Compare And Contrast Nu Kung And Izanami

1532 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Femininity in greek mythology

Lesly Marroquin
ASST 104 Fall 2015
Essay 2

One main purpose of mythology is to provide explanation and origin to natural phenomenon. This function served to explain unknown concepts considering the lack of technology and scientific reasoning. This function also provided significance to the phenomenon because it connects anomalies to important divine beings from specific traditions. The myths, Nu Kua Marries Her Brother and Izanagi and Izanami focus on explaining creation achieved by celestial beings from ancient Chinese and Japanese traditions. Nu Kua Marries Her Brother focuses on explaining the creation of humanity through the marriage of siblings. The myth also presents ideal gender roles, emphasizing Nu Kua’s role as a female divinity. Additionally the ancient Chinese myth demonstrates the significance of the creation and …show more content…

The ancient Chinese and Japanese myths also focus on exploring gender roles, and the pattern between creation and destruction. Even though both mythologies condone incest for the purpose of creation, each myth explains something different. The ancient Chinese myth explains the creation of humanity, while the ancient Japanese myth explains the creation of spirits and the islands of Japan. Looking at the myths’ depictions of gender roles, Izanagi and Izanami had clear demonstrations of gender roles for both genders. Nu Kua Marries Her Brother only focused on Nu Kua’s role. Lastly, when looking at both myths representations of creation and destruction, they are incredibly similar. The mild difference being that Nu Kua Marries Her Brother follows the pattern of having destruction follow creation. In conclusion, both Nu Kua Marries Her Brother and Izanagi and Izanami share similarities in providing explanations of creations, demonstrating clear gender roles, and exploring the pattern between creation and

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Enuma Elish And The Mayan Creation Myth

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most cultures have a creation myth, a story of how humans came to exist in the world. Often, they involve Gods of some capacity who exist without much question or explanation. Many myths have a common idea for the origin of the world, like Earth being born from water, a golden egg, or a great monster. The Mayan creation myth and the Babylonian creation myth are similar in that they both begin with water, and account the creation and purpose of man. They also differ, as the Mayan Popol Vuh chronicles a peaceful tale of trials to forge the Earth and sentient beings to worship the gods, while the Babylonian Enuma Elish tells of wars between gods that lead to the creation of Earth and of man as a servant to the gods.

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in Greek Mythology

    429 Words  | 1 Pages

    In considering the relationship between the meanings of myths and their representation of women, we learned that the major role in shaping the narratives was played by men.

    Read More

  • Comparing Creation Myths

    296 Words  | 1 Pages

    Two closely related creation myths come from the Chinese and Japanese. Their geographical ties and trading patterns forged a link. Both share the symbolism of the egg as part an old creation myth. In the Japanese version of the myth, the two gods that were first formed, made love to each other many times and each time a new god of something was born, such as islands, wind and fire. Izam, the female finally died and the creation of other gods was put to a halt. The pattern used here was from nothing to everything, and from the birth of gods to the halt of the creation, when Izam dies.

    Read More

  • Comparing Gilgamesh Epic, Nile-Documents, And Hymn

    1771 Words  | 4 Pages

    Creation stories have profound effects on humans. Those associated with ancient cultures/civilizations aim to ensure the successful survival or well-being of themselves and that particular culture/civilization of their association, but not all are beneficial, prosperous, or fortunate. Mesopotamia’s “The Gilgamesh Epic”, Egypt’s “Hymn to the Nile-Documents”, and Mesoamerica’s Mayan and Aztec creation stories/religion are influential to establishing significant relationships within society, whether that is between humans and nature or humans and their “god(s).”

    Read More

  • Myth Vs Greek Mythology

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every ancient society and civilization has creation myths that were passed down and keep alive throughout the passing of time by word of mouth. These myths are the world’s oldest stories and are vital to these cultures because they explain their beginnings and give purpose to their existence. By analyzing and interpreting different creation myths it becomes easier to understand different cultures and their connections and relationships with heir beliefs and god(s).

    Read More

  • Enuma Elish Tiamat's Transformation Analysis

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Enuma Elish myth begins with gender equality, with both sexes, contributing equally to the creation of the gods. However, throughout the myth there is a continuous battle between the feminine and the masculine roles. Ultimately, the masculine role wins the battle with the feminine role, Tiamat, paying for it with her life. Tiamat’s transformation is the basis of this struggle between the traditional feminine and masculine roles. Tiamat’s main transition is from motherly into monstrous. When Tiamat fails to meet her role as a wife and a mother she is transformed into an evil figure meant to be hated. In the conclusion of the myth, Tiamat’s body is used in creation by Murduk. This shows how femininity and masculinity both have a place in creation myths.

    Read More

  • Comparisons of Creation Myths

    2080 Words  | 5 Pages

    Adam and Eve of Genesis and Izanagi and sister Izanami of Shintoism provide examples of myths that share both a passive and active pair of people who eventually create the Earth's population. In any case, certain popular creation myths, some closely tied to prominent religions, share more common characteristics than others. An entire sub-study, called comparative mythology, gives insight into this subject. Through studies such as comparative mythology, researchers and philosophers have discovered hundreds of parallels between the myths that make up every culture, including their creation myths. As most are deeply rooted in religion, comparisons based on geographic area, themes, and similar story lines emerge as religions form and migrate.

    Read More

  • Essay

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hesiod’s Theogony and the Babylonian Enuma Elish are both myths that begin as creation myths, explaining how the universe and, later on, humans came to be. These types of myths exist in every culture and, while the account of creation in Hesiod’s Theogony and the Enuma Elish share many similarities, the two myths differ in many ways as well. Both myths begin creation from where the universe is a formless state, from which the primordial gods emerge. The idea of the earth and sky beginning as one and then being separated is also expressed in both myths.

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing Greek Creation Myth And World On A Turtle's Back

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    The strange Greeks’ creation myth compares but also contrasts with the twisting storyline of the Iroquois’ creation myth. From creating the world from a piece of dirt and a turtle’s back, to giving birth to the earth, sea, and sky, these myths both include interesting stories and tales. The characters of the Greek creation myth are somewhat similar to those of the Iroquois’ myth, however, the story and explanations of them both differ greatly.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Japanese Culture

    2940 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the primordial times of the Heian period, Japan procured and practiced matrilineal systems within their isolated society for over 2,000 years. During the Heian period, situated in 12th century A.D., women were given the privileged of inheriting, managing, and retaining property of their own (Kumar, 2011). It was not until Japanese culture adopted the Confucian ideas of China that the society began to integrate a patriarchal system. Confucian ideals had a prominently drastic impact and influence in Japanese society. The Confucian ethical system stressed the utopian idea of a society in which a hierarchal structure is maintained. The hierarchal structure’s foundation is based upon the subservient and submissive idea of subordinates’ obedi...

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Chinese and Japanese Mythology

    2969 Words  | 6 Pages

    Classic Chinese and classic Japanese mythology are quite similar, in fact, they have more commonalities than differences. As examples, one can compare and contrast the two mythologies in terms of characters, form and structure, creation myths, and mythology’s relevance to life. Animals and dragons also appear repeatedly in Chinese and Japanese mythology. In this paper it will be shown that Chinese and Japanese mythologies are more similar than different.

    Read More

  • Maori Myth, 'The Creation Cycle'

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    These human attributes bring to being mother earth and father sky in the form of Father Rangi and Mother Papa who were joined together in eternal darkness by their love for each other. This aspect is similar to other myths in that the male and female Gods of origin join together to make earth and sky and their offspring become aspects of the weather, seasons of the year and various plant and animal life that ultimately sustain life for humans that were created by the children of the original beings. Another similarity that this myth has with others is a flood story where the tears of Rangi flood the earth and create the rivers and seas because he was forcefully separated from Papa in order to bring light to the earth.

    Read More

  • The Myths of Creation

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    When the modern person ponders the formation of human beings, our mind automatically goes to Adam and Eve, whom were the first man and woman created by God according to the Book of Genesis. Before there was Adam and Eve, diverse cultures came up with myths about the construction of humans. These myths included: “The Song of Creation” from the Rig Veda, An African Creation Tale, From the Popol Vuh, and A Native American Creation Tale “How Man Was Created” Each one of these legends gives a diverse perspective on the creation of human beings.

    Read More

  • EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

    2116 Words  | 5 Pages

    Mythology is defined as a collection of interrelated stories of a given culture. Myths are intended to explain and describe the mysteries of nature and give understanding about the world that surrounds us. Each culture has their own mythology that reflects their values and beliefs. Myths were also generated to tell the story of the first people to inhabit the earth. The Egyptian mythology elevated these people to the level of Gods and Goddesses by giving them supernatural and special powers. These myths of creation were passed from one generation to the next, either orally or by hieroglyphs painted in sacred temples, pyramids, and sanctuaries.

    Read More

  • Greek Mythology Reflection Paper

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout studying many myths, I came up with many new observations. Many questions came into my mind about these myths. Greek mythology takes us back to a time when people had a connection with nature and when nature played a major role in people’s lives. The religious beliefs of the people who wrote the myths are found in the background of these myths; however, they are not to be read like religious texts. The myths try to offer explanations of “how”, which makes us think deeply about the purpose of these myths and the questions they draw to our minds. According to the myths we studied in class, the world created the gods, not the other way around. The gods were always created in the image of man, which shows how much men were important in their society. Furthermore, many of these Greek myths show us the difference between the views of the Greek then and our view towards many aspects of the society, including nature. Monsters appear in Greek myths and have different representations and roles. Greek mythology reflects a view of the Greeks towards the world and how certain aspects of their lives are similar and different to modern society.

    Read More

More about Compare And Contrast Nu Kung And Izanami

Open Document