Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories Part A

Keep Calm and Invoke the Power of Ra by Zach on The Keep Calm-O-Matic

It's always interesting to see the similarities and differences between the ancient and current mythologies. I chose this topic for this week because my roommates are interested in the subject and told me that I would enjoy reading about it.

The stories are written in third person, but the way they are written is weird. I will definitely change it. Keeping the third person will allow the readers to understand who is telling the story versus all the other characters that happen to cross into the plot's path, but I will write it in a way that will get into the main characters mind and not be so vague about details and emotions that occur within the story.

The problem I have with ancient mythologies is how weird some of the moments in the stories are. For example, in the Secret Name of Ra, Isis uses his saliva and bakes it. That's odd, right? I think taking out parts of the story similar to this will help the readers from being taken out of the story because of the oddity of certain moments. It will make the story more fluid and easier to follow.

Of course, language is always a big thing when it comes to ancient mythology and their stories. The old English makes it harder for me to delve into the story. Making it more modern would not only make it relateable but also easier to understand.

It's cool to see parallels in these stories that compare to those from Christian mythology. For example, in the story of Hagar and Ra, there is a flood much like the one in the Book of Genesis in the Christian bible. It is also interesting to see the differences too. In the story of Osiris, the author talks about Isis and tells how she loved the humans that her fellow gods had created. This contrasts to Hera in Greek Mythology, who hated humans and was jealous of Zeus' ties to them. Not only this, but Osiris leaves the Egyptian holy lands and goes to help rule other lands, and he leaves Iris to rule in his place until his return. This would have never happened in the Greek mythologies.

The story of the Wax Crocodile seemed to be too quickly resolved, and I didn't like that the wife was punished so cruelly. While I know that this was usually a woman's role in ancient mythologies, if I chose to rewrite this story, it will definitely feature a bigger role from the wife in it. This was much like my sentiment towards the Green Jewel. The story made the woman look materialistic, and I almost wonder if there is something more to play with her personality.Not only that, but I would love to maybe combine the stories of the Wax Crocodile and the Green Jewel, if I can think of a way to do so..

Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie, link to online reading.