# Need help with finding info on ancient mythology.



## Rojack79 (Apr 17, 2018)

So I decided to do an ancient mythology piece. 8-[ what was I thinking? So there are four main pantheons that I'm looking into and a fifth that I'm considering. The mains are Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and Hindu. So far I've been able to find a great deal of information on Greek myth, go figure right, but the other three are giving me some trouble. The fifth pantheon is more of a guilty pipe dream mostly because I can't figure out just what part of it, if any at all, is ok to use. It's the chithulu mythos by the way. So yeah that's the deal. I need some help finding out anything I can about these ancient myths and religion's so as to better portray the heroes and villains of my book. Anything you have will be of great service. Thanks!


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## Ralph Rotten (Apr 17, 2018)

In a hundred years they will teach Christianity right beside the other mythologies.


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## Rojack79 (Apr 17, 2018)

Ralph Rotten said:


> In a hundred years they will teach Christianity right beside the other mythologies.



As a man of faith I find this comment very insulting. Please reframe from spamming my thread with useless comments that have nothing to do with the topic at hand.


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## moderan (Apr 18, 2018)

> It's the chithulu mythos by the way.



No. It's the Cthulhu Mythos, more accurately known as Yog-Sothothery or Lovecraft Mythos. Work by Lovecraft and his contiguous peers is very likely public domain. Lovecraft himself invited others to work in his settings -- though he meant Robert E Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, Henry Kuttner, and the like, legally, that doesn't seem to matter. I've been working with elements of the mythos for years.
None of those ancient religions are hard to find information on at all.
And Ralph is exactly right. From the point of view of a fiction writer, they're all mythologies. The whole concept is called mythopoeia.
I'd suggest you do your own legwork, but this will give you somewhere to start.


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## Rojack79 (Apr 18, 2018)

moderan said:


> No. It's the Cthulhu Mythos, more accurately known as Yog-Sothothery or Lovecraft Mythos. Work by Lovecraft and his contiguous peers is very likely public domain. Lovecraft himself invited others to work in his settings -- though he meant Robert E Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, Henry Kuttner, and the like, legally, that doesn't seem to matter. I've been working with elements of the mythos for years.



Thank you for the help in figuring this piece of my puzzle out.



moderan said:


> None of those ancient religions are hard to find information on at all.



I beg to differ there. I've been looking around on the internet for the past 5 year's now trying to find every scrap of info I can find.



moderan said:


> And Ralph is exactly right. From the point of view of a fiction writer, they're all mythologies. The whole concept is called mythopoeia.
> I'd suggest you do your own legwork, but this will give you somewhere to start.



Yes, I do know of mythopoeia but I don't consider Christianity a part of it because of the fact that its a part of factual history, not mythology. I must thank you for the website because this is the place I seem to have been looking for forever.


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## moderan (Apr 19, 2018)

Rojack79 said:


> Thank you for the help in figuring this piece of my puzzle out.


No worries. I am not an expert or authority but I'm the closest to one here.



Rojack79 said:


> I beg to differ there. I've been looking around on the internet for the past 5 year's now trying to find every scrap of info I can find.


Meaning no disrespect, but it took me less than thirty seconds, using the search term 'ancient mythology'. I'll keep the pebble.



Rojack79 said:


> Yes, I do know of mythopoeia but I don't consider Christianity a part of it because of the fact that its a part of factual history, not mythology. I must thank you for the website because this is the place I seem to have been looking for forever.


I'm not even going to go down that rabbit hole. You're welcome.


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## Blackstone (Apr 19, 2018)

Greetings,

_Myth - noun - a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.
_
I don't see any controversy in reference to Christianity as part of mythopoeia. It's a pretty established thing. Even has its own Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology

Oh, and here's Hindu mythology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_mythology and Egyptian mythology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_mythology

Why not just read those pages and check out the citations? Plenty of source books and papers to track down as you please. Simple as it gets. Nobody has to know you used the Wicked Wiki.

Oh, by the way, I would in the friendliest way possible caution you from a PR standpoint against referring to Hindu beliefs - an extremely active religion with almost a billion committed followers - as being one of your chosen myths if you don't want to worry about being theologically controversial: If Christianity is off limits, then Hinduism probably should be too. I would stick to the Egyptians and Norse.

Best of luck anyway!


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## Deleted member 61744 (Apr 21, 2018)

'Norse Mythology' by Neil Gaiman is a good place to start. It's an easy-to-read retelling and you could probably use it as a basis for further research.


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## scarab (Jun 23, 2018)

You could try the Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, by Richard Wilkinson. 

This includes Gods and Goddesses classified by biological characteristics 

For example, Khepri is filed under invertebrate and insect deities.


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