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A comment on It's Dante's Hell–We're Just Living in It. Parent comment

Re:It's Dante's Hell–We're Just Living in It by saghm on Monday April 08, 2024 @09:03PM (#39975342)
I had a former coworker (who sometimes is on this site, maybe he'll even see this comment and know I'm talking about him) who argued that Lucifer was essentially the same character as Prometheus in Greek mythology, which gives a bit of an alternative perspective to him. The idea was that both figures brought knowledge to humans against the wishes of the higher power(s) and were punished for it. If you view it through that lens, he's more of a tragic hero for humanity against an authority that presumed to know better than we did, which would explain why the narrative from the other perspective portrays him as reckless and full of hubris.

I don't particularly believe that either Satan or Prometheus existed as literal beings at any point, but I do find the idea of their stories being different perspectives of the same tale fascinating.

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Re:It's Dante's Hell–We're Just Living in It by 082349872349872 on Tuesday April 09, 2024 @02:54AM (#39976782)
compare Snow, Glass, Apples
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Re:It's Dante's Hell–We're Just Living in It by MailleQuiMaille on Tuesday April 09, 2024 @08:08AM (#39978547)
I always thought this. Same for the fall, which was the consuming of the Forbidden Fruit. For some reason, God(s) did not want us thinking that hard. When I see the world, sometimes, I tend to agree…
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Re:It's Dante's Hell–We're Just Living in It by Scarblac on Tuesday April 09, 2024 @01:46PM (#39982041)
God made us after his own image. So he knew how hard it is to stick to diets. We were set up.
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Re:It's Dante's Hell–We're Just Living in It by 082349872349872 on Tuesday April 09, 2024 @02:07PM (#39982279)
> “The Ethiops say that their gods are flat-nosed and black, While the Thracians say that theirs have blue eyes and red hair. Yet if cattle or horses or lions had hands and could draw, And could sculpt like men, then the horses would draw their gods Like horses, and cattle like cattle... ―ΞὁΚ
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Re:It's Dante's Hell–We're Just Living in It by sickofparadox on Tuesday April 09, 2024 @10:54AM (#39980110)
The difference being, that Prometheus' actions brought humanity fire and with it the power to both cook and fight against the darkness of night, while Lucifer brought knowledge of pain, lust, pride, and gluttony (among others). Only by leaving out what Lucifer actually brought to Adam and Eve can the comparison really work.
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Re:It's Dante's Hell–We're Just Living in It by hiatus on Tuesday April 09, 2024 @11:14AM (#39980331)
> while Lucifer brought knowledge of pain, lust, pride, and gluttony (among others)

Contrast these concepts with that of the prodigal son—an adherent who strays and then returns to the flock is more valued than one that never left. Why? Is it possible that in revealing these other aspects of humanity our "connection to god" could be made stronger?

Another thought that occurred to me is that life in the garden would have been painfully dull. If there is no pain, no striving, what does it mean to find pleasure in something? Similar to playing a video game with god-mode cheats enabled, it quickly becomes boring after the power fantasies are played out.

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Re:It's Dante's Hell–We're Just Living in It by 082349872349872 on Tuesday April 09, 2024 @03:20PM (#39983142)
Some power fantasies have mostly been played out in the post-hortian world:

  When Adam delved and Eve span,
  Who was then the Gentleman?
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