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Page 10 || Encyclopedia Article || Fantasy Arts || Modern Modern Surrealism Art Observation || Mythology

B Myths of the Gods
Many myths do not directly concern human beings, but focus rather on the activities of the gods in their own realm. In many mythologies the gods form a divine family, or pantheon (from the Greek pan, meaning "all," and theos, "god"). The story of a power struggle within a pantheon is common to a large number of world mythologies-for example, the Babylonian Enuma elish centers on Marduk's struggle for supremacy and his eventual victory over Tiamat. Greek mythology features a similar story of struggle between generations. In Greek mythology, the earliest gods were Gaea (Earth) and Uranus (Heaven), and their children were called the Titans. The eldest of the Titans, Cronus, overthrew his father and was eventually overthrown by his own son, Zeus, who became the new master of the universe. Similarly, the Aesir-the pantheon of the Norse gods-had to overcome an older group called the Vanir before gaining power. Unlike the Greek and Babylonian accounts, the Norse myth features a reconciliation between the two sides.

Across cultures, mythologies tend to describe similar characters. A common character is the trickster. The trickster is recklessly bold and even immoral, but through his inventiveness he often helps human beings. In Greek mythology, Hermes (best known as the messenger of the gods) was a famous trickster. In one version of a characteristic tale, Hermes, while still an infant, stole the cattle of his half-brother Apollo. To avoid leaving a trail that could be followed, Hermes made shoes from the bark of a tree and used grass to tie them to the cattle's hooves. When Apollo nonetheless discovered that Hermes had stolen his cattle, he was furious. In the end, Apollo was so enchanted with the music of a lyre that Hermes had made that he allowed Hermes to keep the cattle in exchange for the lyre. Other tricksters of mythology are the West African god Eshu, who tricked the supreme god Olodumare into abandoning the earth to dwell in heaven; the Indian god Krishna, whose trickery often aims at a higher moral purpose; and the Native American Coyote, who scattered the once-orderly stars in the sky and strewed the plants on earth.

Myths about the gods are as numerous as the cultures that produce them. Other types that occur across various cultures include myths about the Great Mother (for example, the Mesopotamian Ishtar, who journeys to the underworld to rescue her lost lover Tammuz); the Dying God (for example, the Egyptian Osiris, who is murdered and dismembered but ultimately resurrected); and the Savior God (for example, the Greek Prometheus, who helps humanity at the cost of incurring Zeus's anger).  

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