Duckburg Religion - Ancient Religions

Egyptian religion

We find several references to Egyptian religion. In "The Mummy's Ring" (OS 29-01) the Duck's encounter a cult practising traditional Egyptian religion (see "Bad Luck and Curses"). Don Rosa uses Egyptian religion twice. In "Guardians of the Lost Library" (D 92380) they find Cleopatra's tomb while trying to find the origin of the "Junior Woodchucks Guidebook". On top of the grave is built a new temple for the god Foot Ball (soccer).
Arabian nights Later, in "The Crocodile Collector" (AR 125) the Duck's find a crocodile in a temple built for crocodile worship. The crocodile was thought to be extinct until Scrooge see its markings on Daisy's handbag. This crocodile species had probably been hunted by the Egyptian muslims, who thought the crocodile is evil.

Greek and Roman religion

Mythological kidnapping Greek mythology is another popular mythology in the stories about life in Duckburg. One of my favourite stories is "The Golden Fleecing" (US 12-02), where Scrooge wants a coat made from the golden fleece. While trying to get hold of the fleece, he has to decide what Larkie is the best (or rather least poor) cook. He finally finds the fleece, but has to use some of it to make the dragon who is guarding it sleep. The coat is, btw., the "the coldest contaption I ever had on my back!" Ares, the god of war, is also mentioned in this story.
More interesting to a theologian is "The Treasury of Croesus" (D 94012). The Artemis temple (Artemis worship is mentioned in Acts 19:23-40) was, according to Scrooge, built by king Croesos. King Croesos worshipped Mammon, just like Scrooge. We also see Hagia Sofia, which is a church converted to a mosque. The mosque is more or less pictured as a museum, just like the Duckburg minster.
Some other gods and mythological creatures are also used in duck stories. Hercules (not the Disney animation character) who was the son of Zeus and an earthly woman is mentioned in "Instant Hercules" (WDC 292-01), "Biceps Blues" (WDC 69), and "Finny Fun" (US 39-04). Zevs himself is mentioned in "For Old Dime's Sake" (US 43-01). In "The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone" (US 10-02) the ducks find the maze the minotaur was kept in. The monster was, according to the myth, killed by Theseus. The Cyclops from the stories about Ulysses (Odysseus) are mentioned in "Oddball Odyssey" (US 40-02).

There is remarkably little Roman mythology in Barks' and Rosa's stories. In "Finny Fun" (US 39-04) Gyro dresses as Neptune and uses whales named after Greek and Roman gods (Monstro, Titan, Hercules and Atlas) to pull his vehicle.