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Sons of the Father: A Study of Murukan and Christ
Synopsis of forthcoming paper by
D. Dennis Hudson
Professor of World Religions
Department of Religion, Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063 USA
This paper exams the Christ of myth and the Murukan of myth in their
respective identites as sons of God the Father or of Siva the Father.
It also considers their relations to the Mother, although in both
cases, the Father-Son relationship dominates. Unlike Murukan, the myth of
Christ is linked to a datable man in history, Jesus of Nazareth (c.4 BCE-30
CE),
whereas Murukan appears in early Tamil literature and, under the name of
Skanda,
in epic literature, and those stories narrate events in mythic rather
than in historical time.
Attention, here, is not on the historical Jesus, but on the myth
that interprets him as a being pre-existent to history not unlike
Murukan/Skanda. Since both
myths have developed over the past two millennia in different
civilizational contexts,
the study attempts to think about them comparatively through such themes as
childhood and manhood, and their actions as warrior, savior, and lover.
D. Dennis Hudson
Professor of World Religions
Department of Religion, Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063 USA
Phones: 413-584-6429 (residence)
413-585-3662 (office)
Fax: 413-585-3339
E-mail: dhudson@smith.smith.edu
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