Divine Roles across Cultures Matrix

Divine Roles across Cultures Matrix
1. How is this divinity portrayed? Describe the divinity’s role within the myth.

Sun God in charge of war, warriors and death

The god of war, the distributor of and wealth and protector 2. Is the divinity male or female? What function does this gender play?

Male, the god of war and storms and was born fully armed as a warrior

Male, he appears as a powerful monarch, in full armor, standing on demons

3. Within the myth of origin, how does this divinity compare with other divinities? How does this divinity interact with or compare to divinities of the same gender and to divinities of the opposite gender?

In the Mexican culture he killed his way up to become the supreme god of gods. He was known for accepting sacrifices and death. Interaction with him ended in death. Compared to Bishamon, the god of war of Japan, he did not interact with inferior beings.

In the Japanese culture, Bishamon was a much praised god that protected followers from demons and diseases. He was very interactive in order to persuade followers to continue with him. So interaction was not an issue for Bishamon 4. What are the divinity’s attributes, such as divine powers or characteristics? What objects does the divinity possess, such as a weapon or animal that assists him or her?

War god; Mextli owned the awesome fire snake weapon which frazzled foes with minimum fuss The god of war, the distributor of and wealth and protector. He possesses a spear that is used to fight off demons, and a wheel of fire. He protects against demons and diseases, and a guardian of one of the four cardinal points (the North)

5. Identify one character from contemporary culture that shares characteristics of each divinity and explain why you chose each character. What real-life ideals does this divine role represent? How attainable are these ideals?

I chose Saddam Hussein because before his death he was known as the man that killed innocent people who did not follow him and his rules. He worked his way up to supreme ruler of Iraq. He represents forceful power and apparently was very attainable to him.

I chose a priest, not something I necessarily believe in but Priests in Italy are known to fight off demons and give people hope and protection from disease and evil. To the catholic people, a priest is a powerful figure and many follow them for literally hope and protection. Apparently, very attainable.

Summary:
Why do so many cultures have divinities in similar roles? Well, I think that so many cultures have divinities in similar roles because literally every culture, including mine, have had the strong desire to explain the unexplainable and to create the illusion that we have control over reality. This causes cultures to create mythical stories about the creation of the world for example, to justify what people cannot understand. These stories are passed down from generation to generation, making them part of the cultural tradition and bringing light and understanding to a particular subject. Another reason for this can literally be the fact that every culture wants to have an individual cultural image or presence on this earth, which causes each culture to want to have their own version of explanations. It’s quite the trend, even today. People have different views on the same subject, not necessarily the creation of the world, but could be about religion or even politics. Everyone wants to be individuals and want to be known for something.