Some questions

VexaFlare

New Member
So I'm new to these forums I literally just signed up 3 minutes ago but before I did and intro or anything I just wanted to ask some questions about different myths mainly about dragons but a few other questions as well, so I'm just gonna jump into them. First I want to say that my friends told me all of this and have no idea if it's true or not.
1. My friend said that dragons were created by wizards, sounds somewhat true but can't find info on it.
2. He also said they were immune to magic.
3. In Egyptian Myth my friend said that the god Amun never existed which I find plenty of articles on him
4. The final question (for now) my friend said something about 5 Elder Gods I think they were Ra, Zeus, Buddha, Amon, and one other. He also said something about Quetzalcoatl Coal Stones.

I just want someone to clarify this stuff for me, the main reason I ask is because we have a Role-Play we're doing somewhat based on myth but with other stuff as well and half the time I have no idea what they are talking about because it seems that they are just making it up on the spot. Also I lied before it wasn't my last question this is, can a Dragon be a God? Thanks in advanced guys.
 

Myrddin

Well-Known Member
Since dragons are mythical creatures, they are, consequently, up for many interpreations. So, keeping that in mind, questions 1 and 2 could be something your friend read somewhere, and took in for his own interpretation of the beasts (or maybe he made them up, I don't know). Now about question 3, what do you mean by "existed"? Is your friend saying 1. Amun (or Amon) never existed in the stories, or 2. that he never existed on this plane? If it is 1, then it's a blatant lie - you said you found a lot about him; there are references to him in even the broad range of world myth; and finally, if Amun never existed in that respect, then how could he even be known, or have a name? If, however, it is 2, then that is really just up for interpretation.
Finally, question 4. Well I certainly can't claim any definite knowledge on the subject of elder gods, so far as I know, there is no such thing as the 5 Elder Gods. However, I have seen a reference in Greek myth which referred to the Titans as elder gods - which makes some sense as they were the supreme rulers before the Zeus and the other Olympians overthrew them. Also, Ra (or Re) and Zeus are from different, albeit somewhat related, mythologies (Zeus, Greek; Ra, Egyptian).


Quetzalcoatl is a deity, considered possibly as one of the most impotant, in the Toltec and Aztec pantheons. Described as the "fethered serpent", he is told to be our creator, and foretold to return one day not too unlike King Arthur was foretold to return. The Aztecs though, took the story too literally, and mistook the conquering Cortes for the old hero. However, I have not heard, nor know anything about, Quetzalcoatl coal stones.

Back to dragons, eh? Again, as mythical creatures, they are for many an interpretation. Have I known of a dragon as a god? No. But could a dragon be a god? Why not?!?! Of course it could! A lot of it is imagination. Let it run wild!

Hope I have been of some help to you.

E. M.
 

VexaFlare

New Member
Thanks for the info, about the 3rd question when I say he says Amun never existed, I mean if Egyptian Gods were real he just wouldn't exist, like just not be there.
 

Alejandro

Active Member
A warm welcome to the forum, VexaFlare!

1. This depends on which mythology we're talking about here. Dragons manifest as characters in mythologies from all over the world, and in a lot of them they are natural creatures pretty much the same as all other animals, bearing whatever origin other animals do in that myth system. In plenty of Asian mythologies they are deities while in Mediterranean and East African myths they are monsters often descended from, sprung directly from or created by gods and goddesses. In ancient Egypt, for example, there is a dragon-like monster named Apep (whom the Greeks called Apophis) who is a sort of god in his own right. Your friend's claim sounds a lot like modern fantasy/gaming mythology in which, I suppose, anything is possible; but I've never come across any ancient (or significantly old) myth in which a dragon was created by a practitioner of magic (unless that magician/wizard was also divine), but then again I might simply be ignorant of such an old myth or legend that does exist.

2. Never heard/read that either. It sounds even more like gaming mythology now. Granted that there might be a specific old myth system in which this is so.

3. There has to be some mistake in your friend's info. Amun was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians at least since the time of the so-called Old Kingdom (starting around the late 2600s BC).

4. Never heard of Quetzalcoatl Coal Stones (likely some more modernisation of old myths), but see (above) Myrddin's explanation of the god Quetzalcoatl.

Amon is another English spelling of the Egyptian Amun. Ra was one of the personifications and gods of the sun in Egyptian myth. During the reign of Pharaoh Ahmose I (1500s BC) Amon/Amun and Ra were combined into Amon-Ra/Amun-Ra (there are a few other English spellings of this fusion), who was worshipped as the king of the gods. Zeus is the famous king of the Greek gods. Buddha can be a very complex topic depending on which religion or mythology the character is being based on. He is a god in some religions and myths and only a very important but mortal human, prophet-like figure in others. Your friend's 5 Elder Gods seem to be most important deities or religious figures from a few different cultures from around the world perhaps merely brought together as characters for your role-play. Apart from instances like this where characters from different narrative worlds cross over into one universe [comicbook-style], these deities are completely unrelated. In ancient times where these different cultures encountered one another, the dominant culture would interpret the subordinate culture's religion or mythology in terms of its own belief system, such as how the Greeks thought that their Zeus and the Egyptian Amun/Amon were the same entity just referred to by different names, like they did with their sun-god Helios and the Egyptian Ra.

As for your last question: Yes, as I've mentioned in #1, in a few mythologies, such as that of the Egyptians and especially in Southeast Asia, dragons were actually gods or at the very least some kind of divine or immortal being.
 
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