I've got a question about Greek mythology. Couldn't find any other Stack Exchange site that might include something like that except for this one. So can I get a verdict?
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4There's an Area51 proposal for Mythology, you can ask there if the site ever goes to BETA– DVK-on-Ahch-ToCommented Sep 16, 2014 at 1:34
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greek-myth seems to mostly be used for Greek mythology as applied to modern fiction, but there are a handful that seem to be about the original Greek mythos– IzkataCommented Sep 16, 2014 at 3:41
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The Mythology SE site has now gone private beta. mythology.stackexchange.com– b_jonasCommented May 6, 2015 at 9:33
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2 Answers
It depends on the nature of your question.
Based on these conversations,
- Should we exclude religious texts, and which?
- Why was this question about the Old Testament closed as off-topic?
the previous meta consensus was that we should not treat religions or religious texts as SF/F.
Though, I personally doubt that there would be too many people who might become offended by the assumption that Greek or Roman myths are SF/F. Case in point: Were there any Greek Mythology heroes born of Goddesses? has remained open and unchallenged as far as I am aware.
Even still, if we are to treat religions as non-SF/F, we must do so for all of them.
But not all religious related questions are necessarily bad.
If your question directly relates the myth to some other SF/F work, I see little to no problem. For example, Was Enoch Root right about Heracles killing a large chunk of the offspring of Ares in original myths?
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Interesting. Unfortunately, my question isn't using Greek mythology in reference to some other SF material. It's just a question about the set of myths itself. Realistically, I don't think anyone really practices polytheism with the Greek pantheon any more. In one of your question's original posts, it says
Note that we must not overreach — we're not going to ban Star Wars even if some people declare their religion as Jedi.The only people I know who "follow" polytheistic religions such as Norse or Greek are basically in this category of people. [cont]– asteriCommented Sep 16, 2014 at 14:13 -
... Now that might be different depending on the part of the world or the particular mythos. For example, I think Hinduism is still widely practiced enough that treading on toes might be possible there. Off the top of my head, I can only think of Hinduism and various Native American mythologies being seriously practiced nowadays (which are polytheistic and not related to the Big Three). Greeks for example are essentially all Eastern Orthodox Christians.– asteriCommented Sep 16, 2014 at 14:15
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Maybe the line is so fuzzy and difficult to draw that a blanket ban on everything before a certain date (1000 CE or something) is appropriate. Makes me sad, but it is what it is.– asteriCommented Sep 16, 2014 at 14:16
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5I totally get your argument, but feel that trying to declare one religion more or less relevant than another, or more or less SF/F than another is a dangerous game. To me, it feels more prudent to say that either they're all considered SF/F or none are. Commented Sep 16, 2014 at 14:18
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Sure. I guess my argument is more one of definition. I think a belief system has to actually be practiced in order to be a religion. If it has no practitioners, it's just some stories. Just my opinion. But I 100% understand why you would want to ban it all. I probably would as a moderator, just for protection.– asteriCommented Sep 16, 2014 at 14:21
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1The ban on religious texts is for primary religious texts, such as the Bible, and not fictional religious texts. To my knowledge, there isn't really any primary Greek Mythology texts.– PearsonArtPhoto ModCommented Sep 17, 2014 at 9:50
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Can't we distinguish between Religion and Mythology, even for living religions? For instance, what about non-Biblical Jewish myths such as Lilith, golems, etc.? Or Christian myths concerning demons, saints, etc.? Commented Sep 18, 2014 at 6:46
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1@asteri "Realistically, I don't think anyone really practices polytheism with the Greek pantheon any more." - Ah, but they do!– IzkataCommented Sep 19, 2014 at 4:25
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2I really wonder why this answer has so many upvotes. Greek mythology was never really 100% related to religion. I fail to see how discussing Greek mythology can be offending to anyone. Ancient Greeks discussed mythology, why should we not? Commented Sep 20, 2014 at 19:55
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@PearsonArtPhoto, there might not be any primary source texts, but there are plenty of texts. Otherwise, Greek mythology majors wouldn't have much to study. Commented Sep 21, 2014 at 8:28
To ask or answer a good question on SF/F, there need to be sources. What is your source?
If the source is clearly and deliberately fiction, then it is on-topic.
If the source is religious and not meant to be fiction, then it is off-topic.
For example:
Bible: off-topic
Chronicles of Narnia (and Biblical origins and parallels): on-topic
In your case, if your primary source is ancient Greek mythology/religion, it doesn't belong on SF/F. It belongs on a site about that religion.
But if your primary source is Marvel's Herculus, ask away.
If the question concerns both, e.g. how Marvel's Herculus compares to the Greek myth, it's still okay, since it still has SF/F.
Related questions:
(Those last two were both about Noah...weird.)
