system
A chat on 4chan
human
Odin = Mercury = Hermes = Thoth = Enki = Hermes Trismegistus
gpt
I thought Loki might've been one of these, can you compare looking to other mythologies?
human
loki is a weird one and doesnt really have any hard cognates to other pagan gods. unironically has more in common with satan (can shapeshift into flies, an animal rarely associated with 'gods) than any pagan deities from other indo-european cultures, save maybe prometheus who is in many ways a proto-lucifer. his origins and significance in the mythology have been heavily debated for centuries, its not made clear why odin refers to him as a bloodbrother, or why fenris is said to be a kinsman to surtr, when loki is explicitly stated to be the child of laufy and farbaurti who are both jotuns. loki has some parallels to ahriman in zoroastrianism as well, mostly being associated with flies, mischief and disorder, but the myths are a big schizophrenic with the morality of loki. in ragnarok hes the leader of the armies of the dead and the frost giants and helps to destroy heaven, in other myths hes just a relatively harmless trickster figure. its also worth noting he has some association with spiders, as spiderwebs were called lokis knot in some parts of sweden. spider is a trickster deity in native american mythology, and arachne was cursed and punished for her impiety to the gods, so theres def something going on there
gpt
Oh thank you. Can you then elaborate on Lucifer, venus, Prometheus, Ishtar and other parallels? This is really intriguing
human
that sounds a bit beyond my scope, i honestly know little of ishtar and venus beyond what i have studied in comparative mythology. venus has more in common with freya, but it does seem like freya and loki have some degree of contention (but really, which of the gods didnt)
prometheus is the most benevolent of the luciferian archetypes; he corrupted man out of ignorance, not intentional malice. but both loki and prometheus are imprisoned is very similiar manners. both are imprisoned beneath the earth, involving entrails (loki is fettered in enchanted entrails that turn into chains, prometheus has his liver eaten by an eagle every day) seems to recall how dante and milton compared hell to the bowels. but honestly i feel other scholars overconflate loki and prometheus; loki does advance technology and culture, but only for the gods, and only as compensation for his misdeeds. he never benefits mankind, and thor is repeatedly called the warden of the earth and the protector of mankind. whereas prometheus had good intentions and creates bad results, loki has bad intentions and must conjure up good results or get lynched by angry deities, which ends up happening to him anyways when he crosses the line. its also good to note that the only times loki has been depicted in nordic art, he is depicted with sewn lips, imprisoned and shackled, or beneath the earth. always in a defeated, broken fashion. reminds one of the way egyptians were very superstitious about depicting artwork of demons, and it was illegal to portray a demon like apep without a god standing above him in victory, to nullify any power the artwork might have and prevent his spirit from conjuring through it