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Re: Greco-Roman Mythology
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 2:34 am
by Jiva
I get that you are exagerating to emphasise the shock factor of Azazel, but Prometheus endured more than being pecked by an eagle. It wasn't just a body part that he lost everyday. As the Greeks considered the liver the centre of one's life force, his torment could be equated with losing one's soul leaving just the shell of a body left behind. This he is doomed to suffer until one of his creations saves him. So it's a potent piece of mythology.
Incidently, i agree that Azazel has more of a shock factor, at least in English, simply due to phonetic reasons.
Re: Greco-Roman Mythology
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:45 am
by Cancer
Jiva wrote:I get that you are exagerating to emphasise the shock factor of Azazel, but Prometheus endured more than being pecked by an eagle. It wasn't just a body part that he lost everyday. As the Greeks considered the liver the centre of one's life force, his torment could be equated with losing one's soul leaving just the shell of a body left behind. This he is doomed to suffer until one of his creations saves him. So it's a potent piece of mythology.
Incidently, i agree that Azazel has more of a shock factor, at least in English, simply due to phonetic reasons.
The "shock" that I was referring to is not about the myths' content, but their position in culture. Prometheus' punishment is surely just as painful as Azazel's, and his story probably had somewhat the same function for the ancient Greeks as Azazel's has for us, because they took it as true. In the same way Western culture still sees biblical mythology as "true" - it has the most emotional gravity because of 2000 years of belief in it, although few people today explicitly believe in the myths. So for us, Azazel still feels more real and more menacing as a satanic character than Prometheus.