• Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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      11 months ago

      No, actually, it wasn’t. It is categorically called mythology and not religion for one very simple reason. A religion requires an overarcing system of formal beliefs or dogma that it teaches. Mythology establishes faith through stories and epics. There is no dogma or belief system that’s taught hand in hand with these Greek stories. You’re expected to gain basic lessons through the folly of others.

      Religion and mythology are not the same. Things aren’t suddenly called mythology once they’re not believed by a lot of people. It is called mythology because that’s what it is.

      • Adderbox76@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        Things aren’t suddenly called mythology once they’re not believed by a lot of people.

        No…that’s pretty much exactly how that happens.

        Religion is ritual devotion to a higher being. Full stop. The fact that the Greeks and Romans worships a pantheon instead of a single god makes no difference whatsoever.

        I majored in Near Eastern Classical Archaeology and that came with a heavy does of anthropology. What you’re saying is meaningless pedantry that ONLY comes from people who are too insecure to admit that their own Monotheistic religion is in fact just a made up mythology like every other faith that’s ever come and gone on the planet.

        • Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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          11 months ago

          No. You are flagrantly wrong in this case.

          The term religion defines a system of formally organized beliefs and practices typically centered around the worship of supernatural forces or beings, whereas mythology is a collection of myths, or stories, belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition used to explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.

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          There is an extremely popular belief that the term “mythology” refers to any religion that is no longer practiced. This belief seems to be especially popular among atheists. I’ve often heard atheists use the expression “Today’s religions are tomorrow’s mythologies.” This belief, however, is wrong. The terms “religion” and “mythology” refer to two completely different things. A religion does not turn into a mythology when it stops being practiced.

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          Mythology refers to a collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition. Religion is a specific system of belief and/or worship, often involving a code of ethics and philosophy.

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          Mythology is defined as a set of stories belonging to one culture or group of people. These stories are supernatural in nature and are often meant to be inspirational, but they do not impose morality. Religion is a set of beliefs and practices combined with the belief in and worship of a god, gods or a superhuman controlling power. Followers generally believe in abiding by guidelines detailed within their religion’s holy or sacred text.

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          Religion and Mythology are two terms that are often confused when it comes to their connotations, even though, there is some difference between the two terms. First let us define the two terms in order to understand the difference, as well as the relation between the two. Religion can be defined as the belief in and worship of a God or gods. Mythology, on the other hand, refers to a collection of traditional stories from early history or explaining a natural event especially involving supernatural beings.

          Source

          I’m more inclined to believe trusted experts than I am a commenter like yourself.

      • Simulation6@sopuli.xyz
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        11 months ago

        And yet it was part of their religion. The fact that other aspects did not survive to the present day does not change that.

        • Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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          11 months ago

          Dude. No. Again, you are conflating religion with mythology.

          They are seperate things. Religion can exist without mythology and mythology can exist without religion. Some forms of Greek religion, such as ancient Greek paganism, did include mythology as part of their religion but it was not universal.

          This “Part of their religion” thing makes even less sense than saying mythology and religion are the same. Not all Greeks shared the same beliefs. There is a reason why we keep saying Greek mythology when we’re talking about Greek mythology. It’s because we’re talking about the mythology. Religion has no relevance here. Please stop confusing the two and throwing them in the same basket.

      • NotSoCoolWhip@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Id argue that they are the same conceptually, and digging any deeper is splitting hairs. Both are made up stories to make ourselves feel better about death, as well as tips and tricks on how to live.

        • Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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          11 months ago

          Which is an aggressively bad argument that is a gross generalization of what’s going on, conflating two completely different fields, and then ignoring the conversation as a whole being about MYTHOLOGY and not religion.

          They’re the not same thing. It isn’t splitting hairs. They are related but they are very distinctly different. What you’re essentially saying is that Texans are Americans and its splitting hairs to point out the differences. It really isn’t splitting hairs when the differences are beyond vast. So vast that they literally have classes on the differences between mythology and religion…

          • braxy29@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            … but texans are americans?

            look, mythology and religion may not refer to precisely the same thing, but there was a relationship between greek mythology and religious practice. understanding one is helpful in understanding the other.