Alien mythologies

[BohandiAnsoid]

Mythologies are a pretty important part of cultures here on Earth. At least they were in the past. And I would think this would be the case for alien civilizations as well. Especially aliens in the way they often are in science - fiction and most aliens in my universe, too.

I did think a little bit about the Bohandi in this regard. I even wrote a legend for them. They also don’t seem to have much of a religion. Most of them anyway.

However, this is just Bohandi. And even then, it's not fully established in the stories. And their characteristics actually make it pretty easy. They are not that different from the humans and they are very unified, too (well, other than a few splinter factions, which are a separate thing).

But I have many more original alien species. Ant - like Ansoids, scientific Greys of the Grey Ascendancy, feline humanoid Cfa’ar and reptilian control freaks Varnathi (both former Bohandi slave species), telephatic humanoids Torids, made of ice held by exotic energy Bird - Shaped Colds and many more.

Also, what should be known is that, in my universe, there were some ancient precursor civilization. Not much is known about them, but Greek gods were a remnant of them (although it was long after their main civilization collapsed). Bird - Shaped Colds knew them, but they are not willing to tell much.

With all this, let’s talk about this. Both in general (what mythologies for each alien civilization would have, how to create then and so on) and for particular civilizations and how their traits would affect their mythologies. For example, how ant form and hive organization would affect the mythology of Ansoids. How knowing the precursor civilization would affect the mythology of Bird - Shaped Colds. How enslavement by the Bohandi would affect the mythologies of Cfa’at and Varnathi.

Let's talk al
l about this.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Greek gods were a remnant of them

There were a couple of episodes of the original series that touched on that. They probably came about largely because they could use old sets and costumes that were already laying around in the Paramount back lot. For your purposes, it would be a good idea to review those episodes.

There are a couple of books I could recommend, starting with Tolkien's The Silmarillion. Edith Hamilton published a great intro to Greek and Norse mythology. Both are good primers for how to develop a mythology.

The key isn't big, overarching structures. It's stories about heroes and their exploits. And the lessons those stories teach.

 

[BohandiAnsoid]

I am curious if you know of any particular lessons mythologies of these alien species might want to teach?

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

I would start with the two original series episodes I mentioned, plus "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield," and the famous "Darmok at Tanagra" episode of STNG. Those are all great stories that would fit comfortably into any mythos. Doesn't hurt to mine the ancient Greek and Norse myths and create analogues, perhaps with some variations so instead of copying, you're using them as inspiration. Old Testament stories could be modified too, but you would need to be careful with those because they're so widely recognized.

Re-watch the "Darmok at Tanagra" episode - it shows how the myths inform social structures.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

I would start with the two original series episodes I mentioned, plus "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield," and the famous "Darmok at Tanagra" episode of STNG.

The actual episode title is just "Darmok", "Darmok (and Jalad) at Tanagra" is one of the stories/themes of the episode.

One of the best episodes of TNG IMO, "LTBYLB" is good, if rather less subtle and nuanced.