Do you know that some of the mythologies are based on historical events
happened in the remote past? I will give one example.
Many researchers of ancient Roman religion feel that we do not have
much material about it. Most of what had survived had become obscure
long before the time of classical Latin writers whose works have come
down to us. Virgil, Cicero, Varro and many others of that time were
much interested on various aspects of the ancient Roman religion.
They took great pains to investigate the facts and the meaning of
their ancient rites. However, they were hampered by imperfect and
incomplete texts concerning the origins and early history of that
religion. Further, they had to interpret the available material in
the light of what they had themselves been taught, using the Greek
methods of writing history and the Greek concepts of religion. The
meager character of the material and the use of some very archaic
language made them difficult to interpret. As a result, most of the
conclusions written in classical Latin texts were quite different
from the native Roman beliefs.
Some researchers think that history of every country begins with
mythology. It often happens that myths of one land get tangled up
with those of other lands. A myth is often compared to a snow ball
which rolls down a mountain side gathering foreign substances like
snow, earth, rocks and others such that its nucleus is lost to sight.
However, with some effort, some of the historical events can be
established from myths.
The largest epic in ancient Latin literature is the Aeneid by Virgil.
Aeneas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
'Connected with the cult of Aeneas was that of Anna Perenna. When the
plebians took refuge on the Mons Sacer, she brought them food to eat
in the guise of an old woman (Larousse 1968:215). Annona was the
goddess who was prayed to have abundance in grain.' In India, Goddess
Anna Poorna is peculiar to the Andhras. Many Andhra women are named
after this goddess. The name is rarely heard outside Andhra Pradesh.
A legend connected to her says that once upon a time in remote
antiquity there was famine in the regions around Varanasi and food
became scarce. Goddess Parvati came in the guise of an old woman
named Anna Poorna and gave food to the people who took up residence
in the holy temple city Varanasi. Andhras pray to goddess Anna Poorna
to give abundance in grain. The rainfall in India is more than the
total rainfall in all other lands of the world. While peasants of
other countries broke their backs to reap one harvest, the Indians
produced two or three bumper crops a year since ancient times. The
harvest in the Krishna and Kauvery river basins alone was large
enough to meet the needs of rest of India during periods of crisis.
The crop output per unit area of land in this area was not surpassed
by any other country in the world until the invention of modern
agricultural machinery and related equipment. Visitors from Europe
and China in ancient times have praised India as the land of plenty.
Other cognate words in the names:
(1) The god of love in Telugu literature
is called Kaamudu, the word is cognate
with Cupid.
(2) In some old European drawings, the
Cupid is shown wearing blind-folds.
Gamta, a word which is cognate with
Cupid, means 'blind-folds' in Telugu.
(3) Cupid is shown shooting arrows in to
hearts of persons to generate love. The
ancient texts of India say that heart is
the seat of love. Gumde, a word which is
cognate with Cupid, means 'heart' in
Telugu.
(4) Cupid is described as a small child.
Gumta, a word which is cognate with
Cupid, means 'a small child' in Telugu.
Many cognate words have formed due to the interaction.
Some are given below. The second one is a Telugu word
having the same meaning which is being used for more
than a 1000 years:
attic - attaca.
asset - aasti.
beat - baadu.
boat - padava.
bore - boriya.
boy - abbayi.
cavity - guvta.
cattle - goddulu.
cheek - chekku.
chin - chunbu.
cut - kota.
dull - deela.
elope - lepuka.
fat - boddu.
foundation - punaadi.
gale - gaali.
lace - allica.
link - lanke.
mask - musugu.
master - mestri.
mead - metha.
mouth - moothi.
mud - matti.
murky - muriki.
nerve - narav.
oath - ottu.
pale - paali.
pan - penam.
pap - pappa.
piece - pisaru.
put - pettu.
site - chotu.
short - chiruta.
show - choopu.
slice - cheelchu.
suck - cheeku.
surprise - achcheraparachu.
sweat - chewata.
theft - thoepidi
thick - dukka.
thread - thraadu.
value - viluva.
veil - valle.
vomit - vaamthi.
upon - paina.
with - waththa.
wonder - winta.
yean - yeenu.