels. When a lucky Mostali is assigned fertiliaztion duty, he discovers its tremendous pleasure, but is informed that if he mentions this to other, lower ranked Mostali, he will never be allowed access to the Clay Vessels again. Then again, maybe they hate reproduction.
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