Greek, Roman,Celt or Viking?

[morbidstorm]

I was wondering on everyones views on the most famous European mythologys.
Studying Ancient History, and as such coming into contact with Greek and Roman legends and gods, it seems that almost every film released by Hollywood is a deviation of the stories and characters involved in Myths.
But recently i have found the Viking mythologies are fantastic, i feel it is a part that is not taught in schools, yet it is interesting as all their Gods are falable and mortal. No other mythology (except Christianity - i know i might have upset a few people here, but if you look at it, Christianity has a 'head' god, lower dieties 'Saints', miracles, a relation to a time and place but no hard facts, an explanation of the Creation) of the Western world that i know of only the Viking has an end-of-the world scenario. Ragnarok where all the gods perish fighting mighty beasts such as Fenrir the wolf.
So what are your thoughts?

[tiggerblue10]

Roman mythology was copied from Greek.
Jupiter was Zeus, Neptune was Poseidon, Mercury was Hermes, Venus was Aphrodite, Pluto was Hades etc etc.

So I believe that the Nordic gods like Odin and Thor were also based on Greek gods.

[jno]

don't think so, tigger - I think the Viking gods developed in isolation from southern European ones, as tribal deities. Lots of info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_mythology

[Lonnie]

If memory serves me right, the Greek Gods were fallible, could be hurt, basically, they heavenly humans,and Pan, even though a minor God, died, so were mortal also.

[Tatty Rollox]

... and here is Fenrir ....

[CLOWN TICKLE]

taught history last year and one of the curriculum topics was the vikings

[Octavius]

Greek mythology and Roman mythology are almost identical. This is an accepted fact, as it is widely known that the Romans stole the Greek myths. However, the mythology of the Vikings has many similarities with the Greek myths. These myths although not identical to the Greek ones (like the Romans), but there are very distinct commonalities between the two.

Norse myths were codified during the Viking era: 780 - 1070. This gave the Vikings many centuries to become exposed to the Greek (or Roman) myths. The Vikings did travel as far east as the Caspian sea, which is further east than both Italy and Greece. The Norse myths were fashioned after the fall of the Roman empire.

Thus, as tigger says above, many of the known ancient mythical gods (Zeus/Thor/Odin; Hera/Frigg; Apllo/Balder or Poseidon/Aegir), although having different names amongst cultures all share similar characteristics and abilities.

Also you refer to the Norns (Fenris) these can be directly compared to the Greek Fates in that they are almost identical figures in the myths, in number, gender and purpose.

I am not saying they are all the same, but over the years it is highly likely that myths were borrowed and embellished around the campfire as travellers and traders ventured further and further afield and absorbed stories from far and wide.

In terms of studying, I am not convinced that a vast in-depth knowledge of myths is hugely useful, but an understanding of the myths and how they affected society and history has got to be worthwhile.

[brionon]

Why ''Stole''? Did the Xtians ''Steal'' their religion from the Jews ? Come to think of it-------

[kepla]

Why just think about the Greek, Roman and Viking mythologies and leave out that from our own lands - the Celtic mythology. If any should be studied in our schools then surely it should be our own mythology ? Celt mythology is large and wide-ranging with many stories and legends based around our own lands.

[tiggerblue10]

Thanks jno. It was just something I read somewhere. Obviously they may have got it wrong.

[mozzie]

we did teach a little about norse gods in our re course when i was teaching a few years ago

[morbidstorm]

Thanks guys for all your replies, i do think mythology has a lot to offer especially in this day and age more so than before. In this ever changing world we have all lost our identity, our imagination as a whole, mon to fri 9-5, TV,fast food etc etc. Mythology i feel is not about some god doing this or that, but about how man reacts in situations, warnings to us that even though the myths are thousands of years old, they can be true of today. Mans greed, violence,intelligence,compassion. These stories were to warn mankind of the day of our sins(to use a christian word) and what would happen if we did not use our 'gifts' wisely. Today, i beleive that without these warnings, we are destined to be lost. The only versions of these myths that survive are Hollywood retakes on them, but they have been corrupted and so lose their meaning entirely.