Modern Interpretations of Mythology

[maenad nuri]

This is a repost from M&R, and it was requested that I put a copy here for those a little uncomfortable in M&R. I do ask, that if you are comfortable posting in M&R, to do so in both places. I like discussion, yo.

I'm fairly used to people saying that my religion is dead -- and in a way it is. I am not an Ancient Greek, nor do I pretend to be. Those gods are my gods, but I can only see the culture from the outside, from history. Thankfully, I have a lot to go on, at least for specific areas. If I wanted to reconstruct the popular religion of Athens, I'd be golden.

But I don't live in Greece of any time period. I live in the modern world, so when I look at a text, it isn't always from an ancient point of view. I am a shameless fangirl of Ginette Paris and her feminist and archetypal look into greek mythology. Her particular insights have seriously influenced my view of several gods and goddess -- she doesn't pull any punches and addresses the good with the bad, to steal several cliches. While she doesn't influence all of my interpretations of my mythology (I love reading it, and evaluating, and generally being a geek), it is one that I keep coming back to.

Now, the Hellenic community is incredibly diverse. There are some that only see what the ancient greeks wrote, and there are some that are wholly modern. Most are inbetween.

What is the role of modern or even personal interpretations of your mythology in your religious practice? How is this viewed by your community? How do you know if the way interpret even older sources is "accurate", if such a thing exists?

For those of you without a specific mythology, how do you see modern interpretations of mythology, of any sort?  

[Annalixa]

Myths and ancient deities, while they interest me (I was a Greek mythology nut as a kid), don't play any kind of role in my life, and I've just now sussed out the reason why I don't feel very drawn towards them: it's very hard to put them in a workable modern context. (Though ironically enough, I'm thinking of incorporating/working with Dionysus. Funny how things come full circle like that.)

We're not an agrarian society anymore (speaking of developed nations like the US): most of us do not till the land to survive. Rather, our lives depend not so much on the whim of nature but the whim of technology: will our vehicles transport us safely? will we have electricity to run our appliances? can we find a job to get bits of paper to exchange for necessities and luxuries? Those are the issues we now concern ourselves with in terms of survival. It's hard to put a rain god in that context; it requires a good deal of abstraction. Granted we still have farmers who rely much more on nature than the rest of us normally do, but they also rely heavily on technology (combine harvesters much? or try pesticides).

While on the one hand, you can't put deities completely out of their context (the favorite example being Kali as sunshine and love and ponies), I think any reading of modern deities is going to have to involve "logical" (by which I suppose I more mean intuitive) roles for deities that incorporate the world we live in today. Otherwise, the deity is not playing nearly the important role in your life it was X number of years ago.

I guess this doesn't have much to do with the original topic but those are the thoughts stirred in my head by reading the OP.  

[Kismet Sikmet]

Something that I must point out to you is...All religions have myths as far as I'm aware. (Creation myth anyone? Aka genesis?) Just because your religion is not as popular as say Christianity doesn't mean anything, a myth is still a myth..Also, religion is purely up for interpretation, so anything you want to believe is truly yours to choose. As for interpreting 'accurately' there's no such thing, the message is truly different for different groups. Also, each of these myths were made for a specific audience at a specific time. So while we can look back and still interpret them, we're not necessarily the target audience. If that makes any sense. Good myths will have meaning outside of the culture and time period. If they are supposed to convey a specific message, it will be quite clear.

I don't really have a specific mythology, I don't feel I need one. My God and Goddess are only named that. I don't follow any specific rules from any one religion, I have my own code of conduct and that's enough for me. Religion is something that is made by man for man, so I will choose what works for me.  

[Starlock]

I'm slightly more fascinated by the idea of 'modern mythology' rather than modern interpretations of old mythology. In some ways there isn't much of a distinction between the two: new tales told are nearly always reworkings of old ideas that can be found in myths from old cultures. Seeing our modern pop-culture media as our current day manifestation of mythology is an interesting thing. It serves a somewhat different role than did the tales of old, but the visceral immediacy of the characters might be comparable to the immediacy the Greeks for instance felt towards their Gods and Goddesses.

Slightly more on topic, I think there are several interesting issues with regards to modern interpretations of older mythological tales. The main one that comes to mind is context, as has been mentioned. We just have a different contextual mindest and will create different interpretations that may or may not be true to the original. Should reconstructionalists strive to really maintain the original and proper context the myths were in to understand them more closely as they might have been understood in the past? Or should they embrace using newer modes of thinking and metaphors in touch with the modern world when looking at old mythology? I don't think either is neccesarily better than the other; both yield valuable insights and undoubtedly are useful to different people.  

[Snow Baybii]

The problem with looking at mythology today is people interpret it literally rather than looking back on the culture or time period to understand what is actually being said and what was at the time commonly understood by those particular words. This is why popularized Christianity is so controversial, because at the time the cannons that were put together for what we know today as the bible, were influence heavily by Roman influence and jewish tradition they really can't figure out what's really going on and rely largely on there priests to explain to them the true meaning and most of the time false information is taken as fact and truth. This is the problem with anyone studying religion and/or mythology, you have to study the history and culture of the time period that these were written, not just read and take it seriously. This is again one of those reasons to be pagan, because we actually study all of our beliefs and we don't become narrow minded in order to explain ourselves biggrin  

[Pelta]

My path has no canon literature, but I've always enjoyed reading up on others. I've always enjoyed looking through to find morals, good stories and artwork ideas. I always found mythology from all different places to be full of juicy tidbits. Mythology explains, educates and inspires. It clarified things for the ancient Greeks that allowed them to go on with their lives without wondering why the seasons changed. It explained what a lot of modern science can explain today.

But then where does that leave us in a modern situation? We know the seasons do not change because Hades stole Demeter's daughter. So the myth seems useless in that respect. However, they also provide a basis of belief, a way of interacting with gods that otherwise may be almost inaccessable. They teach us about the lives and personal interests of each deity - what things are sacred to them, why we interact with them and how to approach them. They provide a way of connecting with the gods.

I don't know how others approach mythology. That's just my view on the subject.  

[ShadowSharrow]

Pelta

So the myth seems useless in that respect. However, they also provide a basis of belief, a way of interacting with gods that otherwise may be almost inaccessable. They teach us about the lives and personal interests of each deity - what things are sacred to them, why we interact with them and how to approach them. They provide a way of connecting with the gods.

I don't know how others approach mythology. That's just my view on the subject.

I would say it is spot on, but you have to bear in mind that a lot of the myths have been translated, mistranslated and at time deliberatly mislead about certain gods, but thier are many truths there if you seek them and learn and listen.