A Matter of Perspective: How Religion Becomes Mythology
Whenever archaeologists discover early, intentional burials (like Neanderthal burials in Southern France, or early human burials at Qafzeh, Israel), they’re not only uncovering physical evidence, but they’re uncovering cultural evidence as well.
Imagine you are an archaeologist and your team has uncovered a Neanderthal burial site, one of many questions that would probably come up is: “Why was this person buried this way?”
You could say that it began as a physical necessity—nothing is going to attract predators and scavengers like a corpse, so it would be wise to dispose of the body or bury it. But if it was for purely practical reasons, why would they be buried in reverence? Why do we see covered and posed burials with valuables?
This begs the questions: “Do these burials signify the recognition/belief in a soul?” and “Do they signify a belief in an afterlife?”
It can be argued that along with the idea of a soul and an afterlife comes the idea of religion. Religion and beliefs are tightly integrated into culture; passing down stories is an easy and effective way for parents to disseminate their societal values and morals to the next generation.
Today, especially in Western Culture, we have sharp divisions in our storytelling (myths, legends, folklore, urban legends, non-fiction, fiction, etc); this could be in part to the vast number of cultures we share as well as the sheer amount of content we consume on a daily basis. But we can all agree that these types of stories are different from the stories we hear within the realms of our different religions.
At one time or another, mythological stories were considered scripture—when did that differentiation arise? When does a culture’s religion become another’s myth?
Religion vs Mythology
The religious landscape of the modern US is primarily made up of branches of Christianity. This is followed by Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. As you can see, the top three are monotheistic, but the idea of monotheism itself is relatively new when compared to ancient religions.
Today, we have a division between what is considered religion and what is considered mythology. But at one time or another, most of what we now consider “myths” were once established and well-practiced religious rites.
We see this a lot with polytheistic mythologies. Those stories of Odin and Thor? That was Norse religion. Each member of the Greek Pantheon had its own religious cult, as did the Egyptian gods and goddesses. This is still prevalent in Hinduism: a polytheistic dharma, or way of life, that has been practiced by the people of India for over 4,000 years.
So when does a religious cult turn into mythology? Why did this happen to some and not all?
What Happened to Myths?
To oversimplify it: other religions are what happened to these religions.
A lot of these ancient, indigenous religions were pushed aside as a result of warring, trade, and pilgrimage. You can see evidence of these religious and cultural changes coinciding with when they came in contact with other societies.
Since most of the US align themselves with Christianity, let’s use this as an example:
Christianity is thought to have branched off of Judaism around 2,000 years ago, a year after Jesus’ death. The Roman Empire declared tolerance for Christianity 300 years later.
When Roman rule converted to Christianity soon after, the Greco-Roman pantheon (along with other polytheistic, indigenous religions) was then called pagan. The word pagan means “rural,” meaning that it was mainly practiced by farmers and more rural people, and the word or idea didn’t even exist until that point.
By 390 AD, under the rule of Theodosius (who declared Nicene Christianity as the national religion), the Roman Empire stretched across the Mediterranean shores, South Western Europe, and to part of the British Isles.
Fast-forward to the official fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, these states either gained independence or were conquered by other nations, so what we see is the continuing practice of Christianity or the adoption of a new religion depending on which nation stepped into rule. We rarely see populations revert back to their indigenous religions.
Fast-forward again to the Age of Imperialism: Western Europe was snatching up land around the world like they were playing Monopoly with each other, and with their conquests, they brought their Christian-based religions with them. This is a major reason why the Americas have a predominantly Christian population.
Touching on a point made in the example, once a population adopts a new religion, we can see that the ‘old ways’ are mostly cast aside or seen as taboo.
This is a result of a conquering population putting a stake in the pre-existing culture, usually presenting natives an option; you can convert...or else.
Merging Myths
While conquered cultures were subjected to adopting many new ways of life, particularly religious rites and practices, we do see evidence of ‘pagan’ traditions that were integrated into mainstream culture:
Holidays like Halloween (Samhain), Christmas (Yule), and Valentine’s Day (the Lupercalia) align with ancient celebrations.
Our days of the week are named after Norse gods and goddesses, and our months are based on the Roman pantheon.
Superstitions are usually rooted in ancient practices, like knocking on wood or crossing your fingers.
These are only a few very common examples—there are many, many more we could talk about (but that would deserve its own post!).
Final Thoughts
Again, this is an oversimplification that’s meant to spark your curiosity for learning more about the unique, individual histories of our world’s mythologies and cultures.
