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So I have the impression that in India a lot of real life events were glorified in Indian history and entered mythology (like the Mahabharata, etc? It recounts the Kurukshetra war, which is believed to have taken place around 3000 BCE).

There must be some times when a civilization can and can't update it's mythology.

What would be good reading material for understanding the mechanics and nature of updating mythology?

Chenmunka
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More Anonymous
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  • It's far from being an ancient phenomenon. Perhaps research Joseph Smith and Brigham Young – Pieter Geerkens Oct 26 '23 at 07:08
  • @PieterGeerkens thanks. I hope the question is still valid? I'm looking for a thesis where someone proposes conditions which enable updating of mythology –  Oct 26 '23 at 07:16
  • You're asking too many questions at once. Focus on the main one. –  Oct 26 '23 at 07:56
  • @Jos updated the question. Is it better? –  Oct 26 '23 at 08:00
  • It is, but book recommendations are not something you're going to get here. Sorry. –  Oct 26 '23 at 09:15
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    FWIW, India has special issues with ancient history, owing to the fact that there's no known native writing (that we know how to read) until about 1500 BCE. Everything we know about Indian History much before then is either a recording of popular myth, or written by (sometimes hostile) outsiders. – T.E.D. Oct 26 '23 at 16:27
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    "There must be some times when a civilization can and can't update it's mythology." Why must that be? Why assume there must be a "mechanics" to this aspect of history where you've shown no evidence of a mechanical pattern? –  Oct 26 '23 at 22:13
  • @T.E.D. can I migrate this question? –  Oct 30 '23 at 06:18
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    This is an interesting question, but I don't think the premise is right. Mythmaking happens all the time, and is currently happening as we speak. I'd say much of the founding of the US, the Civil War, and the World Wars has entered into a popular mythology, of sorts. We're driven, as a species, to create a narrative and then find meaning in that narrative, which is really what mythology is about. – cmw Oct 30 '23 at 18:33
  • @cmw is religious mythology any different? – More Anonymous Oct 30 '23 at 18:50
  • It can depend. You have to remember that for cultures like India, there's really no difference between popular mythology and religious mythology. Hinduism wasn't a separate religion, per se, so much as it was a shared set of beliefs about the past. Same with most traditional "religions." – cmw Oct 30 '23 at 18:58
  • I'm not sure of any sources on "updating" mythology just yet, but I can comb through some things and get back to you on that. Ping me again if I take too long. – cmw Oct 30 '23 at 19:07
  • @cmw sure thing! Thanks :) – More Anonymous Oct 30 '23 at 19:10
  • @MoreAnonymous For Judaism and Christianity the "updating" (i.e. the texts considered sacred, or the canon) happened when there was a significant and real event which requires an updating of the theology of that religion (example: Babylonian exile, Persian "reprieve" allowing the 2nd Temple to be built, the coming, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah). About "can" or "cannot", I think it's more a function of the authority of the "myth keeper" (i.e. the religious authority). But I don't have a good reading material on it, hence this comment instead of an answer. – GratefulDisciple Nov 01 '23 at 18:11
  • @cmw any progress? (Hey) – More Anonymous Nov 14 '23 at 12:53
  • Thanks for the ping. We've come a long way, but incidentally, ritual theory is back as a compelling argument for the explanation of myths. You might want to start here. Sorry, work's been hectic, but I can add to this again shortly. – cmw Nov 15 '23 at 20:54

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New Voices

Mythology gets updated when new voices retell the stories. There are a number of differences between the Lord of the Rings books and the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies, but both are highly regarded by fans.

Similarly, comic book superheros are frequently updated when new artists retell the stories with new tones and different focus.

So to find times when Mythology have changed, look for times when new people have encountered the stories (example: migration) or times when new people have had a change to tell the stories (example: social change).

Hindu Specific

The Indo-Aryan migrations would be an important period in the formation of Hindu mythology. The (presumably well established) Indo-European herding culture mythology would change as it encountered Central Asia farming cultures ~2,200 BC. Wikipedia suggests that the Indo-European Sky Father (Zeus / Odin) was absorbed into an existing Central Asian Indra cult to create the Vedic Indra.

As the migrating Indo-Aryans settled down and merged with existing Punjab cultures, it probably would have undergone another significant shift. This would be around the time that the first Vedic myths were written down, ~1,500 BC.

The introduction of amhisa after the rise of Jainism would be another period of change for Hindu myth (cira 600 BC). This leads to the shift from cow sacrifice to cow veneration. The later rise of and interaction with other world religions - Buddhism and Islam certainly - would also influence Hindu myth, but I'll cut this off here before we get too long.

codeMonkey
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