Comparative mythology

Comparative mythology, related to comparative religion, is a field of study which is technically part of anthropology but more usually regarded as part of the subject of ancient history. The field attempts to discover how various myths and religions evolved over time, and aims to reveal relationships between distant religions, and describe their origin. One very well-known recent author in this field was Joseph Campbell. Many of its discoveries elicit great curiosity, such as Poseidon having pre-dated the concept of the Olympians, and originally having been a land-based god.

Theories in the field have a tendency to denigrate historicity of events claimed to have occurred by religions and suggest that since the idea of what is considered by the faiths as true has evolved gradually, there is no particular reason to trust the recent ideas over the older ones. Developments in this field are often regarded as highly controversial when they involve modern faiths, such as Christianity and Hinduism, because they are seen as undermining claims of historical truth of these tenets of faith.

With earlier religions there is much less controversy and consequently much more constructive research occurs. One of the most successful developments has been the partial theoretical reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European religion, which was informed by work in the field of Proto-Indo-European language. Study of early religion of this kind is heavily connected to comparative linguistics, because the apparently distinct behaviour of gods and other figures makes it difficult to draw identifications without finding linguistic connections.

Despite its significance, the field of study, like ancient history as a whole, has few academics compared to other areas of research. In consequence, developments are slow and drawn-out and frequently suffer uncontested ridicule at the hands of religious conservatives and scholars in other fields whose theories may otherwise be damaged. This situation is not aided by the limited number of other academics in the field to review and constructively criticise such research as it develops.

One of the first modern titles in the field was The Two Babylons, which unfortunately is more a polemic against Roman Catholicism than academic text, and many of its theories have since been overturned by subsequent research and review. Another early modern title was The White Goddess, in which attempts were made to draw together many goddesses from various classical cultures, claiming they developed from a single shared figure.

Much of the early work has since been firmly disregarded, partly due to the discoveries of comparative linguistics, indicating much more plausible relationships (such as that of the Norns). Another reason for disregarding them has been the construction of better and more gradual evolution of gods and characters mentioned. However, although it is tempting to completely disregard many of these theories, it is important to note that it is only most of the works that have been thrown away, whereas small parts of the texts have been supported by later, and more academic, research.

Fields of study

• Comparing Eastern and Western religious traditions
• Fundamentalism
• Creation myth
• Christianity and Buddhism
• Judeo-Christian
• Comparing and contrasting Judaism and Christianity
• Christo-Islamic
• Development of religion

See also

• Religion
• Religious pluralism