Post #4- Pantheon Selections

After reading the Pantheon selections, choose your favorite myth/god and explain your decision with examples. 100/150 words (Post #4)

After reading the Pantheon selections, I would say that my favorite myth/god is that of the Egyptians. The Egyptian Pantheon consists of Atum, who is at the top and is the sun god. After Atum is Atum’s children, Shu and Tefnut. Shu is the life spirit god and Tefnut is the world order goddess. Shu and Tefnut’s children are Geb and Nut. After being separated by Shu, Geb becomes Earth and Nut represents the star-filled heavens. Finally, the children of Geb and Nut are Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. Osiris is the god of the underworld, Isis is the goddess of mysteries, Seth is the god of evil and darkness and Nephthys is the goddess of death.

Several characteristics of Ancient Egyptian culture can be seen through the Egyptian gods’ and goddesses’ interactions. First, it can be seen that there is a heavy presence of both life and death themes amongst the pantheon. For example, Atum, Shu and Nut represent life themes while Geb, Osiris, Seth and Nephthys represent death themes. This shows, along with the passage of the sun and flooding of the Nile, that Ancient Egyptians were very concerned and influenced by the theme of life and death. Also, there is a lot of shift of power amongst the Pantheon. This shift in power represents inconsistencies and power struggles between various religions and political parties in Ancient Egypt.

I really enjoyed reading about the Egyptian Pantheon because I feel that life and death themes and political/religious struggles are present in any culture at any time period. It was interesting to see that these themes were so prominent in Ancient Egypt because in the United States currently, these themes are dominant. Of course, people are born and die each day. Also, however, political/ religious party struggles can be seen through events like the government shutdown and elections.