Part 1
Select one common divine role that recurs in world mythology. Possible options of divine roles include the following: father or mother divinities, divinities of war, home or hearth divinities, divinities of love, divinities of wisdom, divinities of medicine or health, divinities of the wind, divinities of agriculture, divinities of the sky, ruler of all the gods, and so on.
Identify the role and write it in the designated box on the table.
Select two myths, each from a different culture, in which the divine role appears. Identify the divinity names and cultures in boxes A and B.
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Complete the table by answering each of the five questions for both selected divinities.
| Role : Divinities of War | Column A Divinity Name : Ictinike Culture of Origin : Native America | Column B Divinity Name : Anahita Culture of Origin : Persia |
| How is this divinity portrayed? Describe the divinity’s role within the myth. | Ictinike is portrayed as a spider-trickster spirit. The Lakota people see Ictinike as a culture hero. Ictinike is seen with a lot of dignity and seriousness (Oosten, 2015) . The role of the deity was to help the Lakota youth to learn by reflecting on misdeeds in a story and repercussions without feeling that they are being targeted. | Anahita is portrayed as a goddess, and he is linked with water, fertility, wisdom and warfare. She was associated strongly with warfare (Nagar, 2017). However, Anahita was also known as the goddess of love and fertility. |
| Is the divinity male or female? What function does this gender play? | Ictinike is a male god. Many Native Americans see him as an evil figure, one who should not be gazed at, lest one faces troubles (Nagar, 2017). | Anahita is a female goddess. People recognized her as in charge of love and fertility (Oosten, 2015) . Lovers would interceded to her so that she could solve unreciprocated love. |
| 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? | Ictinike is son of Inyan who was the rock and a creator god just like any male creator gods. Iya, who is a destroyer and at the same time powerful, is the younger brother of Ictinike (Nagar, 2017). The opposite genders detested Ictinike because of his mischief and being seen as an evil figure. | The association of Anahita with warfare and the planet Venus caused her to be termed a cult. She was greatly controlled by the goddess Ishtar (Nagar, 2017). Her association with Ishtar caused her to take the characteristics of a Venus god or Venus goddess. |
| 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? | Ictinike is a shape shifter. He utilizes strings to manipulate humans such as puppets (Oosten, 2015) . He also depicted as good and bad. Ictinike has power to create things that alter gods, manipulate individuals as well as gods and mortals. Ictinike possessed medicine bundles and sacred shields that had magical powers. | Anahita was believed to be strong and mighty as well as pure with some aspect of being moist or humid. She was believed to have personified the world river that flowed from the renowned peak Mount Hara and into the sea of Vourukasa, a point in which all the water globally was thought to be coming from (Oosten, 2015) . She has a horse drawn chariot, which depicts that she was a god of warfare. |
| 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? | Ictinike represents the simple notion that there must be order and morality in a society. It is the basis of the native America. Ictinike ensures that individuals’ behaviors are modified through tales that are centered on him (Nagar, 2017). This is portrayed positively such as examining and assessing the characters of people and suggesting better life to them. Ictinike god could be represented by the contemporary Batman who teaches on discipline and moral virtues. Batman is willing to turn his back on technology or development and discard laziness or selfishness. Thus, Batman is committed to mortal values and virtues just like Ictinike is. | The contemporary stories confirms that Anahita became a Zoroastrian Yazata (an angel). In this contemporary time, Anahita is still a section of Zoroastrianism. She was depicted as a beautiful maiden that is also strong, tall and pure. The real life ideal is that many people seek to have solution to their marriage or love issues from witchdoctors (Nagar, 2017). They believe that the witchdoctors may unveil better things that solve their problems. The real life ideal is Mother Teresa who trusted in God for her providence and not anything else. Mother Teresa has always been termed as the Mother of Divine Providence. An instance where God was directly involved in creating food for her people, a time in Calcutta when she ran out of food, and the time food was to be supplied was two days away. With about 7000 people depending on that food supply in two days, she trusted God who caused the government to close down schools for two days. Consequently, bread was meant to be sent to the school children were channeled to the Missionaries of Charity. She received food just enough to satisfy everyone for two days. Hence, the name the mother of providence. |
Part 2
Summary : Write a 150- to 350-word short essay addressing the following: Why do so many cultures have divinities in similar roles?
Many cultures have divinities in similar roles as they have almost similar significant questions that they seek answers to concerning their human conditions. Several questions that are asked by examining the existence of divinities through mythology, including what occurs when individuals die. The question of the behavior of people as well as the beginning of the universe could only be traced to reflecting on divinities across several cultures (Hamilton, 2017) . Evidently, different cultures do not fully understand how people behave as well as the aspect of mortality.
Several cultures depict that weak people require protection, while others confer a deity for each purpose. There are repercussions of meddling with life and living irresponsibly. Not only by being punished, but also to serve as a warning to others, immortal individuals must be accountable for their actions In Greek mythology, Zeus for instance is portrayed as the supreme god (Hamilton, 2017) . Zeus had the authority over the sky and all the things that occurred over the Earth. Besides, he was the god of justice and mercy. He also avenged the wicked for any wrong they did, while bringing justice to the oppressed. It was also, what is common to several cultures. For instance, in Roman mythology, Janus is a supreme ruler, where the god is powerful, ensuring justice to all that were loyal to him. Thus, to solve the problems of the society and uphold humanity and sanity, various divinities were crucial.
References
Hamilton, E. (2017). Mythology: Timeless tales of gods and heroes. Hachette UK.
Nagar, D. (2017). Fight of the Gods and Giants: Motif A162. 1. In Archetypes and Motifs in Folklore and Literature: A Handbook (pp. 32-37). Routledge.
Oosten, J. G. (2015). The War of the Gods (RLE Myth): The Social Code in Indo-European Mythology. Routledge.
