PoE connection to historical religions and beliefs

[Stoner]

Not sure if this is right section for a topic like that but still... It's pretty obvious that almost every fantasy novel or game nowadays drawing some inspiration and ideas from historical mythology, religions and etc.

 

There are too many references to some pagan cultures and beliefs like wheel and the souls, polytheism, specific customs and etc. I'm really not that good at historical science or religions to be honest, but I'd really like to know from which sources mostly lore of this game have been tailored.

 

I did a little research myself on the matter a bit but it's a safer bet to hear opinions from people who might have deeper knowledge of both the game lore and science, because I will surely miss some rather important details on my own.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Stoner

[LaSpeakeasi]

I think the Eora pantheon goes out of its way to avoid mythological cliches, actually.

 

I recommend reading Mythologiques by Claude Lévi-Strauss. There is an umbrella of archetypes these polytheistic gods fall under. Because pantheons are structured around human desires and needs. And those tend to be the same across all cultures. Eora pantheon deliberately go against existing archetypes we probably know too well by this point.

 

For example, the earth-mother vs. sky-father dichotomy; vigrinal/motherly fertility goddes vs. love & beauty goddess; god of commerce, hedonism etc. Almost none of these archetypes exist in Eora. Kudos to the writers' creativity.

 

Directly opposed to Lévi-Strauss' deconstruction of mythologies is the idea of good vs. evil. Real life polytheism needs it because religion is a tool to instill moral order on society. But in Eora all gods are morally ambiguous. Margran's a good example of it.

 

There is some familiar concepts from D&D 3.5 though, so they aren't completely original. Like Eothas = Lysander; Ondra = Umberlee, etc.

Edited October 3, 2015 by LaSpeakeasi