Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Debate Which Country Has The Best Mythology

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.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Dr. Sandra Lee
TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle/YouTube

'Dr. Pimple Popper' Star Reveals She Suffered Stroke While Filming Series: 'I Had A Part Of My Brain That Died'

It's already scary to witness a younger person go through a life-changing medical diagnosis, but it's especially jarring to see a medical professional, who presumably knows best about how to care for themselves, go through the same.

Sandra Lee, known as "Dr. Pimple Popper" on Lifetime, is well-known for her bedside manner, medical knowledge and ability to share her knowledge in an accessible way, and, of course, her unique approach to dermatological care.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rob Schneider; Elizabeth Banks
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images; Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Rob Schneider Dragged For Criticizing Elizabeth Banks' 'Dangerous Rhetoric' After She Called Out White Female Trump Voters

After actor and filmmaker Elizabeth Banks—who played Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games—called out white women who voted for President Donald Trump, MAGA actor Rob Schneider lashed out against what he referred to as her "dangerous rhetoric."

Those who've read the book and seen the film adaptation of The Hunger Games know that Trinket—known for joyfully announcing, "Happy Hunger Games and the odds may be ever in your favor!"—is a mistress of propaganda for a hostile government that forces teenagers to fight to the death every year to intimidate critics and keep society's poorest and most vulnerable in line. Trinket eventually embraces the rebellion.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kid Rock
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Kid Rock Dragged After Offering Massive Discount To His MAGA Festival Due To Abysmal Ticket Sales

Musician Kid Rock has hitched his wagon to president Donald Trump for quite some time now, and it seems he too is in the "find out" stage of that particularly exercise in FAFO.

It seems that when the president you form your entire personality around craters to a catastrophic approval rating even for him, your ship starts to sink too.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dan Driscoll; Tammy Duckworth
Cheriss May/Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Army Secretary Sparks Outrage After Shutting Down Army Social Media Accounts For Honoring Tammy Duckworth's Military Service

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is facing heavy criticism after he ordered that all accounts associated with the Army unit "Soldier for Life" (SFL) be shut down after the unit shared a post on social media celebrating Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth's military service.

Duckworth is a double amputee who lost both of her legs in combat in 2004 when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Tom Homan; Pope Leo XIV
Fox News; Vatican Media/Vatican Pool - Corbis/Getty Images

Trump's Border Czar Ripped For Hypocrisy After Telling Pope Leo To 'Stay Out Of Politics'

President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan was called out for hypocrisy after telling Pope Leo XIV to "stay out of politics" after he clashed with Trump over the widely unpopular war in Iran.

Last week, Pope Leo criticized the war and called on the world "to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and is not resolving anything."

Keep ReadingShow less