Light Is Not Good/Oral Tradition

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  • Archons are the gnostic equivalent of angels, and one, Adonaios, is associated with the Sun. Since Gnosticism has God Is Evil as a core philosophy, the archons are unsurpringly consider malevolent or at least hostile.
  • As in the Percy Jackson and The Olympians example above, Hyperion, the titan of light, can be interpreted as this, since the titans were enemies of the gods and he participated in the Titanomachy. However, some see the titans as better than the olympians, seeing as they brought a golden age to man, though most likely both groups were neutral and Hyperion was prone to this.
    • According to Hesiod and Homer, Ares is this.
    • Zeus, the father of the gods, is a fantastic example of this. While many Sadly Mythtaken portrayals depict him in a similar light to YHWH as a benevolent father figure and just ruler of Olympus, the original Greek myths make it clear that he had sex with everything and used his powers to get out of getting caught with his pants down as best as he could, and that he frequently couldn't care less for what might be good and just, as long as he got what he wanted.
    • Apollo as well: Apollo, who is often referred to as the god of light, often pulls dirty tricks to get his way, and at least once arranged for some mortals to commit a heinous act, but then abandons them to their fate shortly after committing said heinous act (eg, Elektra and her brother avenging their father by killing their mother and her lover).
    • Circe is a daughter of the Sun god Helios, yet she is consistently portrayed as an antagonist. In addition, it was claimed that witches had a power called "evil eye", which was derived from Helios (who was also the god of sight).
      • Medea, Circe's niece and grand-daughter of Helios through her father, was the original Yandere and actually used the power of the "evil eye": when an indestructible bronze giant attacked the Argo, Medea looked in his eyes and caused him so much pain it killed itself.
  • Neto, a pre- Christian lusitanian (aka Portugal south of river Douro) god, was a god of the sun but also a war god, presumably as an acknowledgement of the sun's deadly side. The other light related god in the Lusitanian Mythology, Endovelicus, was supposedly good, though once Christianity settled in he became associated with Lucifer.
  • While nowadays people think Sirens Are Mermaids, their mythological counterparts resembled more the modern depictions of angels, being beautiful, winged women with a marvellous voice, while dooming sailors to their deaths.
  • Biblical Example: Created as the mightiest archangel, Satan can still appear to men as an "angel of light"... making this Older Than Feudalism. According to tradition, if Satan appeared before you, you couldn't help but fall down and worship him, he would be so beautiful. Just as in the Bible, when an angel appeared to the shepherds to tell them of Jesus' birth, the first thing he says is either "Be not afraid" or "Don't worship me!"--as angels in other parts of the Bible tended to kill cities when they were sent. The Apocrypha adds to his many names by referring to his pre-rebellion self as Lucifer, which means "Lightbringer", and he's also sometimes called "the Morning Star".
    • In Abrahamic theology, Shamsiel, the angel of the Sun, is actually said to be a fallen angel; therefore, if not at Satan's side, still against Yahweh.
    • The Bible often described lepers with having skin as white as snow. While real lepers are just victims of a disease in Biblical time they were considered to have gotten the disease as a curse for moral failings.
  • "Lady Midday" from the Slavic Mythology. Unless you consider sun-stroke a good thing.
  • Lakota mythology features light and darkness as more reason and chaos. But following this theme, Yata, the north wind, is represented by white. He also causes harsh winters. Also, the wakinyan, or lightning gods, are either this or Good Is Not Nice.