From: odysseus1479-at@yahoo-dot.ca   
      
   Arnold Neumaier wrote:   
   >   
   > I vaguely remember old Germanic, Greek and Japanese stories in which   
   > some people spent some short time with the Gods, and upon returning to   
   > mankind, they find that centuries had passed.   
   >   
   > But I have no idea how I could locate such stories.   
   >   
   Loss of time while in 'supernatural' company is quite a common theme   
   in Celtic stories involving the world of Faery -- there may be some   
   such in the _Mabinogion_. A more modern example that comes to mind is   
   Washington Irving's "Rip van Winkle", although in that case the   
   protagonist loses 'only' twenty years in a night's sleep. Offhand I   
   can't think of any particularly relevant classical myths.   
      
   --   
   Odysseus   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)