The Nature and Characteristics of the Gods in Classical Mythology

Bär, Silvio

doi:10.14746/sppgl.2020.xxx.1

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…Instead of believing in the rules that had always governed man, people sought safety and clarity of life through a translation of the old rules into language metaphors. That which was still felt from the old rules was expressed in language through parables; the old rules were translated into imaginary beings who possessed the power of the old rules, but who could be related to through their human appearance and behavior [ 45 ].…”

Section: Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is generally assumed that the gods and religion arose from the lack of understanding prehistoric man had for the world he lived in. Man could not yet think very well and turned the things around him into symbols of something powerful that ruled the world [ 45–48 ]. However, as argued above, religion was a reaction to the chaos that resulted when the old rules were no longer followed.…”

Section: The Gods and The Old Rulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A general theory of consciousness III: The human catastrophe

Peper

2024

Communicative & Integrative Biology

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It is generally assumed that verbal communication can articulate concepts like ‘fact’ and ‘truth’ accurately. However, language is fundamentally inaccurate and ambiguous and it is not possible to express exact propositions accurately in an ambiguous medium. Whether truth exists or not, language cannot express it in any exact way. A major problem for verbal communication is that words are fundamentally differently interpreted by the sender and the receiver. In addition, intrapersonal verbal communication - the voice in our head - is a useless extension to the thought process and results in misunderstanding our own thoughts. The evolvement of language has had a profound impact on human life. Most consequential has been that it allowed people to question the old human rules of behavior - the pre-language way of living. As language could not accurately express the old rules, they lost their authority and disappeared. A long period without any rules of how to live together must have followed, probably accompanied by complete chaos. Later, new rules were devised in language, but the new rules were also questioned and had to be enforced by punishment. Language changed the peaceful human way of living under the old rules into violent and aggressive forms of living under punitive control. Religion then tried to incorporate the old rules into the harsh verbal world. The rules were expressed in language through parables: imaginary beings - the gods - who possessed the power of the old rules, but who could be related to through their human appearance and behavior.

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Section: Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Gods and The Old Rulesmentioning

confidence: 99%