The only Mesopotamian myth I've really spent any time on is Inana's Descent; that one at least suggests connections, since it has a lot of overlap with the Egyptian and Greek myths I have studied: for example, Inana going to the underworld after Dumuzid is like Isis going to Bublos after Osiris or the Akhaians going to Troia after Helene; Inana losing her seven items of jewelry at each of the underworld's seven gates is like the Argives losing their seven champions at each of Thebai's seven gates; Inana knowing her doom and charging Enki to come and rescue her is like Amphiaraus knowing his doom and charging his sons to come and avenge him; etc. But other than identifying some relationships, I haven't investigated too deeply yet.
As for Rome, that's very interesting! I haven't studied Rome much, but I get the sense that while the Egyptians had a cyclical conception of time and the Greeks had a conception of time in which things began well but just keep getting worse forever, the Romans seemed to think things stayed the same forever? I wonder if their major myths tie into that, since the Egyptian myths were rooted in astrological cycles, and the Greeks followed Hesiod's Ages of Man...
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Date: 2025-04-26 04:55 pm (UTC)As for Rome, that's very interesting! I haven't studied Rome much, but I get the sense that while the Egyptians had a cyclical conception of time and the Greeks had a conception of time in which things began well but just keep getting worse forever, the Romans seemed to think things stayed the same forever? I wonder if their major myths tie into that, since the Egyptian myths were rooted in astrological cycles, and the Greeks followed Hesiod's Ages of Man...