I was thinking about historical racism and how a lot of the achievements and constructions made by non-European civilizations end up being attributed to aliens.
The Pyramids of Egypt, Mayan and Mexica temples, the Nazca Lines, etc. For some reason, people often say they must have had help from aliens or some advanced outside force. Professional historians obviously don't think this, but it's definitely a common idea in popular culture.
Something else I noticed is that people sometimes interpret the gods of these civilizations as alien visitors because of certain ancient stories. But if you actually look at many pre-Columbian American religions, their gods are usually connected to nature. Kukulkan was associated with wind, Chaac with rain, Inti with the sun, Pachamama with the earth, and so on. These civilizations had a very close relationship with nature, so it makes sense that their gods reflected that.
What doesn't make as much sense to me is why people jump straight to "aliens."
Then I made a connection.
Greek gods feel very different. They act like people. They have conflicts, hierarchies, relationships, ambitions, and personal dramas. They also interact directly with humans and teach them things. Athena is connected to wisdom, strategy, and crafts. Hermes to travel, trade, and communication. Prometheus literally gives fire to humanity. Demeter teaches agriculture. And if you look at other mythologies, like Mesopotamian ones, you find similar patterns.
Another thing is that these gods constantly want to interact with humans, and in a lot of stories they even have children with them.
So if someone wanted to argue that ancient gods were actually some kind of advanced civilization interacting with humans, honestly, Greek and Mesopotamian gods seem to fit that idea way more than the nature-focused gods of many American civilizations.
I don't know if this makes sense or if I'm just going crazy and I fucking need medication
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