People Debate Which Country Has The Best Mythology

People Debate Which Country Has The Best Mythology
Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

There is so much overlap once you start reading the myths from different cultures and times. Myths were originally a way to explain life and nature around us.

How these stories traveled around the world is pretty fascinating. Each culture has their own take! I recently chose to delve into Greek mythology again and it's been a blast. The Greek gods are as capricious as the average human, which is probably the point.

People shared their thoughts after Redditor Basalt420 asked the online community,

"What country has the best mythology?"

"If you do enough research..."

"Celtic mythology around The Fae is a pretty interesting rabbit hole to go down. If you do enough research, you start to realize that a lot of ancient civilizations with no connection to one another have similar versions."

drbrdrbrdrbr

It's so interesting to me how many separate countries have stories of similar creatures. Obviously some stories just traveled from place to place, but some are totally separate and developed independently.

"As a small child..."

"Japan. They terrify the s*it out of you."

"As a small child (maybe 3-4), I lived in Japan. One day, the preschool teacher told us that these two demons were going to come down from the mountains to try and kidnap us and eat our belly buttons."

AccurateFroyo3769

Maybe that's why crime rates in Japan or so low. They instill the fear of mountain demons in you as a child.

"The Norse Gods..."

"The Norse gods have parallels in the other Germanic countries but the myths weren't preserved (sadly). 19th century folklorists did a lot of research on this. Also, Celtic and Slavic cultures have a similarly rich god/goddess/mythical creature cosmology."

"They share a common Indo-European heritage. The various different hunter gatherer tribes (eg, beaker culture) swept across Europe 8,000 years ago creating the tapestry we know today. I'm still reading up on this and studying it so my understanding is still a bit vague."

kai_wulf_dug

Norse myths are fascinating – it's very easy to fall down a rabbit hole reading about them.

"It's so good..."

"Greek mythology is absolutely the winner. It’s so good that I think people aren’t voting it just because it’s so ingrained in us and we’ve seen it to death."

TheRavenSayeth

Greek mythology is undoubtedly unparalleled.

"If asked..."

"Egypt needs to be higher on the list. If asked, most people will recognize the names of a lot of Egyptian gods."

vskizzle

Egyptian mythology fascinated me as a child and has held a special place in my heart since.

"I had a book..."

"I had a book called The Rainbow Serpent about Aboriginal creation myths when I was a kid, and the stories have always stayed with me."

LeChiotChattetique

Dreamtime is the foundation of Aboriginal religion and culture. It dates back some 65,000 years.

"There's a great series..."

"There's a great series on Netflix called Cracow Monsters which is based around Slavic mythologies."

beccapenny

Glad you like it, but calling it great is... a stretch.

"Haven't they got..."

"Hindu mythology. Haven't they got mythology about gods flying over the world in flying machines, waging war and dropping nukes on each other? Amazing stuff."

sfxpaladin

Hindu mythology has some masterpiece anime level plot twists.

"I've been reading..."

"I've been reading into the mythologies of a few Native American tribes recently. While not my favorite, the Aztec mythos is so absurdly brutal that it's really worth checking out."

Hrparsely

You should check out South American mythology. Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia have some great stuff!

"I've extensively read..."

"I’ve extensively read Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology while I growing up. I’ve got to say Greek mythology has been my favorite. The origin stories to how callous (and not above changing fates on a whim) the gods/goddesses are is just such entertaining reading."

Platinumfish53

The Greek gods are the definition of petty and we love it.

Down the rabbit hole you go! Every culture has its own myths and you don't have to look too closely to come across a multitude of similarities.

Have some suggestions of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.

myths

Adults Who Still Need A Stuffed Animal To Go To Sleep Share Their Experiences

Reddit user Old-Horse1185 asked: '34 percent of adults sleep with a stuffed animal or other sentimental object. Are you one of these people? What do you sleep with?'

Old, pink stuffed animal bunny sitting on bed
Photo by Paulo Almeida on Unsplash

Stuffies, plushies, stuffed animals, or plush toys; whatever you might call them, we likely all can remember a fluffy friend we had in our childhood.

But some adults might have carried their childhood friend into adulthood, or even made others along the way, and they might even still go to sleep with them at night, too.

Keep reading...Show less
stuffed animals

The Most F**ked Up Things People Have Ever Seen At Work

Waiter
Kate Townsend/Unsplash

Working remotely from home certainly has its advantages, including not having to endure traffic and deal with coworker drama.

But many people found that during the pandemic, the isolation of working from home left little to be desired.

People who have jobs requiring them to commute every day and arrive at the workplace are given the opportunity to be social and feel like they're a part of society.

But being a part of a work environment can come with its own unique occupational hazards.

Keep reading...Show less
work

People Who Bring Condoms To Funerals 'Just In Case' Share Their Experiences

Coffin in a hearse.
Photo by panyawat auitpol on Unsplash

Be it desperation, self-indulgence, or simply optimism, many people never leave home without a condom.

If the chances of "getting lucky" are much more likely at some places than others, one never knows where or when they might hit it off with someone.

Including a funeral.

Bizarre and tasteless as that sounds, a recent study reportedly showed that 1 in 8 men under the age of 35 do, in fact, bring condoms with them when attending a funeral, "just in case".

Whether or not these condoms were used, however, is another story entirely.

Keep reading...Show less
condoms

The Best Real-Life Examples Of 'Never Interrupt An Enemy While They're Making A Mistake'

On a black and white chessboard a White King topples a Black King
GR Stocks on Unsplash

People will trip themselves up eventually.

Because liars and lunatics always make mistakes.

They may be small mistakes, but they leave just enough room to expose their wicked ways.

Sure we all want to fight off an enemy and be the victor.

But sometimes the victor's greatest weapon is nothing but a little patience.

Then, we celebrate with a smile as we watch the crumble.

And maybe we have a little victory dance.

Keep reading...Show less
mistakes