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/lit/ - Literature

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2363415 No.2363415 [Reply] [Original]

Hey /lit/, I wanna read some mythology. Which culture's makes for good reading material?

>> No.2363433

Anything but Christianity. Dull dull dull. Plot holes to boot.

>> No.2363439

Well, it depends on what you want. Personally I love Greek mythology and Australian Aboriginal myths.

>> No.2363454

>na'vi and monkey i know that feel.jpg

>> No.2363466

>>2363433
edgy atheist detected

christian mythology is rich and wonderful.

>> No.2363467

>>2363433
hurr so edgy

>> No.2363475
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2363475

>>2363466
>>2363467
And I would have thought /lit/ would be able to handle criticism in a nicer way.

>> No.2363481
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2363481

>>2363475

>> No.2363486

>>2363415
Bible.

>> No.2363490

>>2363475
That's not "criticism."

That's making blanket statements.

>hurr the entire scope of Christian myth is dull and full of plot holes durr

Clearly you don't know what you're taking about if you think that Christian myth is any better or worse than that of any other religion.

>> No.2363517

The god of the bible is pretty dull to be fair. The bible is basically just a long series of fucks up and god frantically trying to fix everything but only making it worse. Garden of Eden, Tower of Bable, The Flood, The Crucifixion, etc.

He's not even consistent. He has two modes. One moment he's all loving all forgiving all kindness, then the next he's HULK SMASH FLOOD THEM ALLLLL CURSE THEIR CHILDREN BURN EVERYTHING TO GROUND AND KILL THE ANIMALS TO RAAAH.

Now the gods of ancient Greece on the other hand, they had real character.

>> No.2363525

There is one very butthurt Christian on the internet who can't let people state their negative opinion on it without crying his ass about it.

inb4: 200 posts of preaching

>> No.2363528

>>2363517
>Garden of Eden, Tower of Bable, The Flood,

All of that happens in the first book of the bible, Genesis.

>The Crucifixion
That happens in the gospels.

Anon, you've missed out on about 95% of the Bible if those are the only stories you know.

>He has two modes.

Yes, you've clearly missed out on a lot of the Bible.

Now, I get that you're pissed at you're parents and you're rebelling against your Christian upbringing, or something, but don't sell the Bible short like that. How about you actually try reading some of it?

>> No.2363538

>>2363528

My parents are atheists (not that they'd ever bring it up in conversation) and I've read the bible cover to cover. Soo....

>> No.2363534

>>2363525
>There is one very butthurt Christian on the internet who can't let people state their negative opinion on it without crying his ass about it.


No

The Bible can be appreciated as literature from a secular viewpoint. /lit/ has some great bible threads from time to time, even though most posters here probably don't believe in one thing that it says.

Dismissing the Bible to be edgy isn't something that a thoughtful, intelligent person would do.

>> No.2363542

>>2363534
>The Bible can be appreciated as literature from a secular viewpoint

Sure. That's why it can also not be appreciated and you should deal with it.

>> No.2363544
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2363544

>>2363534
>disliking the bible is edgy and dumb

>> No.2363545

greek / roman mythology

norse mythology

not as boring as the other religions

>> No.2363549

>>2363538
If you've read it cover to cover, why can't you seem to recall anything that didn't happen at either the very beginning of the book or the very end?

>>2363542
Sure. Let's here some thoughtful criticisms then. Not "hurr teh bable is dum lol so many plotholes n its boring."

>> No.2363551
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2363551

>>2363549
>here

>> No.2363553

>>2363544
Don't twist my words like that, you know what I said.

Disliking the bible to BE edgy is dumb.

>> No.2363555

>>2363551
Right, a typo, my bad.

Let's move past that. How about you refute the point I'm trying to make here.

>> No.2363557

>>2363549
Not who you're replying to, but if you love the bible so much, how come you can't come up with any reasons why it's good other than "if you don't like it you're just being edgy for the sake of it". Support your points, both of you.

>> No.2363559
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2363559

>>2363549
You can say shit about any author here and get away with it just as much as you can join "thoughtful discussions", you don't need to be all srs bsns about the bible.

You're just butthurt.

>> No.2363562

>>2363553

Living in Western Europe, being Christian is the edgy position. Atheism is the mainline.

>> No.2363563

>>2363542
I like Ecclesiastes. I think it's appealing to non-Christians as well.

>8 All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
>9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
>10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

>> No.2363565

>>2363553
Don't twist "not liking the bible and saying it's shit" to "trying to be edgy"

>> No.2363567
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2363567

>>2363555
I am not the faggot you are trying to debate, i'm merely an observer of your guys' retardation

>> No.2363575

The bible can hardly be considered a single work. It's composed of many books written hundreds of years apart by very different people.

It doesn't make sense to dismiss the whole thing, because it varies so much. Sure, maybe you thought that the Gospels were boring or you were offended by the Israelites killing everyone when they settled into what would be their homeland. But there's so much else going on in.

>> No.2363580

>assumptions everywhere

>> No.2363583

>>2363565
What I don't understand if your view that the entire Bible is shit. See >>2363575

Surely there's something in there that you'd like, if you've actually read it.

>> No.2363586

>>2363575
er,

But there's so much else going on in the Bible.

>> No.2363588

>>2363575
And it can hardly be considered all of Christian Mythology. There's plenty of later material, particularly centred around Saints

>> No.2363600
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2363600

>>2363583
Then be polite and stop acting like a desperate faggot. People don't have to like the bible or stop saying they dislike the bible because they like some passage or any shit like that. Let go, you are making assumptions and acting all rad over nothing. It's a book, yeah, we know. It's like other religious books, you don't have to take it all to yourself, man, you're ruining the thread.

>> No.2363601

Anyway...

Back on topic, I don't know if it counts as proper mythology, but I've been considering reading Journey to the West. The thing about the monkey beating the entire Chinese pantheon by himself sounds awesome. Has anyone here read it?

>> No.2363633

>>2363601
There was a thread about it not so long ago.

>> No.2363721
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2363721

Apart from 1001 nights, what is the best way to get into arabian mythology and its stories?

>> No.2363725

>>2363721
Experiencing the Arab oral tradition through your Arabic heritage.

>> No.2363732

>>2363433
wow, you sound really open minded and interesting. where can i read your blog?

>> No.2363740
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2363740

>>2363725
Oral like sexually?


No, really, any good read about it?

>> No.2363760

>>2363740
Seriously, Abu Nuwas' poetry is good, and the Qu'ran I guess. Sinbad is from the oral tradition (no sailor jokes). Also, a lot of people here take a rather WESTERN CIV. FUCK YEAH view of Arab history (presumably poor documentaries?), so it probably wouldn't be too bad to at least get to know Arab history through appropriate books.

>> No.2364172

>>2363415
>nordic, recently read a summary of sorts ('myths of the norsemen', helene a. guerber) that was interesting, although it does show some of the culture hijacking that christianity did to it.

>> No.2364176

>GOD TIER
Nordic, Arabic
>GOOD TIER
Native American, Mayan, Chinese
>SHIT TIER
Japanese, Australian Aboriginal
>OH DEAR LORD WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TIER
Greek, Roman

>> No.2364183

>nobody mentions hindu

You got lost in the "hurr durr christianity vs edgy atheism" debate so fast and so deep. Fuck you, /lit/.

>> No.2364203
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2364203

>>2364176
Have you even read Hesiod's Theogony? His dialogue with the muses? The relation between Eros-Gaia-Uranus? How every fucking god relates to a philosophical concept?

>> No.2364235

>>2363721
read this guy Ahmad ibn Fadlan.
Not so much mythology but he was a traveler who wrote about his studies...much like a modern anthropologist. He was the basis for the Michael Crichton novel; Eaters of the Dead.

>> No.2364239

>>2364176
>GOD TIER
>Arabic
Go kill yourself.

>> No.2364241

>>2364176
Nope.

>GOD TIER
Arabic, some African, Native American, Hindu
>GOOD TIER
Mayan, Japanese, Aboriginal, Greek, Nordic
>OK TIER
Chinese
>SHIT TIER
Celtic, Judeo-Christian, some other African
>BELOW SHIT TIER
Roman

>> No.2364244

Can anyone recommend some good books of mythology? Any culture.

>> No.2364258

>>2364244
A good start, in the sense of having a grasp on how to deal with mythology and I believe this is a good way to deal with it is Jung's Man and his Symbols.

>> No.2364260

>>2364239

>Implying you know fuck all about Arab literature

God forbid somebody on /lit/ branches out beyond the Western canon and a few token East Asian texts

>> No.2364279

>>2364260
I bet you think the terroristic Koran is god-tier stuff too. Arabic literature is just stuff ripped off mostly from the people they conquered and centered mostly around Islam.

>> No.2364287

Joseph Campbell's reading list.

Better get started, you've only got the rest of your life to finish.

http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Campbell-Reading-List/lm/R215FRJPJRX2F4

>> No.2364291

>>2364279
ITT: People who don't understand what mythology means.

>> No.2364293
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2364293

ITT: edgy atheists and even edgier atheists

The Bible is not mythology

>> No.2364322

>>2364293
This post just made me an atheist. I know someone being idiotic doesn't mean all of them think the same way, but Quentin is able to make a loop around the universe with his horrible ideas and convert me to the instant other side of the spectrum just so I can't side with him.

>> No.2364371

>>2364279

Oh, shut up. All of this "Arab culture is plagiarized!" crap is nonsense circulated by semi-literate nonspecialists who have had zero exposure to the Near East or to the centuries of scientific and cultural accomplishments they're so eager to dismiss. There hasn't been a great civilization in the history of human existence that didn't borrow from the accomplishments of its neighbors and clients.

>"terroristic Koran"

lol >>>/pol/

>> No.2365549

>>2364293
>The Bible is not mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology
>The main characters in myths are usually gods, supernatural heroes and humans.[9][10][11] As sacred stories, myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and closely linked to religion or spirituality.[9] In the society in which it is told, a myth is usually regarded as a true account of the remote past.[9][10][12][13] In fact, many societies have two categories of traditional narrative, "true stories" or myths, and "false stories" or fables.[14] Creation myths generally take place in a primordial age, when the world had not yet achieved its current form,[9] and explain how the world gained its current form[3][4][5][15] and how customs, institutions and taboos were established.[9][15]
How the fuck is the Bible NOT mythology?

>> No.2365555

>>2364241
>SHIT TIER
>Celtic
Really? What's so bad about it? I was interested on it.

>> No.2365557

>>2364293
the atheist is the most persecuted minority throughout history.