Zack Olander - Traditional Religion vs. Philosophical Reasoning in Till We Have Faces

 I loved that in Till We Have Faces there is this tension about different beliefs about the gods, which mirrors real life debates about their nature. Aside from Orual's doubt that the gods even exist and her hatred for them, the philosopher character, the Fox, teaches her that the myths are "lies of the poets" and contrasts this with saying things like "The Divine Nature is not jealous," which runs counter to what Greek myths say about their gods.

This reminds me of Plato's dislike for poets and myth (even though he himself uses myth to illustrate some of his points), because he thought that it was unwise to say the things the myths say about the gods and that the myths and poets should be banned from the ideal republic. It makes sense that telling stories about the gods and saying that they are jealous and petty might not be the best course of action if you also believe that those gods exist, whether or not they are petty and jealous.

It's also not unlike the contemporary polytheist community in the West which has arisen since the early to mid 20th century. It's common to discuss the role of these myths that are left behind and whether they say something about the way the gods actually are or if they say more about the culture that created the stories. Most of these modern polytheists take the position that the myths are useful and valuable to learn about these ancient cultures in question, but probably don't reveal much if at all about the true nature of these old gods that they worship.

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