Essay

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.

Like the Greek Theogony, the creation of the world in the Enuma Elish begins with the universe in a formless state, from which the primary gods emerge. In the Enuma Elish, “[w]hen the skies above were not yet named [n]or earth below pronounced by name, Apsu, the first one, their begetter, [a]nd maker Tiamat, who bore them all,… mixed their waters together…[t]hen gods were born within them.” Apsu, which represents fresh water, and Tiamat, who represents salt water and is later referred to as “earth mother,” are both born from the primordial waters and are the first rulers of the gods. In the Theogony, it is stated that “at first Chaos came to be,” implying that at some point in time he did not exist. In the ancient near east, the primordial waters were waters that existed at the beginning of, or even before, creation that were associated with serpents and chaos. Hence, even though chaos in Greek means “chams” or “empty space,” the primordial god Chaos can be equated with the primordial waters. “Next wide-bossomed Earth (Gaia) [came to be]…and dim Tartarus…and Eros...And Earth first bare starry Heaven…” As we can see, while both myths begin with the primordial deities, the Theogony ...

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...su, making him his palace, and later had a son Marduk, who was given gifts from his grandfather Anu that stirred Tiamat and did not let the gods within her rest. This caused them to incite Tiamat to wage war against them, which ultimately lead to her being split in half. Had Apsu not attempted against the lives of his children maybe Tiamat would not have had to fight against Anu (sky) and been split in half and the division would not have occurred. In the Theogony, there was a more direct relation between the split since Ouranos (sky) pushed his last children, the Hekatonchires, back into Gaia “[f]or of all the children that were born to Earth and Heaven, these were the most terrible, and they were hated by their own father from the first.” However, this caused Gaia great discomfort, leading her to create the adamantine sickle and plot with Kronos against Ouranos.