Comparing Enuma Elish and Genesis Since the beginning of time, societies have created stories to explain the mystery of the origin of man and the universe. In the Babylonian text, Enuma Elish and the book of Genesis-which originated in the same part of the world-one finds two very different stories about the creation of man. These two creation stories contrast the two societies that created them: the chaotic lives of servitude of the Babylonians and the lives of the recently freed Jewish people. The gods of Enuma Elish do not seem very "God-like" to a Western reader. These gods are continuously quarreling and feuding and do not seem to be omniscient. In addition, in Tablet 1 we see that the gods are not immortal: "Ea unfastened his belt, took off his crown, Took away his mantle of radiance and put it on himself. He held Apsu down and slew him" (Enuma Elish 12). These gods seem willing to accept leadership from another god as when "they rejoiced, they proclaimed 'Marduk is King'" (Enuma Elish 13)! Though Babylon is where written law was first introduced the government was still despotic. A strong leader and a very unorganized remainder of government characterize the despotism form of government; the disorder that must have existed in Babylonian government is reflected in this story. The God of Genesis is portrayed very differently. God is a forgiving God. One sees this when God states, "of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Genesis 2:17). However, when Adam and Eve do eat the apple-though he does make them mortal-God allows them to live. God also does not strike down Cain. The God of Genesis is also a personable God. God talks directly to the h... ... middle of paper ... ...n. For years they had been subject to the wrath of the Egyptians. Now that the Hebrew people were no longer secondary in society, they produced writing in which they were the focus of attention instead of some other being or beings. The Enuma Elish mirrors the subordinate disordered lives of the Babylonians that created it. Genesis mirrors the newfound freedom and idealism of the Jewish people who created it after years of oppression. These two writings contrast the differences between the ancient Babylonians and the ancient Hebrews. Creation stories give great insight into the lives of the people who created them. Work Cited Dalley, Stephanie, ed. and trans. Myths from Mesopotamia. New York: Oxford UP, 1991. Heidel, Alexander, ed. and trans. The Babylonian Genesis. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1951. The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version.
The Enuma Elish’s emphasis is not on the creation of humanity, but rather on the rise of the sun god Marduk, and how he became the supreme god. Marduk was born of Ea, who was born of the bitter water god Tiamat, and was very powerful. He was enlisted to defeat Tiamat and her monsters in a great war, and agreed on the condition that he will forever remain king of the gods. He defeated Tiamat, tore her body in half and used it to create the Earth and the sky. He is also credited with positioning the constellations to represent the gods, and assigning jobs to the gods who fought on the losing side with Tiamat in the war. He then created man to serve the gods in their defined duties, as it was deemed beneath them to perform such duties. The creation of man as a working servant of the gods established a lower role of humans in the Babylonian society than in that of the Mayans, where the people were created to praise the gods, not serve them through hard
Every place that is mentioned in the poem is a well-known bloody fight in wars that claimed many lives. The opening stanza of the poem is a command from the grass to soldiers at war in Austerlitz and Waterloo to kill as many people as they can and shovel them under the grass so that it has enough history to pile under itself and wipe out all the marks of combat. Austerlitz is a village where on Dec. 2, 1805; Napoleon escorted an outnumbered French army to vic...
Both Danny and Reuven’s view of the world changed forever because of one petty baseball game. Danny used to be terrified to speak to his father, for fear of rejection. He told Reuven that he practically had to win the game, leaving the specific reason up to his friend’s imagination (Potok pg. 71). Danny had grown up knowing his father’s plan for him to be a tzaddik and he had accepted it at a young age. He would have never dared to go against his father’s Hasidic teachings. He had been, in a way, cut off from the real world. All he knew was what his father and church told him. The only way he was able to control his life was when he read. He would often sneak off the library and read books that he knew his father would not approve of. He thought
Like the Greek Theogony, the creation of the world in the Enuma elish begins with the universe in a formless state, from which emerge two primary gods, male and female:
It all began in and around the year 1919. Sula Peace, the daughter of Rekus who died when she was 3years old and Hannah, was a young and lonely girl of wild dreams. Sula was born in the same year as Nel, 1910. Sula was a heavy brown color and had large eyes with a birthmark that resembled a stemmed rose to some and many varied things to others. Nel Wright, the daughter of Helene and Wiley, was and unimaginative girl living in a very strict and manipulated life. Nel was lighter in color than Sula and could have passed for white if she had been a few shades lighter she. A trip to visit her dying great-grandmother in the south had a profound effect on Nel’s life. In many ways the trip made her realize her selfness and look at things around her in a different light, eventually sowing the seeds that initiated the friendship between herself and Sula. The two girls met each other at Garfield Primary School after knowing each other at a distance for over five years. Nel’s mother had told her that she could not interact with Sula because of Sula’s mother sooty ways. The intense and sudden friendship between them which was to last many years was originally cultivated my Nel. The period in history and the mentality of the people in their immediate surroundings played an impressive part in the formulation of the friendship between Sula and Nel. When they first met at school, it was as if they were always destined to be friends.
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
"Sumerian/Babylonian When on HIgh (Enuma Elish) "Creation and Marduk." [Dennis Bratcher, Tr. Http://www.cresourcei.org/enumaelish.html]." Ancient Mythology East and West. Comp. David Branscome. Print.
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.
Anne Bradstreet’s poetry resembles a quiet pond. Her quiet puritan thinking acts as the calm surface that bears a resemblance to her natural values and religious beliefs. Underneath the pond there is an abundance of activity comparable to her becoming the first notable poet in American Literature. Anne Bradstreet did not obtain the first notable poet’s title very easily; she endured sickness, lack of food, and primitive living conditions during her time in the New World. Despite these misfortunes she used her emotions and strong educational background to write extraordinarily well for a woman in that time.
Both the Theogony and the Creation in Genesis show nature as a blessing for humans but with negative affects, However the myths differ in the ways that the Earth and humans were created and how humans interact with the deities of the creation stories. These differences include how Gods treat humans and why the Gods/God created Earth. These stories are still being passed on in today’s world and are two of the most influential creation stories to have ever been written. The similarities and differences in the creation stories show that different cultures and religions throughout the world really aren’t that far off from each other.
In Genesis there is a much more acceptable reason for God to eliminate mankind. The humans are so wicked and evil that "It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" (Gen. 6:6). He says: "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. . . " (Gen.
Plato (in Phaedo) and Aristotle (in De Anima) present two fundamentally different conceptions of the soul. Through an analysis of their frameworks and genre, and whether their methods are plausible, it can be concluded that Aristotle's formulation of the soul is more compelling than that of Plato.
People of the ancient world often had questions about their existence and how life and people came to be on earth. Most ancient people answered these questions through religion. The Sumerians were the first important group of people to inhabit Mesopotamia and they were known to practice a form of worship called polytheism, which is the worship of several gods. Mesopotamians associated different gods with natural events, emotions, and other occurrences. Their main deities included An (the god of the heavens), Enlil (Lord Storm), Enki (god of wisdom), and Nihursaga (the mother of all living things)(p.22). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods controlled all of the events and occurrences in life. An ancient text called “Creation of Man by the Mother Goddess” (p.34) helps us understand how the M...
When reading On The Soul, I found myself asking what role the soul and body play as a combination. This question came about because Aristotle’s notion differs from the usual concept of a soul acting as a sort of substance simply occupying a body, but existing distinctly separate, and eternally. Such is the notion that I choose to believe, due to the death of my brother. The truth is that the soul is an enigma to mankind, and we may never fully understand it, as no rational explanation exists to date. To Aristotle, the soul is the essence of a living being. The soul is what makes a person a person by actualizing its potential for life, and for its capacity for activities that are essential to the specific being.
Anne Bradstreet’s poems were mainly wrote for herself and her religion, but also her family. Her poem “To my Dear and Loving Husband” and “Before the Birth of One of Her Children” show a perfect example of how much her family mean's to her. They are warm and compassionate poem that I feel were mainly wrote for the ones she adored most. Anne Bradstreet was born in the year 1612 in Northampton, England. She was well educated in England and graduated from Cambridge University at age 16. Shortly after, she emigrated to the New World with her family on the “Arbella.” In the New world her husband, Simon Bradstreet, became the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Anne Bradstreet did end up have eight children which were included in her poems.