Re: mythical giants

From: Alexander Stolbov
Message: 492
Date: 1999-12-08

----- Original Message -----
From: Ivanovas/Milatos
To: cybalist@egroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 1999 11:50 PM
Subject: [cybalist] mythical giants

Hello,
whatever you may think about the actual size of mythical 'giants', please don't forget they are >mythical< in the first place, where an attribute like 'giant' might just mean 'powerful' - e.g. as the second meaning in English 'larger than life' (which could extend to cultural, political etc. power).
Greetings from Crete
Sabine

I'd like to add that giants and dwarfs can be easily found in very many mythologies the world over. Usually they signify people (or their gods) of quite another origin with an alien, hardly understandable culture. Of course, if these people are some taller than the myth or epos author they would be called rather "giants" than "dwarfs".
 
Alexander