why do we hate euhemerism?
It's not my j- oh, actually it is my job to explain this one :3
Euhemerism, by definition, means treating mythology as being based on real people, animals, places, or events, and then having been exaggerated over time.
First, it's nothing new. People have been euhemerizing for centuries. The Chimera, for instance, was interpreted as having been a pirate captain with a lion, goat, and snake as his emblem (Plutarch) or as a volcano with populations of lions, goats, and snakes on its flanks (Servius Honoratus).
And second, it could in fact be interesting. Like... yes, there certainly are historical events that could have inspired mythology and folklore.
But in practice, what it ends up doing much of the time is 1) missing a lot of the nuance and background of the original myth, 2) downplaying the fact that people have been pretty damn imaginative in the past, 3) downplaying the fact that some ideas are kind of obvious conclusions, 4) assuming that legends have to be true and working backwards from there, and 5) creating a story that Stands To Reason but cannot be proved or disproved in any meaningful way. There's also a couple more outcomes which come up when it's related to an extant or extinct religion, namely 6) because they were based on real/previous things, the religion they came from is Laughably Fake, and 7) because they were based on real/previous things, the religion they came from is Inarguably True.
















