Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Folklor/Edebiyat, cilt.31, sa.121, ss.1-22, 2025 (ESCI)
While today’s rational individuals, who evaluate everything through the lens of science, attribute the developments within the scope of civilization to the intelligence, curiosity, talent, and efforts of inventors and scientists, ancient humanity ascribed all such advancements to pantheons, nature spirits, demonic beings, sacred animals and plants, and first (or original) ancestors. According to ancient beliefs, these “higher” individuals who could have mystical experiences were merely intermediaries or transmitters in the process of civilization. Supernatural beings, who desired humanity’s progress and development, transmitted knowledge and technology to their chosen individuals through various means (inspiration, dreams, etc.), who, in turn, shared the knowledge and technology they acquired with others. These “heroes of culture,” who appear as supernatural beings in mythological narratives, gradually transformed into human and animal figures over time. Religious thought further reshaped these cultural heroes into prophets, saints, and guardians. The age of reason and scientific knowledge dismissed myth and taught humanity that whatever is cultural or civilizational is the product of human imperatives, reason, interests, desires, ambitions, and skills, while still acknowledging the role of climate and the environment. However, this rational and enlightened perspective could not completely eradicate the older approaches centered on myth and religion. Belief systems centered on God, prophets, guardians, and saints have persisted to the present day under the influence of religion. Additionally, a new approach has emerged, which secularizes these myth- and religion-oriented perspectives of ancient humanity and interprets the narratives of myths and religions regarding the civilization process by connecting them to extraterrestrials (ancient aliens) through heroes and symbols. In this study, we seek to explain how the civilizing archetype, expressed in the myths and religious narratives of ancient humanity, has been secularized by proponents of this modern approach, known as the “ancient alien theory,” using scientific arguments. We also examine how they develop their claims by interpreting various narratives and symbols. This study concludes that the belief in civilization being brought to humanity by supernatural beings has somehow persisted despite the dominance of reason and scientific knowledge. It argues that the ancient alien theory represents a secularized version of the “cultural hero” archetype and that its proponents’ views on human reason and capability are not fundamentally different from ancient perspectives, which portrayed humans as entirely passive in the presence of supernatural beings and gods.