Between
the storm-myth and the myth of night and morning the
resemblance is sometimes so close as to confuse the
interpretation of the two. Many legends which Max Muller
explains as myths of the victory of day over night are
explained by Dr. Kuhn as storm-myths; and the disagreement
between two such powerful champions would be a standing
reproach to what is rather prematurely called the SCIENCE of
comparative mythology, were it not easy to show that the
difference is merely apparent and non-essential. It is the old
story of the shield with two sides; and a comparison of the
ideas fundamental to these myths will show that there is no
valid ground for disagreement in the interpretation of them.
The myths of schamir and the divining-rod, analyzed in a
previous paper, explain the rending of the thunder-cloud and
the procuring of water without especial reference to any
struggle between opposing divinities. But in the myth of
Hercules and Cacus, the fundamental idea is the victory of the
solar god over the robber who steals the light. Now whether
the robber carries off the light in the evening when Indra has
gone to sleep, or boldly rears his black form against the sky
during the daytime, causing darkness to spread over the earth,
would make little difference to the framers of the myth.
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