"You want to learn about mythology now?" Father Zhang was a little surprised, "I thought you were no longer interested in these things after graduating from sixth grade."
The four of them had finished their dinner. After clearing the tableware, Zhang's mother and grandfather looked through old photos in the study together, while Zhang's father and Zhang Heng were eating fruit and watching TV in the living room.
"Okay, if you want to know anything, as long as it's something I know, just come and ask." Father Zhang picked up an apple, took a bite and said happily.
Zhang Heng thought for a while, "Does God really exist in the world we live in?"
"Pfft~" Father Zhang almost choked on the mouthful of apple he just swallowed, coughed twice and couldn't laugh or cry, "What's wrong, do we really have to pretend that you are still in sixth grade now?"
He took a sip of water and calmed down, "I remember we discussed this issue a long time ago. Although your mother and I are majoring in theology, we don't have any beliefs. In fact, what I am interested in is mythology. Regarding the history and humanities part, your mother...well, she is just interested in all the weird stories, and likes to travel around, take pictures, taste delicious food, etc. in the name of religious archeology, if I remember correctly Her master's thesis was about the diet of medieval believers.
"From my personal point of view, so-called myths are just stories written by mortals, just like fairy tales, but for adults. For example, "Homer's Epic" is said to be the story of blind people in ancient Greece. Created by the poet Homer, we all know that its theme is the Trojan War. It contains not only mortals, but also the demigod Achilles, the sun god Apollo, the sea god Poseidon and so on.
"But in fact, only the Trojan War actually happened in history, and the rest are just Homer's artistic processing. The academic community generally believes that if Homer really existed, he lived around the ninth century BC. At that time, there were no serious historians, and no one would emphasize the authenticity of history, so the way people recorded history was to mix what really happened with myths and legends, and then we have "Homer" epic"."
Father Zhang paused, "Actually, if you really study a myth system, you will find that they have their origins, which are usually folk tales passed down orally, and continue to develop on this basis, such as Celtic mythology originated from Celtic folklore and was influenced by ancient Rome and Christianity in the process of formation. If the stories in it are true, how could it possibly evolve with the development of civilization? Migrations are constantly changing, and more typical of Greek and Roman mythology."
Father Zhang said while chewing an apple, "Roman mythology is completely derived from Greek mythology. Many gods have different names just because of different pronunciations. As for the story plots, they are exactly the same. How can they all be true?"
Zhang Heng was silent. In fact, this was the same as what he had always known. But where did those so-called gods come from? The self-proclaimed Celtic ancient god he met in the copy of Black Sail existence, as well as the supernatural creatures he encountered in the real world. If the legends about them are all fictional, why would they be real?
Zhang Heng again thought of the guy named Einstein he met in the Apollo training camp dungeon. From his words, it seemed that he was of the same level as the old man in Tang suit that Zhang Heng met before. However, Zhang Heng couldn't feel any connection with myths and legends in his body, and the game props he had seen at auctions before, some of which were obviously products of modern society...
Zhang Heng decided to put this question aside for the time being and asked the question that he had always been most concerned about, "What are the gods about time?"
Father Zhang raised his eyebrows, "The god of time? Indeed, there are gods related to time in many mythological systems, but the most famous one is the super-primitive god in ancient Greek mythology, Chronos. , he is the supreme god worshiped by Orphicism, symbolizing the first cause that transcends everything, existing before the beginning of everything, and is the highest god in the "Twenty-Four Sacred Words Narrative", possessing power above all things. It does not have any entity itself, but sometimes appears in the form of a snake with three heads - a human, an ox and a lion, but is better known as the image of an old man, because he is usually described in modern art works as An old man with a scythe.”
"Old man, are you like this old man?" Zhang Heng took out the old photo he picked up when cleaning up the study from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.
A look of surprise flashed in Father Zhang's eyes, and he picked up the photo, "Ha...where did you find this?"
"You have participated in many research projects. Basically everywhere you go, your mother will take a lot of photos. Why is it only this time? After searching the whole room, there is only one photo? Where are the other photos?"
"Because at the end of the study we lost one sled and four sled dogs. They fell into the ice hole and rolled over everything on the sled, including our Kodak. After that, we worked hard, But in the end, they were unable to pull up the four poor little guys, let alone the things on the sled. As for Mr. Taime, he was the sponsor of this study, but we have not seen each other for more than ten years after the study. It’s over.”
Although Zhang's father tried his best to maintain a relaxed tone, Zhang Heng could tell that his heart was not as calm as he appeared, especially when his pupils shrank obviously when he saw the photo, and he obviously hid something later. However, what surprised Zhang Heng was that the incident did not seem to have much to do with Mr. Taimu.
Because when he talked about Mr. Taim later, his body relaxed again and he changed into a more comfortable sitting position.
Zhang Heng didn't quite understand why his father would lie about the film. His grandfather also knew about this research activity. In other words, he was the only one in the family who was completely kept in the dark. The question is why, why did his parents get rid of the photos and never mentioned the research project to Greenland 18 years ago.
What happened on that Arctic Circle island, and what does it have to do with him who was only one year old at the time? If the weird man in Tang suit had met his parents 18 years ago, then it would obviously not be wrong for him to choose Zhang Heng 18 years later. It was just appreciation and chance as he initially said.
Rather than saying this encounter, it is better to say that this is an 18-year wait.
