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Permalink Reply by Keenan Fry on October 11, 2013 at 6:45am

Easy, the Norse Myths are the best. Super creative and some of the most enticing tales to have ever been told. My profile picture is actually a drawing of the god Heimdall, who defends Bifrost (the rainbow bridge) and who will sound the horn at his side at the coming of Ragnarok. 

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Permalink Reply by H3xx on October 11, 2013 at 11:02am

I would have to agree, with the works of Homer to be a close second.

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Permalink Reply by Emperor Milos on October 11, 2013 at 12:44pm

Agreed. I can't count how many times I have re-read the Iliad and the Odyssey.

I really enjoy the Norse myths, but I have always been partial to Greek mythology, as that was what got me interested in history as a child.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on October 11, 2013 at 11:03am

I like the Adam and Eve story for a few reasons.  What I find most interesting is that ancient people imagined that, at some point in their ancestry, early humans likely didn't wear clothes and didn't even think to do so.  I tend to think that the earliest 'philosophers' of human origins were likely in proximity of uncivilized folk who still ran around nude eating fruit from trees or something like that.

It is also notable that they realized human birth was much more traumatizing than for other animals - and tried to explain why.  There are also the patriarchal seeds woven into the story, compensating the male inability to bear children by saying the first man 'gave birth' (by way of a rib) to the first woman.

From a psycho-literary perspective, many of the old testament stories reveal a lot about Bronze Age thinkers that I think is worth noting. 

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Permalink Reply by Nate Lundgren on October 11, 2013 at 1:24pm

I like your perspective about the Adam and Eve story. I agree that it reveals a lot about the creativity of the human mind and how some people viewed reality long ago. Much of the same psychological proclivities are in modern humans as well. (for better or worse)

I personally like the ancient religions that inspired and produced great artwork or architecture. I obviously don't like the dogmas etc. but Islam, Buddhism and Hindu traditions have made some amazing things in the past. Christianity also but it is more stale to me and a lot of it is derivative of earlier traditions like Judaism/Egyptian artwork and many of the others.

So as to actually answer the question I like the ancient stories of Mark Twain. ;) hahaha

But seriously, I like the old stories about humans triumphing over adversity no matter what religion or tradition they come from.

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Permalink Reply by RobertPiano on October 11, 2013 at 3:19pm

Jack Wilson's ghost dance religion. I think it was beautiful. Unfortunately one version of it led to Wounded Knee.

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Permalink Reply by Gallup's Mirror on October 11, 2013 at 8:19pm

Which ancient or modern Religion/Mythos is the most interesting to you as a story.

That would be the modern mythology of J. R. R. Tolkien and Middle Earth, as glimpsed in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and more fully explained in The Silmarillion. Tolkein based much of his work on aspects of Norse mythology and ancient stories such as Beowulf, but made up most of the rest. I find it more fascinating, interesting and complete as a story (but no less fictional of course) than any other of the many mythologies and religions I've read about.

A small sample synopsis:

Eru ("The One"), also called Ilúvatar ("Father of All"), first created the Ainur, a group of eternal spirits or demiurges, called "the offspring of his thought". Ilúvatar brought the Ainur together and showed them a theme, from which he bade them make a great music. Melkor — whom Ilúvatar had given the "greatest power and knowledge" of all the Ainur — broke from the harmony of the music to develop his own song. Some Ainur joined him, while others continued to follow Ilúvatar, causing discord in the music. This happened thrice, with Eru Ilúvatar successfully overpowering his rebellious subordinate with a new theme each time. Ilúvatar then stopped the music and showed them a vision of Arda and its peoples. The vision disappeared after a while, and Ilúvatar offered the Ainur a chance to enter into Arda and govern over the new world. Many Ainur descended, taking physical form and becoming bound to that world. The greater Ainur became known as Valar, while the lesser Ainur were called Maiar. The Valar attempted to prepare the world for the coming inhabitants (Elves and Men), while Melkor, who wanted Arda for himself, repeatedly destroyed their work; this went on for thousands of years until, through waves of destruction and creation, the world took shape.

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Permalink Reply by Brendan on October 11, 2013 at 11:54pm

Good call

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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on October 12, 2013 at 2:15am

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Permalink Reply by Marvel on October 12, 2013 at 2:55am

Norse myths were fun to read ... it seemed like the first superhero comic book in history.

The ibrahemic religions mythology is unique of it's own ... i remember that someone drew the book of Genesis as a comic book keeping the original script as a narration to the story .. it was fun to read .. but still not as fun as the Greeks.

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Permalink Reply by SteveInCO on October 12, 2013 at 11:27am

The Greeks and Norse had far better myths than the Semites

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Permalink Reply by Ed on October 12, 2013 at 8:52pm

Without imagination we would be truly boring beings. Unfortunately the early instigators of supernatural thought saw it fit to blur the lines of reality and fairy tales. We are suffering the consequences to this day.

Greek or Norse it matters not, mythology is hugely entertaining. But Bilbo Baggins is more my speed today.

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