Re: Herodotus and Egyptian influences on Greek deities

Dennis Poulter wrote:

<<I have been following your correspondence on Semele and Demeter.
Following Heredotos' statements that the names of nearly all the gods
came to Greece from Egypt, I offer below a couple of proposals for your
consideration:>>

As part of my undergraduate work a few years ago, I took a class on Greek and Roman Historians, and one of the historians that we looked at was Herodotus. I was taught, and, having looked into the matter further, I also believe, that Herodotus' account of how the Greek gods had their origins in Egypt was a false statement, and not to be taken at face value. As someone else pointed out, there are much more stronger and more plausible influences from Asia Minor, the Near East, and the Minoan/Cretan substratum. Herodotus is called the "Father of History", but he is also called the "Father of Lies". I am jumping in here on this point about Herodotus because I have seen a few people on a couple of other lists take him at his word when he says that the Greek gods were Egyptian imports and accept it as an "historical" fact.

Chad Brown