98 replies to this topic

[SOAP]

Ares. He's just friggin sexy.

[Showsni]

From Greek mythology, I don't know... not Ares, Athena, Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus or Poseidon, though. Maybe Aphrodite... Or Persephone... Iris? Aeolus? Hephaestus? Not sure.

From Norse... well, maybe Loki. Becasue I like the book "Eight Days of Luke."

Celtic, perhaps Epona, just for the Zelda reference. Chukchi should have Sulis...

Egyptian = Bast.

[Twinrova]

*high fives Showsni*

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

It really is kinda sad. I mean, when someone says "god/goddess", they go straight for the Greeks and Romans.

I mean, there are so many better ones.

They are the most recognized because of their stupidity.

Would the four Chinese Heavenly Beasts be considered gods?

sure why not?

[Sir Deimos]

its all about Odin... but then, seeing as how religiously i am an Odinist... i'm a little biased... lol

[Chukchi Husky]

Chukchi should have Sulis...

Sulis became Minerva when the Romans came.

[Toan]

I'm diggin' Njord.

Oh, the coincidences.

[SL the Pyro]

No. More. Video game characters. You go to gaming for that. This is for real book learnin' stuff. Kefka the Clown God, bah. XD

I'm almost certain Fyxe got that idea from looking at my sig. Meh.

[SOAP]

Hestia. She doesn't get enough love.

Also Iblis from Islam. Total badass and plus the added Battlestar Galatica reference.

[GraniteJJ]

I'm not sure if anyone has said it, but my favourite god is the giant spaghetti monster from the Pastafarian religion.

Let him touch you with his noodly appendage.

[Chikara Nadir]

Yeah, I think it was said on the first page.

But I love him all the same. ^^

[Paladin Anthony]

Eru, aka Iluvatar.

Edited by Paladin Anthony, 26 February 2007 - 11:32 AM.

[Arturo]

Aten, the Egyptian God of sun the pharaoh Akhenaten adored as the only god.

And as for Greek-Roman ones..... I would choose Apollo and Aphrodite/Venus just for the sake of their hotness

[HylianHero]

Mercury! I loved his winged feet, and his fastness to be the Messenger God.

[Ransom]

Eru, aka Iluvatar.

Oo good reference.
I lean more towards the Valar though.

[Showsni]

Melkor.

Or maybe Nienna...

[Paladin Anthony]

Yeah, I need to finish reading that book... but then I'm constantly bogged down in reading for class.

[Showsni]

You can move onto Unfinished Tales once you've finished...
I still haven't read the 12-volume History of Middle Earth, though. Too expensive.

[Paladin Anthony]

Heh, yeah, I normally do that. Which is why I knocked out Eragon, Eldest, and Beyond Band of Brothers this summer while working pretty much a full time job, and spending time with the family.

I also put more of a dent in Les Miserables, but Hugo is ADD and can't stay on subject, which doesn't help me...

But anyway, back on subject. As for non-LOTR gods, I just don't like the Greek gods because they're so... high school drama, heh. I'm more fond of the mortals in Greek Mythology... like Daedalus.

[Selena]

I concur about the Greek gods being melodramatic and over the top in their stories, at least most of the time (ignoring the random, apparently fictional gods, 'cause it sounds even more nerdy than real mythology >.>). That's probably why I've always preferred Sumerian, and more recently the Norse, gods. Because most of those stories are about getting drunk and crushing some random empire/getting in a random fight with someone. And then getting drunk again to celebrate.

Ninhursag and Enki creating mankind after getting drunk off their asses and daring each other that they could make a better person, thus resulting in natural birth defects. Oi. Well, births aren't uncommon after a night of boozing, so I guess it's plausible enough.

[Ransom]

You can move onto Unfinished Tales once you've finished...
I still haven't read the 12-volume History of Middle Earth, though. Too expensive.

They're to long and intimidating. Like War and Peace.

[Steel Samurai]

I've got four of them, and I intend, eventually, to expand my collection to all 12.

[SOAP]

I'm almost certain Fyxe got that idea from looking at my sig. Meh.

Speaking of stealing ideas from sigs....

AHEM
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[Nimiety]

Heh. Sorry Kitten, Prometheus was technically a Titan, not a god. My favorite god would have to be Tulkas. But he's from a book, sooo . . . erm . . . probably Hercules. Even though he only became a god after death.

Just out of curiosity, why do you consider the Titans to be any more godly than the Olympians? Cronus was King of the Universe for a while there, and according to Hesiod ruled during the "Golden Age of Man". Rhea, a Titan, and mother of the Olympians, also had a cult on the island of Crete. That sounds pretty godly to me.

Specifically looking at Prometheus, different myths give him different parentage. Some claim he's a son of Gaia, and therefore a first generation Titan. Others claim he's the son of Themis, and though called a Titan would be of the same generation as Zeus (cousins). Others still have him as the son of Iapetus, and brother of Atlas, which would again make him a 2nd generation Titan and first cousin of Zeus.

If Zeus is a God, I don't really see a reason why Prometheus isn't.


In other news, my favourite god is probably Dionysus, who just recently beat out the Roman Mars. It was the revelation that one of his children was named Wine-Faced, and the myth of Zagreus that put him over the top. Those Orphic stories are just killer.

[DarkJuno]

Because the Greeks didn't classify him as one of their gods. That's that.

[arunma]

Because the Greeks didn't classify him as one of their gods. That's that.

Or maybe they should have?

[Wolf O'Donnell]

I mean, there are so many better ones.

Would the four Chinese Heavenly Beasts be considered gods?

Nope.

If you want to go for Chinese Gods, how about the Shi Ti'en Yen Wang? They're the Ten Lords of Death, each a Judge of his own Court.

As for Greek Gods, the one that makes me smile the most is the Greek God of Virility, Priapus. (Incidentally, he's also known as a Protector of Livestock). Apparently, during ancient times, statues of him were often put at gates, crossroads and doorways as a sort of godly guard. It was also, apparently, lucky for passers-by to give his wang a stroke.

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

Edited by Wolf_ODonnell, 03 March 2007 - 07:53 AM.

[DarkJuno]

Or maybe they should have?

But they didn't. And it's kinda late for them to change their minds.

[Nimiety]

But they didn't. And it's kinda late for them to change their minds.

But they did. Prometheus worship may not have been wide spread, but he was worshiped as a god, especially in Athens. He was an immortal, and often the creation of man is attributed to him. He's the father and creator of the human race, and its greatest supporter. He's the ultimate philanthropist.

He was also worshiped as a hero, rather than a god, in some other cities. Wikipedia singles out Argos.

Other Titans who were actively worshiped during the classical period were Rhea, especially at Crete, and Hyperion.

Some scholars believe that the Titans were the gods of people who inhabited the Greek peninsula, and that Hesiod's Titanomachy represents the Indo-European invaders' (i.e. the Greeks) victory over those earlier residents. During the Titanomachy, Themis and Prometheus fought against Cronos and the Titans, which, to some, suggests that the Greeks intermingled and eventually assimilated the indigenous people, rather than forced them out. Their religions became as one as the Greek patriarchal religion swept over the old matriarchal religion. So, these figures, even if not actively worshiped during the classical period, would have been during the Early and Middle Bronze Ages.

And if one were to suggest that the Titans can't be considered gods because the Greeks didn't worship them is like saying the Greek gods can't be considered gods because their cults aren't active today.

[Selena]

Meh, while not Olympian gods, I'd certainly say the Titans were prominent enough figures to still be considered 'favorite gods.' They did kind of have an important place in Greek mythology, if only leading up to the reign of the Olympian pantheon. Castration-happy evil things that they were.