What are the foreign myths?

There are three main categories: Greek mythology, Norse mythology, and Egyptian mythology.

1. Greek mythology (Greek: ελλην?κμυθολογα) refers to all oral or written myths about the gods, heroes, nature and universe history of the ancient Greeks. The spiritual product of primitive clan society and the earliest literary form in Europe.

Produced approximately before the 8th century BC, it formed its basic scale based on the long-term oral transmission of the original Greek people. They were recorded in Greek poetry, drama, history, philosophy and other works. Later generations organized them into the current ancient Greek mythology stories, which are divided into two parts: stories of gods and legends of heroes.

2. Nordic mythology is a mythological system unique to Scandinavia. It was formed later than other major mythological systems in the world. The history of oral transmission of Nordic mythology can be traced back to 1 AD. - In the 2nd century AD, it was first popular in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and other places. Around the 7th century AD, it spread to Iceland and other places with a group of immigrants heading north.

During the Middle Ages, Christianity prevailed throughout Europe. Due to the strong political crackdown, most of the works recording Nordic mythology were considered heresies and burned. The relatively complete ones that have been preserved to this day include the Icelandic epic "Edda" ” and the Germanic epic “Nibelungenlied” etc.

3. Egyptian mythology is also ancient Egyptian religion. Refers to the divine system and religion believed by the ancient Egyptians before the spread of Christianity and Islam. Ancient Egyptian mythology dates back to at least 2780–2250 BC. Because the ancient Egyptians' beliefs have a history of almost 3,000 years, and there have been many major changes.

The biggest difference between Egyptian mythology and Greek or Roman mythology is that most of the gods in Egyptian mythology have human bodies and animal heads. This is a distinctive feature of Egyptian mythology. The beliefs of the ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, and most of them used animals as symbols. The ancient Egyptians believed they would go to the afterlife after death.

They believe that the body is the container of the soul, and that the soul leaves the body every night and comes back in the morning. They also believed that the soul would be resurrected after death and that the body must be preserved so that the soul could have its own home, so they invented embalming and mummification.

Extended information

The emergence of myths also depends on the nature of society at that time. At that time, people had to rely on the collective to jointly obtain the means of living and resist wild beasts and enemies; the income from labor was limited and must be distributed equally. Under the primitive commune system, the main contradiction between man and nature became the center of people's attention. Therefore, explaining nature and subduing nature have become the main content of myth.

At the same time, due to the unity of people's interests, the skilled, brave and strong figures who emerge from collective production are revered by all members, and are endowed with magical abilities and become gods or demigods. In them, primitive man's desire to subdue nature is entrusted.

Some myths show wars between tribes. This part of the myth mainly emerged in the later period of the primitive commune system. At that time, the commune system tended to disintegrate, but the struggle between tribes for possession of the means of life was still a cause for the whole people.

Victory in war and the performance of leaders are seen as signs of collective power and glory. Therefore, people also spontaneously deified the war process and commanders through fantasy, making this part of the story an integral part of the myth.

It can be seen that myth reflects primitive people’s understanding of the objective world. It is a conceptual form that reflects reality, and it is also a superstructure based on a certain economic foundation. Just because myths reflect the objective world through the refraction of spontaneous and childish fantasies in human childhood, they take on a unique form.