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Comparing the creation narratives
Genealogy of hesiod's theogony
Comparing the creation narratives
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We’re all interested in understanding our place in the world around us; the roots of our existence, and how we fit into the world around us. In ancient Greece, the ideology was the same. While looking for answers, mythology, or more specifically myth, was born. Ancient Greek lives were then affected by Hesiod’s Theogony, as it depicted their relations to the gods and to the universe itself. Hesiod’s Theogony is about everything, but most particularly about the creation, or the birth, of the Gods (as implied by the title). The birth of the Gods, in cosmic order, starts with Chaos, then Gaia, then Tartaros and Eros. First in the order is Chaos, known in Greek as the “abyss” or the initial void, the source out of which everything was created.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, the tensions within a family seem to be an intensified version of issues that are relatable to people. The results of these tensions are also dramatic and have a tendency to have a fulfillment of the fears that were causing the tensions as a result. This implies that there is a natural cycle of destruction between father and son. Tension seems to arise with the implication of the woman’s creative nature juxtaposed to the destructive nature of her husband.
A myth is a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. Each civilization has its myths about the creation of the world and its human race. Most speak of “gods” who perform feats far beyond that of humankind. Most are legends passed down through oral tradition, and embellished along the way. The book of Genesis is one of the most significant books in the Bible and is sacred scripture for Jews, Samaritans, and Christians. The Babylonian epic, Enuma Elish, is one of the most important sources for understanding the Babylonian worldview. Hesiod’s Theogony is a poem describing the origins and genealogies of
While reading the works of Hesiod, it is impossible not to notice the way that women are characterized and discussed. In his two major poems, the Theogony and Works and Days, he makes no attempt to make his contempt and abhorrence of the female sex a secret. In Works and Days, Hesiod includes the story of Pandora – a woman created by the Greek gods meant as a punishment for the human race – in his discourse to his brother, Perses. The Theogony – through an account of the creation of the universe and the origins of all the gods – presents depictions of women as monstrous and wicked. The negative and misogynist views of women exhibited in Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days give insight into the similar views of women that existed in ancient
Branscome, David, comp. "Greek Hesiod, Theogony, Lines 1-210 "invocation to the Muses and Creation" [Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Tr. Hesiod, Theogony and Works and Days. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.]." Ancient Mythology East and West. Print.
Roman and Greek mythology are filled with multiple interpretations of how the creator, be it the gods or nature, contributed to the birth of the world. These stories draw the backgrounds of the gods and goddesses that govern much of classical mythology. Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Hesiod’s Theogony are two pieces of work that account for how our universe came to be. A comparison of Theogony with Metamorphoses reveals that Hesiod’s creation story portrays the deities as omnipresent, powerful role whose actions triggered the beginning of the universe whereas in Metamorphoses, the deities do not play a significant role; rather the humans are center of the creation. The similarities and differences are evident in the construction of the universe, ages of man, and the creation of men and women on earth.
Hesiod writes his Theogony within the context of the nascent polis, which informs his conception of the Greek pantheon. The generations of gods that he portrays begin with the elements of nature and move steadily toward fully anthropomorphic figures, which represent elements corresponding to the experience of the city-state. In Hesiod’s time, the polis was led by a king, or kings, and the rule of Zeus that Hesiod portrays serves as an example of royal rule for them.
Hesiod tells the story of how the curse of Pandora came to be in his writing. In his two works Hesiod, Works and Days and Hesiod, Theogony that contain the story of Pandora are both writing in a slightly different perspective. However, at the end both have the same meaning to them. That Zeus created women as a punishment for men. In developing this meaning in both poems Hesiod uses a few different things in each story as oppose to telling the same story for both. Hesiod, Works and Days and Hesiod Theogony have the same meaning and most of the same plot but different in some aspects.
It is ironic that the entity in existence was the being called Chaos, for although it's Greek translation is Chasm, or emptiness, I believe that chaos and disorder will be their fate if the gods continue this eternal cycle of increasing self destructive behavior. All of this, however, was created as through the beliefs and imagination of Hesiod. Historians and mythologists still can not concretely separate, in his two stories, the Theogony and the Works and Days, which parts were of his imagination and which were not; it is therefore difficult to determine what the author's overall message was to the readers. It is possible that Hesiod wrote these stories in order to discredit the gods with gossip of their alleged human-like violence and sexual transgressions.
The role of women in Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days is outstandingly subordinate. There are a number of times in Hesiod's text that despises women, being mortal, immortal, or flesh-eating monsters. The overall impression of women from Theogony and Works and Days, leads one to believe that Hesiod is a misogynist.
Everything in life today can be traced back to some point that has previous taken place or related to a concept in life. Through the study of Mythology this semester,
In Hesiod’s Theogony, the Muses, which are the nine singing goddesses who he came across one day while taking care of his lambs, serve as a guide to the poet’s genealogy and organization of the origins of the gods by inspiring him to write down the lineage as they sing it. Using their angelic voices, the Muses presented Hesiod with the history of the cosmos in order. Thus, inspiring him to become a poet; he made this major change in his life and that resulted in Theogony, a chronological poem that consists of short life lessons, punishments, and roots of many Greek gods and goddesses. In this poem, Hesiod described these accounts as songs, when in fact, they were long verbal stories of how the gods of Olympus came to be. The sole purpose of
Medea has just killed four people which are Creon the king of Corinth, the princess whom Jason is in love with, and her two little children. Jason then prays to gods, especially Zeus, father of all gods, to punish Medea for her crimes. From the context of the quote, the chorus is addressing the audience about the unexpected and unbelievable end of the play. Medea then gets away to Athens with a chariot lent to her by Helios, the sun god and her grandfather.
There are many gods that play a role in the Aeneid. The main ones are Jupiter, king of all deities, Juno the divine antagonist of Aeneas’ destiny and Venus, his mother and his main protector. There are also the lesser gods such as Neptune, Aeolus, and Mercury, who serve as instruments for the main gods to meddle in the events of the story.
The worldview of the Ancient greeks can be seen in works such as the Iliad. In the Iliad, written by Homer, we can see a world that is driven by heroics. The gods and fate controlled everything, and humans
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.