mythology, heroes, euhemerism, forgotten gods, classical reception, superheroes

What is it about?

The relationship between mythological gods and superheroes is more complex than is believed. This study will utilize the thesis of Euhemerus of Messene and the subsequent Euhemerist movement to analyze the concept that the gods were originally exceptional individuals renowned for their feats and inventions, who, over time, became deified through the erosion of collective memory. Through a historiographic, philosophical and literary study of the three later phases of Euhemerism (the Christian, the Enlightenment, and the Romantic), I will outline the modern and contemporary configuration of the different mythological divinities. The Euhemerist readings of classical mythologies will confer a series of features on the superhero characters in popular culture, developing a sort of iconic-literary neo-paganism that will end up spreading strongly throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In short, superheroes are heirs of the ancient Greco-Latin and Nordic gods, which have been mediatized by different currents of cultural Euhemerism.

Featured Image

Photo by Kedar Gadge on Unsplash

Photo by Kedar Gadge on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The perspective of analyzing the gods from an euhemeristic approach allows for two relevant innovations: 1) the discovery of a parallel tradition of mythological interpretation used by Christian patristics and enlightened rationalism; 2) a literary resource that developed a whole narrative around the concept of "forgotten god" under the romantic aesthetic and in the genres of horror and fantasy that continued into science fiction and superhero comics.

Perspectives