Good
and evil are two opposite poles that are present in an uneasy
equilibrium, in many mythologies. The good and evil is most
obvious in the form of the presence of a rift between gods and
demons. It is so often in many cultures that good and evil take
on the opposites of light and dark. The Egyptians believed that
the sun god, Ra, travelled the sky during the day when it was
light. In the night, he would travel the underworld, and would
always be attacked by the evil serpent, Apep.
It is through
this basis that many other tales were built upon. The sky is
often seen as the good, while the underground regions are regarded
as evil, another clear indication of the eternal struggle, where
the battlefield is the Earth. This sort of conflict is especially
evident in Indian mythology, in the epics called the Ramayana
and the Mahabharata. The Ramayana concerns the evil demon god,
Ravana, who eventually captures the wife of the hero, Rama.
The battle that ensues happens entirely on earth, but Rama is
in fact an incarnation of the supreme god, Vishnu, and thus
provides a very good example in which the battle between the
gods is carried out in the human world.
There
is no coherent distinction between good and evil across all
cultures, no clear definition that classifies the evil as being
evil. If we were to recall the abstract idea of chaos, which
preceded the creation of the universe, we would notice that
evil, in cultures that believed in this sort of cosmology, was
very often seen as the force that tried to return the world
to its state of chaos. This can be seen in Norse mythology,
where the forces of darkness continuously assail the world tree,
trying to bring its downfall. Norse mythology is discussed again
later.
In many
cultures, especially Oriental cultures, evil can also be seen
as the spirits of the mortal world who attempt to attain immortality,
by means that are in no way good. Chinese folklore tells of
many of these tales, where various spirits such as that of snakes
and foxes garner spirits of human beings, eventually hoping
to use the power of the spirits to attain immortality. It also
tells of spirits who tried to steal the peaches of immortality
in heaven.
In other
occasions, good and evil can often be considered as the gods,
and those against them. At other times, the war itself might
be within the classes of good and evil itself, between the two
internal 
parties,
each having a slightly different alignment. Greek mythology
itself illustrates very good examples of this.
There were
two classes of gods in the world, the Titans, and later on the
Olympians. Preceding these two classes of gods was the creator,
Gaia. Gaia was the constant agent of change, as she aided the
shift in power from the Titans and Olympians. This shift in
power was carried out by a single war that happened near the
start of time. Since there were no coherent evil forces present
in the Greek Pantheon, unlike many other cultures, the wars
between good and evil were entirely carried out within the classes
of gods.
The Olympians
finally beat the Titans, and later, Gaia was not happy with
the Olympians and tried to wage war against them. In this situation,
the Olympians might have been seen as being on the good side
and they were the rulers of the Earth. Gaia, who was trying
to overturn them, might have been considered as an evil party.
The balance
between good and evil is yet another interesting idea. The Chinese
have the famous symbol of Yin and Yang. The black and white
sections within the circle represent the equilibrium between
good and evil, and the existence of good within evil, and evil
within good. This idea is also repeated in many cultures in
the daily cycles of light and darkness. In this cycle, night
never really overcame day, whilst day never really overcame
night. Yet day-by-day, good fell to evil and evil fell to good.
This idea is reiterated in Norse mythology.
However,
times and cultures often tell of the time when such a balance
is tipped. In Indian mythology, the demons have often overpowered
the gods, and had taken portions of the world. This imbalance
required the intervention of the supreme god Vishnu to come
and restore the previous order.
Norse mythology
is a unique example, which speaks of Ragnarok, the day when
evil would ultimately overtake good. In this case, the tip of
the balance does not last long, as the entire world is eventually
destroyed, after which there is a rebirth. In this case, the
overtaking of the evil might be seen as an instrument of rebirth
and recreation.
It is however
more common in mythologies to tip the balance in favour of the
good. Back to the case of Indian mythology, the supreme god
Vishnu is often able to push back the situation in favour of
the gods. In the stirring of the ocean to produce a potion of
immortality, Vishnu takes the potion and gives it only to the
gods, leaving the demons without any.
To tip
the balance in this way, various cultures have employed different
methods to quell the evil. Even though Greek mythology did not
have a coherent force of darkness, it had its many heroes who
had slain many isolated agents of evil, such as the Hydra and
the Gorgons. The Tibetans have the destroyer of evil, Vajrapani,
who is adept at slaying the evil forces, and to maintain the
tip of the balance in favour of the gods.
However,
many cultures still acknowledge the impossibility of such a
task as to eradicate evil. The Tibetans had a god who was reincarnated
as a human being to battle evil. After 
slaying
the evil in the world, he returned to heaven. However, it is
said that from time to time he would return, for evil would
once again arise.
For sure,
it would be impossible, at any point, to deem good or evil to
have completely taken over anything, for even the Bible tells
of evil arising from within the ranks of angels. In Greek mythology,
Pandora is set upon human beings, as she accidentally releases
all the diseases and sins upon humanity, who were then still
pure. However, all was not lost, as she also released hope:
the good within all the evil that would afflict man.
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The
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