Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Christian <jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com>]

As far as I recall from memories of contact with historians while a student
in the classics department of St. Andrews University it is pretty much
widely accepted that these figures have some historical origin with real
people.

If we conclude that Hercules (son of Zeus) was a real person then what
criteria do we use`to conclude that his father (Zeus) was not?

James Christian

On 14 May 2010 21:46, nebarry AT verizon.net <nebarry AT verizon.net> wrote:

>
>
> Original Message:
> -----------------
> From: James Christian jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com
> Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 21:09:02 +0300
> To: nebarry AT verizon.net, stoneyb AT touchwoodcreative.com,
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 30:20-30
>
>
> >I think you may have misunderstood the question. Let me rephrase.
>
> >1) Who gave who the authority to classify Oddyseus as legend but Zeus as
> myth? i.e. which critical criteria did you use to ascertain that Oddyseus
> was a real person and Zeus was not?<<
>
> I see, that is a bit different than basic genre identification.  However,
> it's still an odd question.  The answer is no one, really.  There is
> sometimes a certainly scholarly consensus about these issues, but the
> scholars themselves will often dispute the classifications of certain
> stories, or elements of the stories.  Like all basic definitions, they run
> into actual reality and generate quite a bit of secondary literature.
>
> That's the way scholarship works.  If you (that's the generic you, not
> particularly you personally) want to disagree with a classification,
> present your evidence and arguments, and see how it goes.  I think you've
> (now that's the personal you) had quite a bit of experience with that now
> on this list with other issues.
>
> Barry
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> mail2web.com - Microsoft® Exchange solutions from a leading provider -
> http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange
>
>
>