[Cryptonomicon]
So today I was struck with the inspiration for a paper topic. While reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, I was fascinated with the idea of parallel mythologies. As he puts it, the gods Ares and Athena are li
terary manifestations of two opposing ways of human thought. Ares, the god of war, signifies conflict in wanton mindless destruction. On the other hand, Athena, also a deity of war, goes about the same thing through metis, which can be translated t
o craftiness, or cunning.

Take those two principles and look for them in other cultures. The Sumerian metis god was Enki, the freshwater god, who was helpful to humanity. The Norse metis god was Loki, who was a trickster fire god and eventually became the mos
t evil god. Odin was also associated with wisdom, but he too was a chaotic and unpredictable character.

You can go with this a long way and look at what it reflects on the culture. For example, we see that the Sumerians, by seeing metis in their god of fresh water, prized cunning and wisdom as much as they prized water, which had to be immensely in a
desert culture. Perhaps the Norse, on the other hand, feared metis. It could be a treacherous force, as seen in Loki. Like fire, it’s not predictable, and can be used harmfully.

But that’s probably not where I’m going to take the paper, since it’s a Torrey paper. I’ll probably end up using that to justify the use of polytheistic imagery in the Christian imagination. This would cover Dante’s invocation of Apollo in the opening of
his Paradiso, as well as invocations of the muse in other epics. Perhaps I’ll take it further to say that the “worship of Athena” is not necessarily bad when it is understood to be the prizing of the virtues that she represents. It’s a pity, becaus
e I’d much rather explore the ways in which a theogeny impacts a culture than what I will end up doing. Oh well, can’t have too much fun with a school project, now.

Including Neal Stephenson in my bibliography is just too cool.