What is a myth? Myth is a story created by human beings according to primitive thinking. Early humans had no rational understanding of the world. When primitive humans learn to use simple tools and engage in collective labor, they know how to think and communicate, and they are eager to understand the world with their childish thinking. Under this premise, they combine living and inanimate, natural forces and natural phenomena, understand things that have the same will and thinking with themselves, and connect various systems to form a whole system. Things, legends and stories produced by this way of thinking.
Greek myths and myths emerged with the emergence of human civilization. Where there is human civilization, there are myths, just as there are China legends, ancient Indian myths and Arabic myths in Asia, Maya myths and Aztec myths in America and Egyptian myths in Africa. As the most prosperous region of human civilization, Europe naturally has corresponding myths and legends, the most important of which are Nordic myths and Greek myths.
Nordic myth and Greek myth are two great myths in ancient Europe, which constitute colorful ancient European culture and have a great influence on people's lives in ancient and modern European countries and even the whole world. However, many people will confuse these two mythological systems, mainly because Greek mythology describes the Aegean Sea, the center of ancient economic and cultural exchanges, and the Greek marine culture is prosperous. The classic literature left behind has a great influence on world culture, especially on the Renaissance in medieval Italy, so it is regarded as western culture. In contrast, Nordic mythology originated in the corners of Europe, Iceland and Scandinavia and was told by Scandinavians, a branch of Germanic people. Because there is no specific classic, it has not been widely circulated. It was not discovered until AD 1643. The classic Ada Sutra, which was formed by an unknown poet in Iceland (Simon) in the 9th century, is also called "Yun Ada" or "Old Ada". In addition, Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic scholar in the 4th century A.D./KLOC-0, recorded in Old Ada. Only these two classics recorded ancient Nordic myths (Ada means "knowledge" and "great mother"), so Nordic myths are also called "forgotten myths".
In view of the above reasons, people generally regard Greek mythology (including Roman mythology) as the main axis of European mythology culture, but ignore the existence of Nordic mythology, or mistakenly regard Nordic mythology as a sideline of Greek mythology and ignore the influence of Nordic mythology on world culture. Here I will simply compare the differences between Nordic mythology and Greek mythology to mention this "forgotten myth" again.
The composition of the mythical world first looks at the origin of the world: the origin of the world described in Greek mythology is that at the beginning of the world, only chaos, Erebus and Nyx were the sons of chaos, and then darkness and darkness gave birth to love. Love produces "light" and "aurora", and then "Gaia" produces "Uranus" by virtue of its own divine power. The combination of "heaven" and "earth" produced twelve titans. From the above description, we can see a direction of the formation of the Greek mythical world: the world begins with chaos and darkness, and light and love finally break through the darkness. Let's take a look at the origin of the world in Nordic mythology: at the beginning of ancient times, there was no sky, no land, only the bottomless abyss Ginnugagap. In the north of the abyss, there is a cold country of death (Niflheim), and in the south of the abyss, there is a fiery "hometown of fire" Muspelheim, which is composed of the fire giant Surt. Water vapor converged into water droplets in the cracks, and Imil, the father of the world giants, and Odhambra, the giant cow, were born. Imil lives by sucking milk from cows, while cows live by adding salt to glaciers. Slowly, cows feed on glaciers, which increases the number of strong men. This is Bree, the father of God. Imil and Bligh fought a big war, and the war between giants and gods began. Later, he was killed by Imil, but his three sons Odin, Willy and Wei, born to his son Bor, killed Imil in revenge, Imil. Only Begelmir and his wife fled to the other side of the world and were saved. On the other side of the world, they established Jotunheim, a giant country, and vowed to be enemies with the protoss forever. Odin three gods dismembered Imil's body and made it into earth, mountain, river and tree, respectively, and appointed four powerful dwarves to support heaven and earth in four directions, then made Mars into the sun and moon in the land of fire, and finally made a wall with Imil's eyebrows as the dividing line between the world atrium, the land of fire and the country of death, while Imil's soul was buried in the tree of the world that runs through the whole universe.
Compared with Greek mythology, the world creation of Nordic mythology is full of struggle and darkness. It is a creative process, that is, it was formed in the war, from the nothingness at the beginning of ancient times to the war between god and giant. It is a cruel and realistic beginning to create a new world with the bodies of defeated giants after the victory of protoss, while Greek mythology is full of romance, personifying nature and thinking, and finally showing brightness and beauty.
Nordic mythology, let's take a look at the structure of the world again: the world in Greek mythology exists in an oval universe, which is divided into five parts: the earth where human beings live and live, the mysterious unknown sea, the dark and chaotic underworld at the end of the sea, the paradise where gods live on Olympus, and the underground where giants eager to move are buried. Heaven, the sea and the underworld are managed by Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, respectively, while the earth is managed by the three gods, and the underground giants are always underground. It fully highlights the dominant position of Olympus in world sovereignty. On the other hand, Nordic myth: the whole universe is supported by the tree of the world, namely Ugadlahi. At the top of the tree are Asgard where Ethel lives, Wanahem where Vannier lives, and Elf Town where Elves live. There is a world atrium in the middle of the world tree, a giant country and a dwarf town where human beings live. At the bottom of the tree of the world, there is freezing. The gap between Jin and Nga and the fire place where the flame giant lives at the other end, the whole Nordic myth consists of nine countries. Protoss is not in charge of the whole world like Greek mythology, but is always threatened by the mountain giants in the giant country, the fire giants in fire nation and the ice giants in the dead country. The Nordic myth composed of such a world must begin with the war, shuttle between wars, and finally end the war. The world of Greek mythology is full of infinite unknowns, which encourages people to take risks and conquer, while the world of Nordic mythology is completely inclusive and full of confrontation and struggle.
The mythical gods and the sacred protoss are the dominant groups in the myth, and the rise and fall and status of the protoss determine the differences in creativity, development and authenticity of the myth.
First of all, let's look at the relationship between the main protoss and other protoss: the main protoss mentioned in Greek mythology is the Titan protoss, which created human beings in the Golden Age and the Silver Age, and the other is the main protoss, which created human beings in the Bronze Age and the Heroic Age. The relationship between Titan protoss and Olympus protoss is simply the replacement of two generations of gods. At the beginning of the world, Uranus in the sky gave birth to kronos, the leader of Titan protoss, and the first generation of protoss was formed under the command of kronos. Kronos killed Uranus with the help of Gaia, but Uranus predicted that kronos would also be killed by his son. After that, kronos and Rhea gave birth to Zeus, and finally kronos was killed by Zeus, which led to the formation of the second generation of protoss-the Olympian protoss. Most of Titan protoss were buried underground by Olympus protoss, and only a few of them, such as Prometheus, Sitis and eos, were left behind. It can be said that the two schools of Greek protoss have a vertical inheritance relationship. The new forces replaced the old forces, absorbed the essence of the old forces and consolidated their brand-new and unique rule. In Norse mythology, it is different. The protoss mainly mentioned in Nordic mythology are Assa protoss, main protoss and Huanier protoss corresponding to Assa protoss. The two protoss coexist, communicating and struggling with each other. After a huge battle, the two tribes decided to exchange hostages and make up, so the Vanier protoss handed over Frey, Freya and their father Njord, the backbone of the protoss, to the Assar protoss, and the Assar protoss handed over the smartest giant Mimir and the protoss leader Horner to the Vanier protoss. At first, both sides were willing to accept it. Later, the Neil protoss in China found that Horner had no protoss wisdom, so he killed Mimi and sent her head back to the Assa protoss. Odin revived Mimi, and then Mimi's wisdom was used by Odin. The three gods sent to Assa protoss were reused, Frey became the master of the fairy kingdom, Freya became the beauty god, and Neeld became the sea god. It can be seen that the protoss relationship in Norse mythology is horizontally opposite, and two gods exist in * * *. Generally speaking, this is because there are many nomadic tribes in Scandinavia, which lack the rules of father's death and son's inheritance, and have no habit of obeying the law. Tribal conflicts are frequent, and there is no tribe headed by the main body, while Greek ideology and culture are prosperous and the rules are complete, so there are differences in the protoss relationship between the two myths.
Then look at the rights and status of the Lord God in the protoss. The main god in Greek mythology is Zeus, the "father of the gods". The description of Zeus in mythology is: an all-powerful god, the father of man and god, and everything in the universe must obey his will, holding the thunderbolt given by the hundred-handed giant in the war against Titan, with infinite strength and wisdom. Zeus once boasted to the gods: "Gods, come and try, and you will know. You hung a golden rope from the gods, and all the gods and goddesses caught it, but you can't drag the supreme mastermind from the sky to the ground. Although you have tried your best, when I want to pull it up, I will pull you up with the earth and the sea. It can be seen that Zeus's strength and wisdom far exceed other gods, and even the combined force of all the gods in the world is far from Zeus's power. The existence of Zeus is an absolute authority, and it is Greek supremacism that forms Zeus, a god with infinite authority. Now let's look at Odin, the god of northern Europe. Odin is portrayed in mythology as an old man with one eye and white hair, and is a highly respected and far-sighted image. Odin is not omnipotent. Odin can't help farmers find their children from giants, or stop Loki's mischief, or stop the demise of the gods. Comparatively speaking, not only the status of the main protoss, but also the status of the main god is not higher in Greek mythology than in Nordic mythology. The reason is that Greece is located in the Aegean Sea, which is easy to communicate with the surrounding areas and has a developed marine culture. It has frequent contacts with Asia Minor in the east, Egypt in the south, Sicily in the west and Thracians who are good at fighting in the north, so centralization is relatively developed. The Germanic people in Iceland and Scandinavia have been nomadic for a long time, and the development of centralization is relatively slow, so the status of the main protoss is relatively low.
Then let's take a look at the comparison between the gods inside. First of all, apart from the main god, the most respected gods in mythology are Athena, the goddess of wisdom, the god of handicrafts and Sivir. In the legends of many heroes, such as Poerxiusi, Argo, Odyssey, etc. The hero was blessed by Athena and achieved success and glory. The Parthenon (Athena Temple) in the Acropolis is also a world-famous building, and Athens, the capital of Greece, is also named after Athena. The most revered god in northern Europe is Thor. Thor is the bravest god. He goes out to fight giants with the hammer of Thor given by dwarves all day. In contrast, Athena, believed by the Greeks, is full of wisdom and often helps mankind with its great divine power, winning glory for mankind, while Thor, believed by the Nordic people, is upright and brave, giving mankind the courage and strength to fight and enabling them to win in the war. Because of the prosperity of Greek culture, Ares, the brave god of war, was not respected by the Greeks, while Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and hephaestus, the god of craftsmen, were respected. On the contrary, the Nordic people live a life of hunting, migration and fighting all day, and they need strong survival strength and strong belief in Thor. Even the beautiful god Freya was inevitably involved in the war and became the first person in Valkyrie, Valkyria. From the Greek belief in Athena, we can see that wisdom and knowledge are relatively more respected by people. Let's look at the evil gods in the protoss. Among the Greek gods, the god of evil has no absolute definition. As far as evil gods are concerned, Eris or Hades, the goddess of disputes, can only be involved. But Eris only worked under Zeus, and Hades was only loyal to the position of the underworld, and was not called an evil god (this is more like Shiva, the god of destruction in India); The title of the Nordic evil god belongs to Rocky beyond reproach. Rocky was not a god, but a giant. Because of his deep relationship with Odin, he was included in the Asa protoss. Because of his many practical jokes, Rocky became an evil god. Loki can also be called the cleverest god among the Asa protoss, but his wisdom is different from Odin's. Odin's wisdom is a kind of wisdom with foresight and insight into everything in the world, while Loki's wisdom tends to respond immediately. The two most evil things of Loki, the evil god, are to instruct Hondl, the dark god, to assassinate god of light Bader and lead his three horrible children to participate in "ragnar Rock". However, as an evil god, Lodge is not hated by the Nordic people. Instead, it takes up a lot of pen and ink to describe rocky in Nordic mythology, honestly describes the betrayal and destruction of God, and shows the greater reality in Nordic mythology. At the same time, the friendship between Loki and Odin and the wisdom of Loki are described in detail in Nordic mythology. The Nordic people who make a living by fishing attributed the invention of the fishing net, the most important fishing tool in their lives, to Loki, and Odin also invented runic characters. Loki and Odin became cultural heroes who created and invented in people's lives, which better reflected the integration of the evil god Loki and the main god Odin's God.
Finally, let's look at the relationship between the gods. In Nordic mythology, there are not many struggles between gods, and the whole myth runs through the struggle between gods and giants. The gods are relatively United in the face of giants who attack at any time. Only rocky's practical jokes can cause disputes. On the other hand, there are fierce internal disputes among protoss in Greek mythology, such as the battle between Vulcan and God of War, and the battle between Athena and Poseidon for Athens. The fiercest battle was the battle of Troy. Completely in the supreme position, giants, Titan protoss, etc. Can't pose a threat to it. In the case of excluding external threats, internal disputes are naturally relatively fierce. From the internal struggle of the gods, we can see whether the whole mythical world is in a state of relative war or relative peace. In Nordic mythology, the change of the relationship between Loki and the gods is a hidden line that runs through the whole myth, and the change of the relationship between Loki and the gods is the fuse that triggers the twilight of the gods. Rocky is a giant among the protoss. He has a deep relationship with Odin and has always been treated as a god. In the early days, the relationship between Loki and the gods was relatively peaceful and friendly. In the later period, Rocky constantly created disputes, and the gods finally could not bear to punish him forever, so that Rocky could return to the ranks of giants at the twilight of the gods. It can be said that the division within the protoss accelerated the demise of the protoss.
Why are Nordic myths more realistic than Greek myths? The gods in Greek mythology will never suffer from the sorrow of aging and extinction, while the gods in Nordic mythology have to face this cruel reality at any time. In the story of Loki stealing golden apples, the gods grew old day by day because they lost the golden apples and Iduna, the goddess of youth. Golden apples can rejuvenate all living things. When they feel old, they will ask Iduna for golden apples. Once the golden apple is lost, they will. The most magnificent scene in Nordic mythology is not Genesis, nor is it the suppression of giants by the gods, but "Twilight of the Gods", which describes the destruction of a generation of gods, the final decisive battle between the gods and the giants, and finally the two sides die together, and the gods are destroyed together with the world they created. This is unimaginable not only in Greek mythology, but also in myths of other regions.
From the legend of mythical heroes to the description of human beings, they are all based on the mythical the legend of heroes, and the mythical the legend of heroes can be said to be a description of the "imperial history". Heroes are descendants of gods, demigods between gods and men, and kings of the ruling party. Among ancient people, the history of mankind is the history of kings, so the description of human heroes is extremely pen and ink, and the unity of monarch and god is the characteristic of ancient mythology.
The legend of heroes in Greek mythology is world-famous, and heroes such as Odysseus and Jason are well-known, while the legend of heroes in Nordic mythology is not well known, but there are also very famous ones, such as the German opera "The Ring of Nibelungen" adapted from Volsunga Saga by Nordic the legend of heroes.
First of all, let's compare two mythical the legend of heroes. The simple division of Greek the legend of heroes includes three systems: war, adventure and culture, in which adventure is the main body, and the adventures of Argo, Odyssey and Hercules are all about heroic adventures, among which Argo is the most magnificent. Heroes described in Greek mythology are eager to take risks, conquer, open up a new world and make contributions. In the adventures of heroes, there are things that are mastered by their own subjective will, and more are manipulated by one or more gods, or taken care of or tried. Although people are eager to find a new world, they can never escape the golden eyes of God. It shows the contradiction that ancient Greece not only encouraged people to take risks and innovate, but also restricted people to the framework of absolute monarchy. Let's look at the legend of heroes in northern Europe, and the legend of heroes in northern Europe is as full of this kind of sadness and misfortune as its description of God. Whether in Ode to the Legend of Buddha or Revenge of the Master, heroes spend their lives in a miserable life of revenge. For themselves and their loved ones, they are forced to raise their swords or use their wisdom to retaliate against unfortunate enemies. God does not play a leading role in the legend of heroes. The hero's will is above everything else, and he can even destroy everything. Compared with Greek mythology which encourages people to fight for fame and knowledge, Nordic mythology encourages people to fight for survival and life.
In the legend of Greek heroes, God dominates the hero's course. No matter Poerxiusi, Argo hero, Odysseus, etc. They were all guided by God, blessed or obstructed by God, and finally completed their adventure. Even if they are described as the Trojan War, they can be said to be the war of God. In Norse mythology, the influence of God on heroes is far less than that of Greece. Siegfried and Vilander both completed their revenge and adventure with strong will. Greek mythology is more about the will of God, while Nordic mythology is more about the will of man.
There are obvious differences between the two places in the relationship between God and man. Greece-Aegean Sea is located at the junction of Asia, Europe and Africa, and is the center of art and culture. There are very high standards in architecture, tool manufacturing and art. People show their respect for the gods by building temples and offering sacrifices to them, and pray for their care, so as to win their favor and people are interested in them. If you forget to sacrifice to God, it is blasphemy, and you will be punished by God or attacked by wild animals. Therefore, there are many Greek temples, among which the Parthenon dedicated to Athena in Athens is the most famous. In northern Europe, there is no artistic culture as prosperous as Greece. People live a nomadic life without a fixed place, and it is impossible to build temples or statues to pay homage. The tragic Nordic myth was born, spent and perished in the war. Therefore, the way people show piety to God is to fight, pray in the war, and give victory to God for the protection of the gods.
In addition to protoss and human beings, aliens are also an important factor in mythology. The so-called alien race, including creatures with super biological power except gods and people, is the most common enemy of God-giants.
First, let's look at the different races in Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, there are giants among different races, and there are many representatives with different forms and ideas in this respect, such as Atlas, the giant who made a thunderbolt for Zeus, Argos, the white-eyed giant killed by Hermes, and Profimus, the man-eating cyclops in the Odyssey. Usually giants are enemies of God. The Titan protoss, defeated in the protoss war, once joined forces with the giants on the ground and rushed to Mount Olympus in an attempt to overthrow the protoss regime. But the protoss headed by Zeus is the supreme existence. Together with Hercules, the representative of human beings, the protoss easily suppressed the rebellion of giants, and the giants were eliminated, but the protoss was unscathed. Greek mythology further highlights the unshakable authority of God through the power of giants. In Greek mythology, other different races are monsters between God and human beings who have no consciousness of their own, or some people abandoned by God, such as the gorgon, the gorgon, and Sai Ren, a beautiful woman with a bird's head. These different races have not yet reached the state of confrontation with the gods, but they far exceed the downward power of human beings. In mythology, it is mostly used to set off the bravery of demigods. Just like giants, they exist only to consolidate the dominant position of demigods in people's hearts.
Then look at the different races in Nordic mythology. The status of different races in Nordic mythology is completely different from that in Greek mythology. The main race in Nordic mythology is also a giant, but giants exist not to set off the dominant position of God, but to destroy it. Long before the creation of the world, there were burning giants in the country of fire, frozen giants in the country of death, and the whole human world was made up of giant bones and remains. Giants have the power to surpass God, and giants have the power to destroy God. In order to prevent being wiped out, in order to prevent the arrival of the "Twilight of the Gods", the gods have to constantly look for heroic human gods to protect them, and have to go out and fight against giants. Just like the threat of other unknown races to the Nordic people, the Nordic people have to face the invasion from unknown and powerful foreigners at any time, and the gods have to face the invasion from giants at any time, which is contrary to the Greek myth that the gods are far more powerful than giants. Other different races that often appear in Nordic mythology are dwarves and elves. Elves are kind creatures who can live in harmony with God and people. Furei, the protoss, is the owner of the land of elves. When Freya goes out to find her husband, the elves will also help him. Dwarfs are short and ugly creatures, unlike elves. They don't have the power of giants, they can only live in dark underground and tree holes, but they can't see the bright sunshine. But they have the most dexterous craftsmanship, and many treasures of the gods, including Thor's powerful weapon against giants, are also made by dwarves. It can be said that the gods can't compete with the giants without the help of the dwarfs' handicrafts.
In Norse mythology, the gods are not only inferior to giants in strength, but also completely lost to giants in wisdom. Thor can turn the "omniscient" among the dwarves into stone, but he can't escape the trap set by the giant: "Before the gods, if I were you, I wouldn't mention that trip to the East; In the glove thumb, you are timid, Thor, and you forget that you are still a god. 7. Thor, the most powerful god, and Loki, the smartest god, were teased by giants.
Of course, apart from confronting giants, protoss also communicate with giants. In Greece, giants made weapons for Zeus and obeyed Hera's orders. Some giants are descendants of God. In northern Europe, marriages between protoss and giants are also frequent. To some extent, the protoss represents the local human beings, while the giants reflect the various races outside the region. The Greeks fought against the Cypriots and Thracians, and also traded with them. In northern Europe,
The influence of mythology on European culture is reflected in the rich and splendid culture in Greek mythology. Thebes (translated as Thebes) and Troy are famous for their architectural art, and the strange buildings on Crete are even described as Crete Labyrinth by myth. In the field of humanities and arts, ancient Greek philosophy came into being, and the five great poets of ancient Greece and Rome, 9, shone brilliantly in literature and remained immortal; It is recorded in the legend of heroes that Daedalus is a great artist, and his works are the overall reflection of the artistic creation of ancient Greeks. Among the gods are Athena, the god of handicrafts, hephaestus, Apollo and so on, which can reflect the prosperity of ancient Greek and Roman culture and art from Greek mythology. The culture reflected in Greek mythology has a great influence on the world. His philosophy inspired people's reform in the Middle Ages, and his adventurous spirit of pursuing exploration led people to open up new roads. The splendid culture and art of ancient Greece are indelible wealth in the world. In Nordic mythology, there are relatively few reflections on art and culture, while Nordic mythology is more reflected in the art of war. The dragon slaying hero in the opera Nibelungen Ring is talked about by people, and Twilight of the Gods is the worst war in the history of literature. In Nordic mythology, Odin, the god of the lone ranger, hangs himself upside down on the tree of the world for higher wisdom. His indomitable spirit of the lone ranger is the essence of the German national spirit. Legend has it that the rune characters discovered by Odin contain all kinds of profound meanings of life. Mercedes-Benz cars produced in Germany use runic characters as symbols. Nordic mythology also has a certain influence on people's daily life. The English names of East, South, West and North are the mythical four dwarfs, while the English from Tuesday to Friday is named after the four Nordic gods.
There are great differences in divinity and theocracy between Greek mythology and Nordic mythology. The immortal god in Greek mythology dominates everything in heaven, underground and even the underworld, and his power is supreme, and no power can compete with it. The gods in Norse mythology always face the same aging and death as mortals, and there are threats from giants. Even if Bart, the god of light, fell into the underworld after being stabbed, the gods could not bring him back to life. In the position of god, Greek mythology far surpasses Nordic mythology. In the Greek the legend of heroes, God and man are closely linked, and people's adventures and wars are inseparable from God's will. On the one hand, heroes explore the unknown new world, on the other hand, they have to complete their journey under the guidance of God. In Nordic the legend of heroes, the hero's adventure depends on his own initiative, and he completes his own adventure under the heavy shadow of revenge. The status of different races is just as different as that of God in the two systematic myths. In Greek mythology, different races exist like green leaves to set off the power of gods and heroes. In Nordic mythology, due to the decline in the status of God, the status of different races is equal to or even beyond God, which has become an indispensable and important existence throughout the myth.
In a word, Greek mythology and Nordic mythology are different as the reflection of different cultures in the two regions. In our eyes, the essence of myth is the same. From the differences of different myths, we can observe the differences of ethnic characteristics in different regions, whether ethnic groups are belligerent or friendly, authoritarian or democratic, United or divided, and how they communicate with the outside world. As a mirror of real history, we can see it from the image radiated by this mirror. In ancient times, there was no entity and personality in the modern sense, only divinity and divinity. If we ignore the role of myths in history, or confuse myths everywhere, it is undoubtedly a metaphysical study of history. Therefore, it is essential to clearly analyze the differences of myths in different places for studying the ancients.