Help with Mythology

[Yair]

I'm looking for a story about a god who sacrificed himself - truly got himself killed - for his followers, or for mankind in general. The idea is to have priests of a dead god, priests with no power, no way to channel a god that no longer exists, but that honor his sacrifice.

The setting is medieval Germany, but founded heavily on ancient mythology. Stories from Greek and Roman legends would be great, as would German tales. Nordic tales are also acceptable, as are Slavic ones, Celtic ones, and even Egyptian ones. Roman mystery cults are also acceptable.

Tartarus is an acceptable fate for a dead god, but I'd prefer actual non-existence.

Any suggestions? My fragmented knowledge of mythology fails me. The only example I can think of is Prometheus, and he didn't die.

 

[ppaladin123]

You have the end of the world in Norse mythology, Ragnarok:

Ragnarök - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Several gods (Odin and Thor included) die in the process of defeating great monsters. The world is almost entirely destroyed but a few of the gods remain and help the last two surviving humans to repopulate a new world without frost giants and death serpents and so forth.

You also have Osiris:

Osiris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He was murdered and chopped into pieces by his evil brother Set but reassembled and restored to power as god of the next world. He never actually returned to life...it's more like he transcended death. In doing so he generated the after-life and the eternal kingdom so he was revered for his sacrifice (though it wasn't voluntary).

 

[radja]

In one of my earlier campaigns, I had a 4 armed god who guarded access to the elemental planes. this campaign was based on the scarred lands setting, where about 150 years ago, the wars between gods and titans ended. Urkanthus sacrificed himself during this war to prevent access to the elemental planes, depriving the titans of elemental legions and saving the races of the gods (humans, elves, etcetera) from being overrun.

feel free to adapt, use or discard.

 

[arscott]

The only examples that spring to mind are Nanauatl (A humble aztec god who threw himself into a burning fire to become the sun), and of course, Jesus. However, Nanauatl was reborn as the sun god Tonatuih, and Jesus was ressurected. I can't think of any god that stayed dead.

 

[slwoyach]

Prometheus really sounds like your best bet. While not technically dead he is chained to his own private hell and in DND terms it's logical that he wouldn't have the power to grant spells to any followers.

 

[Wik]

I had a campaign idea where all of the gods had died, with their divine powers taken up by humans (sort of like sorcerer-kings from Dark Sun). The twist being that, were they to die, the gods would come back to life. However, the world was covered in ice, except for the lands around these "sorcerer kings". Should these kings die, their little "enclave" of normal weather would dissipate, and those living there would be ill-equipped to deal with the arctic conditions. So, the PCs would have had to balance the lofty goals of revolution with the practical reality of the situation.

As for mythological examples, there is the whole Persephone/Demeter thing in Greek mythology (she's "Dead" for about half the year). Gilgamesh kind of makes sense, too - a human being who goes on a lot of quests to achieve immortality and (spoiler alert!) fails in this quest, returning home a bitter man who realizes a death awaits him. Actually, Gilgamesh's companion, Enkidu, is even better - because when Enkidu died (and he died protecting Gilgamesh) he was dead-dead. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

 

[Umbran]

You have the end of the world in Norse mythology, Ragnarok:

Ragnarök - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Several gods (Odin and Thor included) die in the process of defeating great monsters.

Specifically, the sequence of events of Ragnarok are set off by Loki killing Baldur. Later on, Loki and Heimdall slay each other.

 

[Ktulu]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Requiem-God-Monte-Cook/dp/1588461041]Amazon.com: Requiem for a God (9781588461049): Monte Cook: Books[/ame]
Monte Cook's early 3e Malhavoc Press book, Requiem for a God should be required reading if you're interested in this sort of plot.

It deals with both the event of death, and the aftermath for followers and effects on the world.

 

[Voadam]

You have Odin hanging himself on Yggdrasil dying to gain knowledge of the runes including the one for resurrection. In some versions he passes this knowledge down to humanity and thats how we get rune magic wizards. Of course with the resurrection thing he is personally back in full action.

Ragnarok is a big god death with oblivion for most every god but it is foretold future.

Orphic cults existed based on Orpheus going down to Hades and gaining knowledge when he sought the return of his wife. He died from the maenads I believe (Dionysus' wild women) so he's gone but the lore he brought back from the underwold continues in the cult.

The Birthright setting from TSR, I believe, has the old gods dying fighting to save the world and their divine essence transferred to new ascended gods and the birthright bloodlines.

Chained prometheus is probably the closest you are going to get out of mythology with his chained and tormented punishment for his helping humanity.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Damn, I think everyone of my ideas is already up there.

Only one I can add is Adonis, who is not technically a god. Aphrodite loves him as he is the most perfect and beautiful man ever. But he dies, has his gentials cut off and bleeds to death. But I can't remember who does it to him or why. Still, symbolic of the great marriage, Man and Woman conjoined. etc. I have a feeling Aphrodite gives him new life as a tree or some such.

Although, along similar lines there's loads of sacrificial kings, like the King of the Golden Bough (Roman tradition) who stand in as representatives of the god and who become sacrifices to that god. A similar theme to Odin's hanging himself on Yggdrasil, "I sacrifice myself to myself" in the Eddas IIRC.

Pretty much all the 'dead gods' myths involve the dead one returning to life with special magical/mystical knowledge that benefits the world.

Oh, there's a fella called Tammuz. A Phrygian god? I don't know the details but he's always listed with Osiris, Adonis, Dionysius as one of the dead and risen types. They're usually associated with the turning of the seasons, the death of one year and the birth of the new with renewed life.