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> Anthropologist David Wengrow argues that hybrid monsters proliferated during the Bronze Age, because new trade routes and cultural mixing elicited psychologic
by humanrebar 9y ago
> Anthropologist David Wengrow argues that hybrid monsters proliferated during the Bronze Age, because new trade routes and cultural mixing elicited psychological anxiety. Creating monsters is a way of channeling our cultural and political fears into tangible forms, into objects of loathing and dread.
Or most stories were written and/or propagated by entertainers (including parents or babysitters who want the kids to shut up and sit in one place) and it's cool to hear about Bellerophon defeating a superbeast. Note that many monsters are just big and super powered, like the Erymanthian Boar. But in this case, it's fun to see if the hero can take on a beast with the intelligence of a man and the bloodlust and strength of a bull. These beasts are also strange, which makes for a fun and surprising story.
Compare to the Super-Skrull, a Fantastic Four bad guy whose powers are (basically) the powers of the Fantastic Four combined:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super-Skrull https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super-Skrull
I mean, we can peel the onion back another layer and talk about whether it's entertaining because of some widespread psychological issue, but I think Occam's Razor would indicate "because it's fun" as a valid answer.
- theoh 9y agoWengrow did write a whole book about this. He wasn't just speculating freshly when asked by the author of this article. https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10125.html https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10125.html
- Sangermaine 9y ago>I mean, we can peel the onion back another layer and talk about whether it's entertaining because of some widespread psychological issue, but I think Occam's Razor would indicate "because it's fun" as a valid answer. No, it really isn't, and this is a gross misunderstanding of the function of these stories. They weren't created explicitly as entertainment in the way comic books are. Jack and Stan were not claiming to be relating true tales of the gods or the past. These stories weren't created "for fun" anymore than the tales of the Greek pantheon of gods or tales of saints and miracles from medieval Christian Europe. They were actual beliefs of actual people, they weren't faking it. Yours is a very modern perspective removed from the cultures that created these tales.
- humanrebar 9y agoWell, someone made up the story of the pegasus. They didn't see a pegasus and just make up a poem about it. Even if we restrict the elaboration and propagation of these stories to true believers, these memes are subject to selection effects. Entertainment value is surely a competitive advantage for a long-lived folk tale.
- bfuller 9y agoOral histories are a big game of telephone. Ever hear a bunch of fishermen talk about their brother in laws cousins friends legendary catch?
- JakeTheAndroid 9y agoThese stories were passed down word of mouth, so you'd have to expect that by the time Pegasus had wings it'd passed through a number of people. Further, you have to understand these people had a basic understanding of the world around them. It's not inconceivable that they saw these types of things without the opportunity to investigate further. So whatever they think they saw is what becomes fact. Pegasus could come from some dude that was looking at a horse coming over the horizon and thought for sure that thing had wings. Told some buddies about this crazy horse over some wine, and before you know it the Pegasus is a real thing you ask for when you're 16.