Every Crecganford video is animating the people and creatures that lived before us, and it's inspiring our imagination. Those Folio editions on the bookshelf are just marvellous. Old myths presented in great style, thank you!

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your kind words.

@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115

Жыл бұрын

Jurassic Park enters the chat.

@argentandroid5732

Жыл бұрын

If only there was someone that would literally animate the stories. That would be pretty cool.

@nyrdybyrd1702

Жыл бұрын

@@Crecganford Thanks for hopping in comments. Henri said "every video" but, while that is quite kind (I certainly enjoy your content), I felt like this was your best work yet.. now, if I could just retract my eyest; my tea's getting cold.

I remember reading a Ladybird book as a child, about a Chinese boy with a magic paintbrush who's finished paintings would spring to life. So pleased to find out the deep connections all over the world! 👍

Fun Fact: the Fantasy Island Series episode "House of Dolls" is based on the Pygmalian myth. I did a telling of this story once at the end of a lecture when asked for a story with a happy ending (Aphrodite version). I then learned how old the core story was learning about the distribution of the Pygmalian myth in a Scientific American article about "mythemes", smallest units of myth fragments that are used to plot origins and changes over time to a story. I thought it was interesting that this is one of the oldest surviving mythemes, and it makes me wonder about the ones lost to time.

I just wanted to say I love your content. It's fascinating learning about those that have come before us, especially Proto-Indo European culture. It amazes me how some of the stories of the ancients are still alive in some form today. How's the saying go? "History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes."

There are still people who fall in love with and idolise inanimate objects, I can totally see how this story could have started and why it would be so fascinating to the ancients. Just as the graphics on older movies, computer games or cartoons seemed so real at the time, a beautiful piece of art could have easily created these feelings of lust. Thank you for the video. Well researched and as thought provoking as ever 👍

I’d love to learn more about Welsh/Celtic mythology in future videos! We learn the Mabinogi stories in school but an academic view would be awesome!

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

The Mabinogion is on my list to talk about this year, and I am also about to start pre-production on a live show with it being told in a traditional way, which will probably be in London next year.

That’s fascinating. I’m not sure which one is predating the other, probably Pigmalion is younger, but this motive seems to be connected with cosmogonic myths of human creation. Most of them has a clay as a material, but some versions like north mythology has a wood carving variation, followed by the breathing in the life inside it. I think the parallel is really strong there, just the context in different.

Sorry to comment before watching but your title and thumbnail brings back some memories. I used to work for the Festival of the Art's Pageant of the Masters in laguna canyon (just an usher, I was 16 lol), which is a stage show involving famous paintings coming to life and moving as part of the plot, during my season it was a noir style murder mystery where the detective gets shot by one of the paintings. It was really cool, and I think it's very interesting how the actors in the paintings managed to, for a lack of a better way to describe it, move how you would expect the painting to move. We can look at a painting and imagine the next movement that should happen on the canvas, and they captured that incredibly well. It's been around for over 75 years which I think speaks to how much we want to imagine the non living as living. Maybe that's why we keep trying to force AI to be human? If you ever have a chance to see it or something similar I would strongly encourage it. I'll stop typing and watch your video now.

The prophet breathing life into the statue reminds me of Odin breathing life into Askr and Embla.

15:29 I like the way that you protest against the stupid nudity rules of KZread by putting “dear KZread this is art” on the covered up breasts in the painting. You are one of the few creators that protest in a subtle way to this narrow mindedness. Thanks for doing this

@aariley2

Жыл бұрын

It's more that woman are exploited in art, but men subjects are obviously too coy to let it all hang out.

@ThursonJames

Жыл бұрын

Devil’s Advocate: “art” can be pretty degenerate, so it might not be the shield that one thinks it is. Notice, no one is considering blurring the Venus figurines on the shelf in the background.

@lilitheden748

Жыл бұрын

@@aariley2 what exploitation? There is a lot of male nudity in the finer arts. F.ex. “David” a beautiful statue made by Michelangelo. It is to admire in Florence Italy. The Romans used to have pendants shaped like a phallus and they actually wore them around their necks. Men and women. It was a fertility symbol. No prudity there… The paintings of great Golden Age painters like Rubens also depict nude men. Showing a woman in the nude in an art like way is not the same as pornography although nowadays many people are of that opinion. To me it’s quite unsettling that in this era such prudeness is coming back. Here there is no exploitation of women all. It’s the artist celebrating the beauty of the human body. So it should not be blurred. Too bad if someone is offended by seeing a breast. It’s not like it is going to change morality all at once. Therefore you have to look somewhat further on the internet.

@lilitheden748

Жыл бұрын

@@ThursonJames what do you mean by denegrate?

@ThursonJames

Жыл бұрын

@@lilitheden748 I mean that which causes decay, destruction or other form of anti-growth. In this particular case, having children and enjoying to see breasts, I don’t mind them being censored on all-ages platforms, and I don’t think Jon wants anyone to have to sign in to see his videos. I’m not saying that the statues in question are in any way degenerate, but there is clearly that which is considered art and also not necessarily for all ages. There is definitely a case to be made that the aforementioned statues shouldn’t be censored, but I would caution against an argument the pr0n industry would have lawyers argue in favor of. Again, I’m not calling this degeneracy. I’m saying that it exists and one ought to exercise prudence in this regard. ❤️

Crecganford: interested in the N.African story of the boy who drew a picture of a bird, which flew away. In Islamic tradition there are stories, for children, about the miraculous childhood of Mohammed. These are so deeply ingrained in the culture that most take the stories to be true. One of them is that he made mud images of birds, which then came to life and flew away.

Tolkien's conception of the Druedain and their statues and pouring their power of protection into them is a modern example.

Another great video! I was thinking of how it relates to the myth of Narcissus, if at all. Also, we still tell these kinds of stories. The Winter's Tale and The Picture of Dorian Grey are two that come to mind. Ialso thought there was another instance in Greek Myth with one of the Trojan Heroes. I could be wrong though. Great work, Jon, and I look forward to seeing more 😊

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

And thank you for your kind words and continued support, it is very much appreciated.

@9Johnny8

Жыл бұрын

The only thing that comes to mind are Achilles' Myrmidons, but not only was Achilles Greek, not Trojan, but the ancestors of the Myrmidons were ants turned human, not inanimate objects. Still commenting this so that I'll get notified if someone who DOES know responds.

@tbrooks529

Жыл бұрын

@@9Johnny8 nooooo, I wasn't thinking Achilles. I also worded my comment wrong. I meant a Greek hero of the Trojan War. But I think I have a mixed up some contemporary novel with Greek myth because I cannot find anything.

Something about this myth reminds me of stories in which a hero fall in love with a woman he dreams of, then sets out to find her. There also seems to me to be some connection to the spirit wives of shamanic traditions.

I for one am glad to see you challenging the status-quo, so we who are willing to ask questions may seek innovative ways of understanding history. I'm very happy to see you round out this video with the descendants of those who crossed over Beringia's land-bridge, and hope one day you'll find cause to speak of legends that came through that passage.

there's also a fairytale called Pintosmalto, which is similar but with a role reversal, since its a woman creating her own husband with almond paste and gold and perfume. in the story he's sweet but a bit dumb and she has to rescue him from a princess who steals him the myths felt kinda sleazy this time around with this "create your partner to your own personal liking and own them forever" theme ahah. in a way they feel very recent but i guess its just bc of the influence of pornography

@9Johnny8

Жыл бұрын

Part of the changed feeling is that in certain historical societies (especially ones with nobles or feudal lords) children and partners were quite like property. For example Zeus marrying Persephone off to Hades without either the bride or her mother approving or even knowing. Or the biblical rule of taking your brother's wife for yourself if she's widowed. Someone building their own spouse wouldn't raise any eyebrows with that in the background, quite unlike 'modern' society with its ideals of personal rights and freedom. (I'm not trying to imply this is either unique to or ubiquitous in our current society, hence the quotation marks.)

@EmL-kg5gn

7 ай бұрын

I agree, I know it’s best to at least attempt not to project our own culture onto others but I don’t think I can in this case. These stories make me feel very uneasy. I once would’ve thought the concept to be very unrealistic, and therefore found the stories easier to listen to and try to understand. But now it reminds me of things like the ai generated women and robots created by men for inappropriate purposes... It’s hard to comprehend that while these stories are old there are real men behaving in a similar but worse manner today 🤢 Gotta love patriarchal societies forgetting that actual women exist outside the gaze of men 🙃

😂🤣😂 This reminds me of the time our dog walked past a shop. In the window was a hyper-realistic looking dog. Our dog went crazy barking at it. We thought she was so silly, but behind us about 25 yards was another dog. That dog barked like crazy when he saw the statue too!🤣😂🤣 This happened every day until the shop keeper moved the dog statue out of the window 😂😂🤣🤣😂

is Pinocchio/ I robot the latest interpretation of this ancient myth , I wonder. Nice episode, thank you.

Reminds me of Nerdanel from Tolkien’s Silmarillion.

I was reading recently that the translation in Revelation about the "image of the beast" is actually properly translated to a statue will be given the ability to speak (have life). It reminds me of the story of Venus giving life to the image. Yesterday I saw a video of a robot that is so realistic it could be mistaken for a real human woman. I'm seeing a much bigger picture here..

This myth is still alive today: The book series “Harold and the Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson

Always a treat when a new video comes out! I've learned so much from this channel

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much.

Your content is just superb and unique, your style and narration are just perfect. Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge.

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for commenting such kind words, it is appreciated.

Excellent and interesting as always!

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Thank you.

This puts Dr Who's "Don't blink" episode in a whole new perspective.

Another amazing and mind expanding story! Thank you for sharing your work ❤

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Thank you, I appreciate your kind words.

EXCELLENT WORK!!!

Another solid video, Jon!

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

And thank you for continuing to watch them.

Iconoclastic, what a word 🫶 very smooth 🍎

I appreciate your knowledge and wisdom. Thank you.

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

And thank you for watching.

I don't know if necessarily all of these stories are related. It's very much a basic story which may have been created out of whole cloth at any time. These similarities are potentially suggestive of a shared origin, but they might just as easily be there as an easy way to share a fantastical idea with a neat plot. I remember in kindergarten we were challenged to create stories based on letters of the alphabet, and one kid made up a story about a boy who always wanted a dog but couldn't have one. He drew a picture of the dog and wished on his birthday it would be real, and it became real and they lived happily ever after. The fact that this came to the mind of a 5 year old, unexposed to Pygmalion or to the tendencies of men to lock themselves in private with images of beautiful women, leads me to believe that without very very specific similarities, beyond those which you have outlined, there isn't enough to show relationship between the stories. In short, while it's definitely possible they're related, it's also just as possible that they are merely similar.

@timeless9820

6 ай бұрын

in most of the videos I watched, he showed that most stories come from one of close tribes that kept immigrating and after the great flood, the tribes become the civilizations we know now and the ones we could save. so their ancestors already shared similar ideas and experiences...plus the rest is sharing their personal experiences which we all share in common for we share the same biology so we will have similar desires and admirations so yes it is plausible that the stories do share the same background.

I think you should reduce a lil 120-160hz on your audio to make the sound clearer.

You are absolutely right about a story surviving interpretation - and that cultural context can be lost. What is lost so much is subtle use of words. Like, try to read Sappho in English (all I can do) ... but you can get there. It's taken me three months to understand one stanza - and that's a severly subjective interpretation. What I like about you, and your presentation of ancient stories, is how you do it so consistently, despite having to cover your own academic back. You have the balance so right for me.

25:00 - "From 3rd Century BC, Jewish Colonies were established on the Mediterranean coast. A massive arrival of Jews to Cyranacia occured in 320BC due to Ptolomy's invasion of Israel, which included the deportation of more than 100,000 Jews to Egypt. And from here Judaism spread west and south across Saharan tribes" 👍helpful

I must have been about 5 or 6. For some reason I was still downstairs when my parents were already running the bath for us all. My sisters baby doll must have thought we had all left the room and she mama'd to my doll. I rushed upstairs full of excitement that the dolls really did come alive at night. My parents' suggestion that the doll had just moved accidentally was dismissed by me.

18:02 it's quite funny I've heard a similar tale in a Yiddish folktales book as well

Even though it's told as one story, I can see how people changed it over time; adding and taking away parts over thousands of nights around a campfire.

Whatever you do! Don't, blink!

Artifacts, architecture, statues, symbols, and more of Sanathana Dharma have been found in the Americas and every other continent except Antarctica and maybe Australia. That's the culture that original dispersed so many of these ancient stories, characters, and whatnot that you're sharing with us. Great videos, keep'em up.

This tantalizing beautiful form of a woman, translates to popular culture, i thought of numerous episodes of the Twilight Zone and Star Trek, Mannequin, and Forbidden Planet. 😂

Could it have any influence from Egypt? As, if I'm not mistaken, animated statues were a big part of Egyptian magic...

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

I think there is North African influence in this, and yes some of that is from Egypt, but I will show in a future video who influenced the Egyptians.

Sorry for all the comments. Just really sharing ideas as mythology is amazing. What do you think of the Golden Bough? Your story of Africa makes me think how the Golden Bough found similarities from Africa to those around the world. The Bough is looking at a reasonably narrow topic. However, having a picture in mind that consumes is not too far off Orpheus or Isis and Osiris, ie. crazy desire. If you had an interest is an assessment of The Golden Bough it would be much appreciated.

Thank you Jon. Thank you very much.

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

And thank you for watching and commenting, the support is always appreciated.

The story of the hunter illustrates the dreadful power of the sexy selfie. It makes me wonder if we of today think about our imaginations differently than our ancient ancestors, who believed in ghosts and spirits and such. We are no less prone to imagine all sorts of life-like encounters with beings we've only ever seen than they were, but maybe they assumed there was little difference between an "real" apparition and an imagined or dreamed event. After all, what is the main difference between the real thing you see, and the thing you only see in your mind's eye? You can touch one and not the other? Well, naturally that's the case, after all, ghosts can fly through walls, right? No way to find out whether I'm right or wrong, unfortunately. Just a wild speculation.

Finnic people are familiar with the similar myth called the golden bride and the creation of this bride is most commonly attributed to Ilmarinen. Ilmarinen creates a bride for himself out of gold, silver and pearls because he is without a woman, but he soon realizes that he cannot love a metal woman because metal is cold against his side. Väinämöinen makes this case a warning example and teaches that no one should worship gold and riches because it does not bring happiness. But unlike most similar European stories, the unanimated Golden Bride doesn't become animated, thus changing the tone and teaching of the myth.

@shanegooding4839

10 ай бұрын

There are stories in Russia of a golden woman that was worshipped by Siberian people and I have wondered if the various prehistoric Venus figurines found across Eurasia perhaps represented a kind of 'spirit wife' for ancient craftsmen similar to those found in shamanic traditions.

I am a bit scared to write this, because I love your channel, but was that picture really drawn on paper, because I don't think paper is that old?

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

I did actually have a debate with myself about this, the story in the form I read it said paper, but I agree, this is a contemporary translation and interpretation by Frobenius which I stayed true to.

Another fascinating video. Is there any connection with that old Welsh myth about the lad who as I recall was cursed (amongst other ways) that he would never marry a wife born of woman and so a wizard made a woman out of flowers and then brought her to life? Or is that too much of a stretch? Unfortunately in this myth the woman went off after somebody else and ended up getting turned into an owl.

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

I’m not familiar with that story, I shall see if I can find out.

@Bushwhacker-so4yk

9 ай бұрын

Blodeuwedd, that’s her name.

as i watched this i couldn't help but think of modern TV and movies that have used some of these myths although in slightly different ways. i found this very interesting my favourite video so far

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much.

@kellydalstok8900

Жыл бұрын

Weeping angels?

@hugespinner4890

Жыл бұрын

@@kellydalstok8900 i was thinking Lars and the real girl. just a slight twist. Harry Potter had the water or mirror that could trap you ( didn't really watch it just bits n pieces) same happened in Stargate unable to look away from whatever trapped them. the film weird science making a picture come to life. even Pinocchio is a twist on that

@Vlow52

Жыл бұрын

That’s rarely is the case. A few creators learning mythology to implement it inside a story, but most of it is just an unconscious copy of the modern mutations of the motives. It evolves just as language and other forms of information.

@hugespinner4890

Жыл бұрын

@@Vlow52 i never meant it was a conscious choice to use the myths but that i can see themes in modern films and shows it's interesting that themes can reappear in what is a different culture .sure they may have studied ancient myths who knows? doesn't mean there aren't parts that are similar to ancient myths there's nothing to stop people having the same thoughts across different generations or countries

More Zoroastrianism pls!!!

Do you have an opinion on the best translation of Aeneid?

for some reason I keep on imagining a young Kim Cattrall for the beautiful statue or image.

Interesting, what comes to my mind, maybe the Berber tribes influenced Carthaginians and then they passed by the myth to Greeks.

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

There is far more to this study, and I will cover it in time. But like you, I feel Africa was the continent of origin of this myth.

Love your accent mate. What is it?

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Metropolitan/South East London

Fascinating video (and my inner 12yo fighting hard against drawing the obvious conclusion, lol). Do you think that the use of images predates Islam or could it be the myth is actually illustrating the evils of images? I could see it being a cautionary tale about rejecting real life for fictional or artistic things. Great video as always.

Do deer horned deities (celtic Cernunnos, luwian Kurunta) have the same origin of goat horned deities (such as greek Pan)?

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

I do not believe there is a single cultural source of horned deity, although the inspiration may have come from observing the same animals do similar things.

Unrelated to the subject of the video, Is the story of Samson a copy of Hercules, does it share a similar root myth to the story of Hercules, or is it unrelated?

The spirit of this story lives on in the movie Mannequin.

Please please please read The Immortality Key and do something on Demeter and Persephone, and the mysteries of eleusys. Author Brian Murarescu links this rite to soma of the vedas and a proto-indo-European rite at gobekli type as a root of both.

Thanks for another most interesting video! One question though popped into my mind. Could that belief be related to the belief in Hinduism that statues of gods get inhabited by a god and therefore require to be dressed, washed, fed etc.? Or is that a belief that separately evolved? Thanks again!

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

I think the perception of a statue containing a representation of what it is may be a later addition, we certainly see rich people create statues of themselves to be kept within temples so they have a continuous presence amongst the gods. But I will have to do a bit more reading to find out for sure. A great question, thank you.

@martinamusovic1785

Жыл бұрын

@@Crecganford thanks!

When picture on 02:10 appeared I was like "wait, WHAAAT???? That`s my countries flag o the horseback" XO XO Thanks for your videos, for me, as not-so-good in academycal English, your videos are the best way to get into IE mythology Greetings from de-occupied from russians in Sept. 2022 Izium Btw one question: why in older (beforefull-scale attack) and videos of this year the PIE habitat shown and said called swine...AHEM...russian, if in most work that I`ve read it`s between Northern Black Sea on south, territory of near Poltava on north and Wester Causassian steppe in the east?

@Crecganford

8 ай бұрын

Thanks, and to answer the question, people get confused between the Yamnaya culture and the PIE speaking peoples, who the Yamnaya were, but they were a later culture, and so were not representative of all PIE speaking people, just those who migrated into Europe and Persia, and India.

@torvegil4372

8 ай бұрын

@@Crecganford Oh, yeah, I thought that Yamnaya is earliest PIE culture (maybe I'd understand wrongly wiki about PIE), so thanks for an answer!

“… can’t come from an iconoclastic culture.” _Eastern Orthodoxy has entered the chat._

I wonder if there are Gondopharid stories related of the time of Ovid (43BCE - 18CE) This would seem far more plausible in connecting myths or origins of the stories together before the existence of the prophet Muhammad, S.A.W, and Islam. Greece had a more direct connection to Parthia at this point of history. I would be more inclined to believe the Silk Road and those of the caravan tribes travelling East would have such a fascinating love story. Not to undermine the existence of tribal stories in the Great region of Africa, however it is only the Greeks who've survived texts of region of Great Peoples in Africa.

What is the connection between these myths and Pinocchio? (If any)

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Pinocchio is a combination of myths, perhaps I should make a video to discuss its motifs and the primitive myths they derive from. A good idea, thank you.

@DLee1100s

Жыл бұрын

@@Crecganford I would like to see that

does this include Dr Who weeping angels

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Alas not, I used to really like Dr Who.

@hugespinner4890

Жыл бұрын

@@Crecganfordi was just having a laugh. as for Dr Who, yes me too sadly it has strayed from its path. without starting a war of words i wondered if they wanted a female lead why didn't they bring back Romana? she was already a time lord with a solid history and she had K9 think it would of been a brilliant concept

I remember reading a story/myth somewhere and now I cannot find where it originated from. It might come from folklore or from literature, I don't know. I just hope somebody here might help me identify it. It goes as follows: there was a tree with two branches - one branch had good fruits, and another one poisonous ones. Somebody decided to cut off the poisonous branch. As a result, the whole tree died.

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

That's not a motif I see in my database, but it maybe represented as something else. You may want to check out mythologydatabase.com and see what you can find.

@somebodysvideos7876

Жыл бұрын

@@Crecganford thank you for answering! I'll see whether I can find.

Can I have a magic pencil? Sounds fun!!!!

This pictures/statues are representation of life or even alive itself trope is deeply rooted in psychology of humans and in animals, too. Therefore, such stories don't need a single Ur-Myth from which they came.

Hi, I suspect that Ben Stanhope has still not yet replied. If it is so, quite a bummer.

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

There is a limit on how many times I can try and establish contact without seeming a bit over keen. But I will continue to look out for him, as I really want to speak to him now.

@js1423

Жыл бұрын

@@Crecganford Yeah, he's brilliant, but who knows what he's up to right now. Maybe he is pursuing a PhD, so that means he's busy?

If 2D images are also a problem then so would writing be also. Letters in themselves are just 2D symbols which represent the same ideas. Idols in the original understanding is a statue that worship is offered to in the same way one would worship God. This is the problem w/ folks interpreting things themselves. Everyone ends up w/ a different interpretation based on presuppositions they already have about what an object is etc.

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

But they can't be considered representations of Idols, and so that was probably their "out", but an interesting consideration none the less. Thank you.

Alternate title: "Finding love before online dating"

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

That is a fine alternative

So you say ancient people also have waifus? Good to know love for non animate(yet very ANIME) girls was a thing millenia ago.

@megb7715

Жыл бұрын

"Calm down, son. It's just a drawing."

Translate for us

Pygmalion enters the chat.

@Crecganford

Жыл бұрын

Indeed he does

Kabyle | iqßæjlijen | Berbers The golem. הגולם Medusa, the reverse.. Berbers are from Africa, and the rest are from Libya. ( Roman usage)

So waifus have always existed it seems

Bro could you add Turkish language too please i dont understand dont forgrt us too please waiting hope you read. Thanks

WHUT? A story about an incel who makes a statue of his perfect woman is called "Pig Male Ian?" NUH UNHHHH. Next you'll tell me the island of Lesbos is where lesbians come from.... WHUT? NUH UNNNNHHHHHH!

Hmm, these days when a man goes into his basement to look at pictures of beautiful women and fantasize about them really being there, we have a slightly different explanation ;)

hoi mnoy

ah yes, the origin of the weeb.

Men being visual creatures sees and picture of a women and becomes a basement dwelling incel

I am researching dragon myths, and would like to take one of your classes. In your video towards the end you mentioned lunking a video about dragon rituals. My apologies but i haven't found your link. Can you repost in comments? Thanks! @cracgenford