Hanging out on Olympus...Photo post

 

Checking out the Return of the Gods exhibition @Liverpool World Museum 

Before I was old enough to read science fiction novels, the stories that fascinated me were those of the old Greek and Roman Gods. I had no real context as to how they came to be created or what they symbolised because there are two aspects. One is about what they represented for the people who worshipped them. The other- the one that captivated me as a child- is that of the myths themselves. The thunderbolts, the turning to stone, the ordeals, familial rivalries and all the other behaviour. Looking back it was really like a soap opera, indeed I am sure some soaps have filched storylines from the tales of the Gods. Course I was too young and naïve to fully understand what was going on but, you know, it’s all fairly sordid for beings considered as Gods. I imagine this is because when creating religious myths societies do so within the confines of what they know. So, I was interested to visit this exhibition at Liverpool’s World Museum which opened in April. Most of the exhibits date back to the time when people believed in the Gods and were originally collected by the eighteenth century antiquarian Henry Blundell of Sefton. Its rare for so many of them to be collected in one place so the display is well worth a visit if you’re in the area. It runs at Liverpool World museum till 25 February 2024.