Greek Gods in Family Line
While tracing my family live, I came across some Italian nobles, and they understandably traced their lineage to Greek gods and heroes. One example of this is https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/G8SY-1N9 , Prometheus, though there are many others like it. Is there any way to get these mythical individuals deleted?
Comments
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Bryant
Welcome to the "Community.FamilySearch" Forum.
I am just another 'lowly' User/Patron ...
Question: WHY?
They may be "Mythical", and, fanciful; but, they are not "Offensive".
Why not just leave them there?
Especially, if they are NOT linked/connected (ie. associated) with one's "Ancestral" Lines.
They actually pose some 'light' relief.
Personally; as, they are NOT "Offensive", I would humbly request, that such are NOT "Deleted"/"Removed".
Each to their own ...
Just my thoughts.
Brett
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I thought there would be a near consensus that fake and fictional information and people do not belong in the FSFT. I am very surprised to hear a very experienced contributor to this forum suggest otherwise. I also would have thought that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints would have been very concerned about the impact of false genealogical information on LDS ordinances.
I note that this help article: https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-delete-a-person-from-family-tree says the people who never existed can be deleted by making a request to FS Support. Since Support has been replaced by this forum, I am hereby making a request to FS that PID G8SY-1N9 be immediately deleted. I look forward to hearing a response from a FS Staff member.
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Like it or not ...
There is always some truth behind myths and legends ...
And, from the "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien" ...
“After all, I believe that legends and myths are largely made of 'truth', and indeed present aspects of it that can only be received in this mode; and long ago certain truths and modes of this kind were discovered and must always reappear.”
There are plenty of Books (some of them well researched) about myths and legends.
I can name ONE in particular; but, will not.
How do you personally know, that they did not really exist?
What proof, do you have, they they did not?
It is hard enough, in some cases, getting proof, that some real People ever existed.
Even TODAY, there are People, that are, Born; Married; and, Died; and, their, Birth; Marriage; and, Death, is NOT "Officially" recorded.
Should the likes, of such aforementioned People, also be "Deleted"/"Removed", from "Family Tree", of 'FamilySearch'?
In an "Ancestral" Line of my Wife, in the 1860's, when and where 'Civil Registration' existed, there was an Infant Girl, who Died at Three (x3) Weeks of Age, whose Birth and Death was NEVER "Officially" recorded. Her Father was a "Lighthouse Keeper" on a small Island. By, pure fate (we believe, more than that), in a chance meeting is a (State) Library, I was talking with another researching their Genealogy/Family History. During our discussions, I advised, that as far as we were aware, NO Family member was ever Born or Died on the Island, during the Father's term as a "Lighthouse Keeper". When, I advised of the 'Family Name', the other person, was silent for a moment; and, then stated, that they had a Photograph of a Cemetery, at the "Lighthouse", on the Island (which only has about x16 Graves); and, as, far as they could recall, the "Headstone" in the centre of that Photograph was that 'Family Name'; and, may have been a Child. 'Lo and Behold', a short time later, they sent us a "Copy" of that Photograph - there was the "Headstone" of the Three (x3) Week old Infant Girl. The "Registry of Births, Deaths and, Marriages", for that State, refused to "Belatedly" register the Infants, Birth; and/or, Death, despite the "Headstone"; as, there was NO "Official" Record. As far as can be ascertained, there is NOT even a record in the "Log Books" of the "Lighthouse".
Should that Infant Child, be "Deleted"/"Removed", from "Family Tree", of "FamilySearch'? - Of course, NOT.
That Said ...
I totally agree, that 'nonsensical' creatures (eg. "Micky Mouse", "Donald Duck"; "Scooby Doo"; and, the like); and, those individuals/persons that can be proven to have been "Entered" in Error (as, I have found a number, myself), that did not exist, should be "Deleted"/"Removed", from "Family Tree", of "FamilySearch'.
But. I do not agree, that the particular case in point, needs to be "Deleted"/"Removed", from "Family Tree", of "FamilySearch'.
As, I have a somewhat, "Open Mind" ...
I have some "Ancestral" Lines (Royal; and, Noble), that are well researched, that go all the way back ...
Should, the latter part, of those "Ancestral" Lines, NOT be recorded; and, or "Deleted"/"Removed"? ... NO.
So ...
As you have done ...
Accordingly, to the contrary ...
I hereby formally "Request", that the individual/person, subject to this post ( G8SY-1N9 ), NOT be "Deleted"/"Removed", from "Family Tree", of "FamilySearch'.
Unfortunately, to 'appease' the doubters/sceptics/cynics, it most likely will be "Deleted"/"Removed".
That would be, Sad; and, Disappointing ...
Brett
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Your comment goes off on a tangent. I am not saying that only written sources are valid. Oral sources and headstones are valid. And I would tend to agree that myths and legends tend to always have a kernel of truth. But all sources must be evaluated for accuracy, and Greek mythology does not stand up to scrutiny. If we were to take the example of the Trojan war, the sources about that were written many hundreds of years later. Even the most accurate oral traditions tend to have been misremembered or embellished after that long. Therefore the consensus of historians today is that the Trojan war happened, but not in the way the legends say. Figures mentioned in the legends are probably composites of different historical figures. And even if they were true, there's no reliable genealogy to connect them to later generations for who there are reliable sources.
Imagine a society where people were only now putting pen to paper and writing about Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther, Henry VIII and other events from around that time. Do you think they would have remembered those events correctly and without exaggeration or bias?
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I am not saying I do not believe these mythical individuals are not based on true events; rather, the closest undeniably real people in the line are very clearly not their descendants. I have one Anglo-Saxon ruler in my family line, for instance, that claims that they are the Grandson of "Odin, King of the skies... blah blah blah." I know that this is a false claim, and as has been stated, I want to help FamilySearch become "a record fit to present" to those who have interest in it.
I believe there is a lot of value in mythology, and, as you said, we should not discount the existence of individuals. However, I can say for a fact that these names are misplaced, and do not provide any historical edification by there existence. Honestly, it feels like a joke someone added to the tree at some point in time. As you said, it provides laughs, and maybe we can put the claimed heritage in the descriptions of the real individuals, but we want to keep this record as accurate as we can.
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