Similarities

Artemis

Member
Both Odin and Zeus are father gods in their own rights. What are their similarities? Who do you consider is the better god?
 

Rhonda Tharp

Active Member
I find in several sources that Odin is a "father" god who has several sons (Thor, Bragi, Balder, etc), married to the "mother" goddess - Frigg - goddess of parents, clouds and atmosphere. Same with Zeus and Hera, but I don't know if Odin was as much of a player as Zeus was. They both overthrew their dads (Cronos and Bor), they both are depicted with gray hair. They both have sons that show a superior feat of strength and are somehow related to the environment (Zeus - lightning, Thor - thunder). To me, I think Odin is a better god. He hangs on the world tree for nine nights, sacrificing himself for knowledge, he sacrificed his eye for runic wisdom, he drank from Mimir's well for more knowledge. I don't recall any tales of Zeus sacrificing himself for knowledge... I could be wrong... I also like the stories that claim Odin had over 200 names. This reminds me of Egyptian God Ra and Buddha who also had, according to some sources over 1,000 names. Tolkien based his idea of Gandalf from some of the Nordic traits used to describe Odin - the hat, the staff, Sleipnir - Shadowfax... And we have Wednesday named after him, so that makes him cool, lol.
 

Nella

New Member
I would have to agree that Odin was the better 'father god'. I did not know that Gandalf was based on Odin, but it makes complete sense. I love LOTR!!!
 

Dianna

Member
I also agree that Odin was a better God. He seemed to care a little more about human kind than Zues. Of course Zues never liked humans from the start considering fire was stole from him to give to us.
 

raph felix

New Member
i dont think one is better then the other. if you look at it carefully, you will notice how across cultures these gods of the heavens and underworld, of the mountains , hills , you name it. are all the same . just different names. heres the clincher. these stories of supernatural beings have spread across entire regions, countries. even oceans. all the way from prehistory to todays bible. the stories are all there. i am not religous. therefore look at the stories in the bible as myth. taken from myth. take a look and see. how the things like the great flood and the creation of the universe is explained through out the world. orally then written. humans have told the tales of those that have watched over them. to feel at peace? to understand their place in all this? or to convey what they have seen? is myth just stories made up? or is there some truth in all of it?
 

Rhonda Tharp

Active Member
i dont think one is better then the other. if you look at it carefully, you will notice how across cultures these gods of the heavens and underworld, of the mountains , hills , you name it. are all the same . just different names. heres the clincher. these stories of supernatural beings have spread across entire regions, countries. even oceans. all the way from prehistory to todays bible. the stories are all there. i am not religous. therefore look at the stories in the bible as myth. taken from myth. take a look and see. how the things like the great flood and the creation of the universe is explained through out the world. orally then written. humans have told the tales of those that have watched over them. to feel at peace? to understand their place in all this? or to convey what they have seen? is myth just stories made up? or is there some truth in all of it?
Oh I definitely agree with you about the similarities... everyone is believing/worshipping the same concept, just with different names. I get that, but I was giving evidence to support why I thought Odin was a better father figure... lol

:)
 

Olaf Odinsson

New Member
i dont think one is better then the other. if you look at it carefully, you will notice how across cultures these gods of the heavens and underworld, of the mountains , hills , you name it. are all the same . just different names. heres the clincher. these stories of supernatural beings have spread across entire regions, countries. even oceans. all the way from prehistory to todays bible. the stories are all there. i am not religous. therefore look at the stories in the bible as myth. taken from myth. take a look and see. how the things like the great flood and the creation of the universe is explained through out the world. orally then written. humans have told the tales of those that have watched over them. to feel at peace? to understand their place in all this? or to convey what they have seen? is myth just stories made up? or is there some truth in all of it?
First of all if you know the true meaning of "myth" then you would not say such a thing since myth is "based on truth, with the intention to be didactic in nature". If you follow the migrations of the "Germanic" races you will see that ALL of the people who descend from the Germanic races have similar stories about similar Gods and Goddesses and similar Heroes. That is because the come from the same "ONE" truth and have merely been spread across the earth by the migrations of our people. As the languages change over time, so do the names. That is why in true Asatru/Odinism we study all the stories from where all of our people have migrated because it is like putting the pieces together, from the Norse, to the Celts, to the Romans, To the Greeks, to the Saxons, etc...In an effort to reassemble the whole truth from many small truths. Where one group of people remembered certain things and practiced certain rituals and customs, another group remembered other things and practiced different rituals and customs. So instead of arguing over who is better, let us see what each can teach us, because even modern college courses lack so much in trully understanding "Myth".
 

Chimeranick

New Member
I have to agree that Odin is the much better "father" God. As mentioned, he sacrifices himself for knowledge and has a strong sense of honor and valor. Zeus is just a high-on-himself player who thinks with his dick. As far as I know Odin was faithful to Frigg. Zeus was almost constantly cheating on Hera. Odin actually cared about humanity. Zeus didn't care. At all. Except for the human babe he was buggering at the time. Not the sort of guy you want to point out and say "That's my Daddy!!!!"
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
I would have to agree that Odin was the better 'father god'. I did not know that Gandalf was based on Odin, but it makes complete sense. I love LOTR!!!
The comparison of Gandalf to Odin is interesting. When Odin was not in heaven he did walk around the earth disguised. He wore a broad-brimed hat and a staff.
He was also associated with magic. In the Poetic Edda there is a section called the Catalogue of dwarves. It's just a list of names, but one name is Gandalf!
If Tolkien found Gandalf's name here, then he was named after a dwarf.
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
I have to agree that Odin is the much better "father" God. As mentioned, he sacrifices himself for knowledge and has a strong sense of honor and valor. Zeus is just a high-on-himself player who thinks with his dick. As far as I know Odin was faithful to Frigg. Zeus was almost constantly cheating on Hera. Odin actually cared about humanity. Zeus didn't care. At all. Except for the human babe he was buggering at the time. Not the sort of guy you want to point out and say "That's my Daddy!!!!"
My impression of Odin is that he cared more for a specific type of human: royalty, nobility and warriors. The Valkyries were thought to be daughters of kings and Odin was obsessed with filling his hall Valhalla with the best warriors. He would be loyal to a certain warrior for awhile, then turn his back on him so that he would die on the battlefield and taken to Valhalla. According to Kevin Crossley-Holland, Odin was more feared than loved. Thor was actually more loved because he provided rain for all: especially the peasants who relied on it so much. He also was not above dining with peasants.
 

Goldie

New Member
Normally, I do not like to get into the 'which god is better' debates. They all have their uniqueness. Probably because of growing up with the idea of Zeus, it's hard for me to put anyone above him.
 

Alexia

Member
If you are interested in Norse mythology, then help VuduPins Productions make a film based off of the Norse myths of Baldur's death. The film is called "Baldur's Dreams" and is centered around Odin, Frigg, Baldur, and Loki. Before we can begin filming, we need to raise funds. Please help us and go to this site and donate money. Spread the word and help this film get made. Every penny counts. Thanks!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vudupins/baldurs-dreams-a-norse-myth-short-film
 
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