What is the difference between Greek mythology and Egyptian mythology?

Answer 1

Greek mythology involves human-like gods and goddesses that exhibit human traits, while (normally) Egyptian mythology involves animal/human-like gods and goddesses.

Not only that, some of the Greek immortals have powers that the Egyptian immortals don't have and vice-versa.

In addition, the Greek gods/goddesses technically have mostly more concentrated areas of "expertise" (such as Zeus is mainly the god of the sky [or air, or whatever you want to call the space between the ground and space]/head of all the gods). The Egyptians gods/goddesses, in my understanding, are mostly more rounded or extremely direct (such as Ra is the sun god/head of all gods instead of the general "air and sky" thing).

I hope this helped you. If it didn't, just send me a message with a specific question of what you want to know.

Answer 2

There aren't a lot of similarities between the two. I will include a lot of information from my personal studies as well as some extra research did on the spot. Do not feel obligated to read it all as it is quite lengthy, but here is the material should you need it. Enjoy.

The main difference would be that the gods are different. Not just in name and form, but in character and number as well. What do I mean by that? Well everybody understands that Zeus and Ra are not the same in name (isn't it obvious) and Apollo didn't have the head of a jackal. That's the easy stuff to observe. But not every god can be directly associated to one from another culture. For example, while both Zeus and Ra were kings of the gods in their respective culture, Zeus reigned over the sky and storms, as well as having various other aspects, such as lord of hospitality. Ra on the other hand, was more of an embodiment of the sun than the sky, and had less to do with kingship than other gods like Horus or Sobek. The characters of each also were associated with aspects of their specific culture. For instance, the Greek gods were paragons of human characters, taking the highest forms of certain virtues and vices into their character. They also had no god of 'evil' or even a 'evil god.' The gods of Greece simply preformed their roles as gods, never really fighting any infinite evil, never in danger of death, and quite apathetic to humans. Egyptians on the other hand, embodied more elemental forces and human concepts, such as order, chaos, wind, waves, cities, land, etc. Evil was embodied in two major forms. Set, the god of storms, desert, the color red, foreigners, and (later on) evil, and Apophis the serpent of chaos and evil. Stories are often told between the struggles of good and order versus evil and chaos. The gods also seemed to be just as easy to anger as please, causing many to fear them greatly and love them just as much. Numbers are also a big factor. The Greeks had a handful of major and minor gods most of the land mass shared, while having a couple hundred that were worshiped more loosely. Egypt on the other hand, hand a couple thousand gods which were worshiped quite avidly. There were up to fifteen different gods for birth, if not more. And just as many for death.

Both believed they were made by the gods from clay. The Greeks believed they were made by Prometheus, who also gave man "reason" after his brother Epimetheus gave fur, claws, speed, and all the other gifts to all of his creations (if you can't guess, they were animals), while the Egyptians believed they were created on Khunum's potter wheel, right down to the individual souls. As for prayer, most Greeks had more of an individual relationship with the gods than the Egyptians. For example, while a Greek man would pray to the gods personally, an Egyptian man would pay a priest to pray for them. Now while Greeks would do the same, it was less common and less ritualized than the Egyptian culture. The priests definitely had more of a grip on the Egyptians than the Greeks. This is probably due to the natures of the gods as discussed above. The attitude of the gods also influenced the people. Some of the first atheists were Greek, where as some of the most religiously devout people came from Egypt.

The afterlife was both similar and dissimilar for the Greeks and Egyptians. First of all, both cleaned up the bodies and gave gifts to the dead. The Greeks placed coins on the eyes or in the mouth, where as the Egyptians would leave their dead with a room full of stuff. Both had different reasons. The Egyptians believed that you would take these things and use them in the next life. In addition to objects such as beds and toys, they packed food as well. The dead needed to eat after all. The Greeks believe that the coins would pay Charon, the boatman, who would only ferry you across the River Styx to the Underworld if you paid him. Both believed that the underworld was in the west, though the Egyptians believed that they needed to take you across the Nile and bury you on the western shore, while the Greeks said "eh, he can walk." The Underworld entrance exam was also similar for both, though the execution was a little different. Both faced several obstacles to get to basically the "Hall of Justice." Here the souls would be judged. For the Greek, three judges would determine the fate of a soul. These judges would usually be prominent dead people, such as Minos. They could assign you one of three fates. First would be the Asphodel Meadow. This is what most people would get. It entails wandering around in a field full of grey people that kind of look like you but are incapable of any real speech. Riveting, I know, but please contain yourself. Next would be the Fields of Punishment, where all those who committed some major crimes would go, and well, be punished. Then you have the Elysium fields, where all the especially good people go. However, you had to be a demigod, that is to say child of a god, to qualify. And if you landed Elysium, you could be reborn into a new life. Live a good life and land Elysium three times, and you get to go to the Isle of the Blessed, for eternal paradise. Tartarus is sometimes considered part of the Underworld but not always. And all it contains are the Titans and those who directly opposed the gods. The Egyptians on the other hand didn't have a "heaven/hell" concept as my predecessor told you. In their trial, your heart would be weighed against a feather of Ma'at, or order. If your heart was equal to or lighter than the feather you could enter the afterlife. If not, it would be eaten by the monster Ammut and become one of the cursed dead. You would walk the earth unable to enter the afterlife. and what is their afterlife? just like the real world. just over there.

There are several more similarities and differences, but these are the main ones between the two religions. I have provided additional links at the bottom. Hope this helps. And since this IS Wiki-Answers, I see no reason why Wikipedia is a unreliable source.

Answer 3

well first of all, Greek mythology isn't even related to Egyptian mythology. you might be confused with Greek mythology and roman mythology. those are related. anyways Egyptian mythology has way different gods and goddesses than in Greek mythology. also Egyptians believed their Pharaohs were gods along with their gods that aren't physically on earth. Greeks didn't believe their leaders to be gods.