Talk:Euhemerism

Definition
The opening paragraph is misleading and seems to misrepresent Euhemerism as Apotheosis

Euhemerism actually seems to be "the proposition that an apparently real biography was later invented for a previously mythical, especially divine, figure from pre-existing narratives about such a figure."

or; Euhemerization is "the later creation of a mortal biography for a previously mythical being figure/character" to give the appearance the previously mythical figure had been a real being." Craigmac41 (talk) 21:05, 12 November 2014 (UTC)


 * What you're describing is the opposite of euhemerism, which is about real mortals that are remembered in myths as gods. Jonathan Tweet (talk) 17:22, 12 September 2016 (UTC)

Let me provide a quote from "Enlightenment: A Very Short Introduction" by John Robertson: Another ancient manifestation of natural religious belief was the tendency to worship great men and women, deifying them after, or even before, their natural deaths: the phenomenon known as ‘euhemerism’. The definition provided by this quote seems to match what is being called "apotheosis", and does not match the definition provided in the Wikipedia article. GIVEN that this definition is - at least - disputed - the Wiki entry should provide some discussion of this dispute about its interpretation, and justification for the meaning chosens. As it currently reads (4/28/23), it affirms one particular definition, which does not seem to match how the word is commonly used. Asaduzaman (talk) 06:49, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

Tomb of Zeus
The article presents the Cretan tomb as a cornerstone of Euhemeros's hypothesis, but how central was it to his views really? Did he believe what he believed (in part) because of the tomb, or conversely did he just give the Cretan legend credence because he believed Zeus to have been a mortal king?

The article should also mention that belief in Zeus predated even the Indo-Europeans and this presumably precludes the possibility of his tomb being located in Crete. It does not, of course, contradict the core hypothesis. Kings can be believed to have apotheosised into thunder gods, a more recent example being Shango. But if Zeus was mortal, I'd expect his tomb to be somewhere in the Middle East or Africa even. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.61.180.106 (talk) 03:57, 3 December 2021 (UTC)