The Ancient Alien Question by Philip Coppens Page B

are hundreds of examples in Greek mythology of a Greek god falling madly in love with a woman. Zeus, the king of the Greek pantheon, married six times and had numerous affairs with mortal women, including Semele, the outcome of which was the famous Dionysus. Another of Zeus’s divine affairs was with Alcmene, resulting in the birth of Hercules. According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses , her labor lasted seven days and she had great difficulty giving birth to such a large child.
The Greek myths are usually taken as allegorical, whereas the Bible is often used for more literal interpretations. The Nephilim, as “fallen,” have been identified with the Greek Grigori, or the Watchers of Book of Enoch fame, and have led scholars to argue that the Nephilim/Watchers/Grigori/sons of God are fallenangels—otherworldly creatures that ended up living on planet Earth after a dispute with God (or someone who went down on paper as God, but might not have been the Almighty).
There are other interpretations of this passage, such as the one held by St. Augustine in the fourth century, which argued that “sons of God” referred to the line of Seth, while “daughters of men” referred to the line of Cain—two biblical patriarchs. Still others interpret “sons of God” as meaning a line of priests—men in the service of God.
Other parts of the Bible also suggest there were indeed giants living on the Earth. Genesis 14 and Deuteronomy 2 speak of two tribes, the Rephaim and the Anakim. The Anakim were directly connected with the Nephilim, and were said to be descended from a giant named Anak. In Numbers 13:33, it is said that this tribe was so tall that spies who were sent in felt like “grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” Moses is said to have killed Og, king of the Rephaim and “the last of the remnant of the giants,” according to Deuteronomy 3. Og had a bed nine cubits long, which, depending on which cubit was used, measured between 13.5 and 15.5 feet. And we are all familiar with the story of David fighting Goliath, who was about 9 feet tall. In 2 Samuel 21:20 and 1 Chronicles 20:6 we read of “still another battle, which took place at Gath,” where “there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all,” showing that these giants were clearly described as being largely human, but having a much larger size, plus extra fingers and toes. But the giants were clearly of flesh and blood, as many episodes of the Old Testament detail how the Israelites came upon many of these giants in Canaan and killed most of them, thus claiming the land of Israel as their own.
In isolation, the passage from Genesis 6 could indeed mean anything, and could be interpreted literally or symbolically. But placed in a larger context, it is clear that references to nonhuman or superhuman creatures breeding with human women isa common theme throughout many myths and legends. One can argue that all of these should be seen in a symbolic manner, but it is equally valid to argue that they should be interpreted literally.
    Biblical Longevity
One of the more intriguing aspects of the Bible is the list of prediluvian patriarchs and their ages. Methuselah, for example, was said to have lived to the impressive age of 969 years, though “the First Man,” Adam, lived for a solid 930 years—respectable for any prototype.
Detailed recordkeeping of people’s dates of birth and death is a relatively recent—and still largely Western—practice. But from the available records, it is clear that humankind’s age limit seems to lie somewhere between 115 and 120 years—however few attain it. The oldest attested person on record is the French Jeanne Calment, who lived to be 122 years and 164 days, born as she was on February 21, 1875, and dying on August 4, 1997. Interestingly, this outside limit is on par with what is said in Genesis 6:3, “his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”
The list of biblical