Is the oldest profession prostitute or preacher?

Doesn't it already have churches? :gotmyatte

Is the oldest profession prostitute or preacher? It can't be politician. :scratchhe

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

Shaman.

Btw. My all Paladin team wasn't even able to do the brothel quests, for some reason the paladins couldn't use the brothel's services.

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

Preacher, Witch Doctor, it's all the same: Cleric. (Even if they can't write.)

I wonder why Hunter, Gatherer, Warrior and Farmer aren't considered "professions". :scratchhe

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

Politician is the oldest proffession, even before clergy and even before God(s), everyone should know this.

God (or Gods depending on your thoughts) created llght, life and form, out of chaos.

Who do you think created the chaos?? POLITICIANS!

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

They are directly linked with the actual food gathering process, just like any grazing animal. The “professions” are those that can procure their food supply, without actually taking part in the food gathering process. I.e. Those whose services are considered so valuable that the rest of the community will provide their food.

There is no doubt that women have always used their womanly means/sexual favors as means to an end, but the usefulness of a fulltime whore to a hunter-gatherer community is questionable.

A shaman as walking memory (knows where the best hunting/gathering grounds are) of said community, would be much more useful. Especially since most (known) h-g cultures tend to have rather lax sexual norms.

As mentioned a sage/shaman would have been more useful to h-g group that a fulltime politician. Most likely the shamans learned that knowledge is power and started to wield that power and thus became more and more “politicians”, until those two professions derived as separate professions.

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

A good definition of a professional. But I still think of agricultural pursuits as being professions once there is differentiation of labor, but perhaps I am just a closet socialist.

To fulfill the neeeds of those who don't have wives. Hence, they are the oldest profession.

Wives are not whores (necessarily), they are part of a partnership. They don't stay at home during the day. A husband isn't going to to be pleased if the children he provides for aren't his own, so whores would not be suitable wives. This is true now.

I'm going to express my belief that sexual needs and the desire for physical companionship trump the need for a walking pool of knowledge. Hence Shamans would be the second oldest profession.

I would think that a group would have a leader before it would have whores, shamans and other "layabouts". But a natural choice for leader would be a successful food gatherer, and therefore not a "professional".

I think a leader that doesn't "work" at another profession wouldn't be supported until a later (higher?) level of social organization.

I'm not sure the biggest, meanest guy would be supported by a group very long unless he contributed to the group's well being. He would be easy to dispose of, if he didn't. Professional warriors wouldn't come along until there was something that posed that much of a threat. Even nowadays, most warriors have regular jobs.

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

There WERE other animals...

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

Didn't Medusa turn a trick with Poseidon in Athena's temple long before the Adam and Eve idea came along?

Oops, I always get it mixed up.

Previous civilization's beliefs equal myths, newer or current beliefs equal religions.

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

The Adam and Eve thing is pretty old, under various names. Whenever I read a story repeated in multiple religions, I wander what I'm being told.

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

Most likely those women also took part in the different forms of food gathering and did not survive by just rendering their services. Thus they weren’t “professionals”.

It is not certain how old the marriage institution is, but it is most likely that the early hunter-gatherers practiced a number of polyandry/polygamists relations (like some of the still existing h-g tribes). In those societies the males can never be sure which of the children are actually their own, thus forcing them to take care all of them, as their own.

I disagree. Walking memory and (a link to the hereafter) is far more important to the survival of the entire tribe than a woman who is willing to trade some bananas to pleasure. Especially since men are known time to time to satisfy their needs with women, with or without the consent of said woman.

Correct.

The Judeo-Christian lore outdates the Greek myths by millennia. Although the Judeo-Christian myths oldest (genesis) parts are copied/borrowed by a lot older monotheistic religion: the Zoroastrianism. The myth of the flood and Noah is in turn borrowed from Assyrian/Babylonian lore and the rather recent part: law of Moses was borrowed from a guy called Hammurabi (or the Hammurabi was five hundred years before his time). So which is myth and which is religion?

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

I think it's difficult to know just how old Judaism's, or others, specific beliefs are, or just how old the religion is, as its first writings date back only to the 5th century BCE. Zoroastrianism is certainly not much older, and is maybe much younger, as it dates to the 7th century BCE. The Greek myths are also very old, dating back to at least the Indo-European invasions (c. 1800 BCE). Also, it's difficult to follow the exact development of all these religions until written texts were produced.

Speaking of this time period, it reminds me of one of my favorite novels, "Creation", by Gore Vidal, which follows the life of a (fictional?) grandson of Zoroaster, who travels the ancient world as an ambassador of Darius, and meets a number of historic figures, including a very young Socrates, Confucius, the Assyrian king Darius, maybe the Buddha (it's been a while) and others.

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

Correct. But that is how we historians date things. The first time there is any written evidence of one thing that time is considered as the beginning of said thing. Of course it MAY be older than that, but that cannot be proven. It is the way we can avoid the never ending debates of which came first. We leave it to the archeologists and carbon daters.

Zoroastrianism is probably not that much (or even any) older than Judaism since its origins lay sometime between 1400bc – 600bc. But it is the Oldest monotheistic religion. Early Jews recognized that more than one god exists; they themselves just worshiped Jahve as their only god, since he was the god that they had made a convent with. Other peoples of course had their own gods. When the Jews got in contact with the Zoroastrians they adopted the notion of one true god and the falseness of any other “false idol”.

Ἡσίοδος was the first one to write down those myths in the 6th century bc, so those myths are not older.

Exactly.

Never heard of that book, I’ll have to add it in my must read list. Btw. Most likely the specific grandson is fictional (though I do not know whether Zoroaster had offspring).

 

Re: Of Paladins and Prostitutes

I studied classics at university many years ago, so I recognize the ancient greek form of Hesiod : ) I never did anything with my classics training afterwards, but the period still holds interest for me.