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.
The characters from “World on a Turtle’s Back,” are fairly similar to those in the Greek creation myth. The left handed twin in “World on a Turtle’s Back” is the bad/evil twin, almost like Cronos from the Greek creation myth, who is terrible. The woman who fell from the sky in “World on a Turtle’s Back” is similar to Chaos, who created the Earth by giving birth to Gaia (the Earth), in the Greek creation myth. However, the right handed twin does not resemble anyone from the Greek creation myth exactly. He stands out for
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telling the truth and doing the right thing, where there is nobody that stands out for doing so in the Greek creation myth. The animals and humans in “World on a Turtle’s Back” were created from pottery done by the two twins. This is similar to how the night, sky, sea, Earth, etc, were created by Chaos giving birth to them. In the Greek creation myth, there was just Chaos at the start, who then gave birth the Earth. In “The World on a Turtle’s Back,” however, there was already a sky world with plenty of people, and the ocean in the beginning. With this being said, the woman from the sky in “The World on a Turtle’s Back” did still create the Earth, like Chaos. There are many transformations in “The World on a Turtle’s Back,” but not as many interesting ones in the Greek creation myth. In “The World on a Turtle’s Back,” the grandmother’s head turns into the moon, and her body goes to sea. In the Greek creation myth, the only big transformations are Chaos giving birth to children who are the Earth, sky, etc. However, the transformations in “The World on a Turtle’s Back” are very interesting, such as how the woman walking around the turtle become time itself, and day and night. The Greek creation myth may not have many transformations, but it does explain the creation of many things. The Greek creation myth and “The World on a Turtle’s Back” both explain many key elements of what exists today.
From the Earth, to the moon, to the darkness of the night, both myths have interesting explanations. “The World on a Turtle’s Back” explains that the Earth is from the roots in the woman’s fingers and the turtle’s back, where as the Greek creation myth explains that the Earth is from the birth of Gaia. These are both very different, and I personally find the “The World on a Turtle’s Back” explains it with a more interesting story. In “The World on a Turtle’s Back,” the sky and stars are already created, where as in the Greek creation myth, they are made from the birth of Ourano. These myths do not share many explanation similarities. “The World on a Turtle’s Back” explains that the 3 sacred plants (corn, beans, & squash) came from the daughter dying, which probably had an effect the modern day culture of the Iroquois. They most likely eat lots of corn, beans, and squash, because of this
myth. In conclusion, these myths are not all that similar. They are different in many ways, but are both still very interesting. In my opinion, “The World on a Turtle’s Back,” is a little more interesting than the Greek creation myth. The biggest difference between the two is how everything was created. In the Greek creation myth, almost everything is created by Chaos giving birth to it, whereas in “The World on a Turtle’s Back,” the creations vary from the twins creating it, to the woman planting seeds a tiny clump of dirt. “The World on a Turtle’s Back,” reveals value of the Iroquoian society by telling about the 3 sacred foods, which made an impact on what they eat today. The Greek Creation myth however impacts the Greek society by describing the Gods, and their attributes.
“Birth in the Dawn” and the “World on the Turtle’s Back” are stories about the creation of Earth and how it became what it is with all the animals and plants. These stories have different ideas of how the world came to be, but both have creativity. They may seem a tad astonishing, but the people who created them clearly believed them.
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.
Comparing The Earth on Turtle's Back, When Grizzlies Walked Upright, And the Navajo Origin Legend
The two world creation stories from the Judeo-christian and the Iroquois do have quite different perspectives how the world has been created. But, are they some similar parts as well in the stories? And do you see these similar parts even in the culture too? Where are these differences and similarities?
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).”
Adjacent Iroquois tribes, such as the Mohawk natives, shared a very similar creation myth (Redish and Orrin, “Native American Legends”). The cultures of both tribes influenced each other, and as a result, the myths became closely related. The Huron creation myth is heavily based on the culture at the time. The myth mentions beans, corn, and pumpkins being planted on the turtle. The Huron culture often depended on beans, corn, and squash for survival (Redish and Orrin, “Wyandot Indian Fact Sheet”). These were the essential plants on which the culture depended. The Huron tribe was thankful for these life-giving plants and showed this in their myth by stating that they came from a divine
Another way that these creation stories are similar is that the land came from beneath or was brought up above the water. In Genesis 1:9 "God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear '" here God pulled the water away from some land and it became dry and livable. The Sky Tree depicts that "all of the water animals began to dive down and bring up soil... and placed the soil on Turtle 's back. " this is what created the
Through studies such as comparative mythology, researchers and philosophers have discover 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. Campbell recognized these similarities an...
Throughout the world there are various cultures with varying religions and creation stories to explain the creation of the Earth and it’s inhabitants. Of these creation stories two with similar and also different characteristics is the Creation story in the book of Genesis which is a part of the 1st Testament in the Hebrew Bible and explains the creation of Earth and humans, and the Theogony which is the greek creation story that describes the origins of the Earth and the Greek Gods. Both the Theogony and the Creation in Genesis show nature as a blessing for humans but it can also affect them negatively, 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.
The Maori myth is a Polynesian story about the creation of the universe which according to Rosenberg was different from other creation myths because it begins with nothing and then progresses through a process of “nonbeing to thought to the creation of the universe and human beings” (351). Even though it may be different because it goes from “nonbeing to thought” instead of nothingness to a spoken word or action, it has many similarities to other creation myths in how it explains the origins of the Gods and how each one represents a natural event or aspect of nature and humanity. The myth begins with an “idea” that “was remembered” and then “became conscious” and then “a wish to create”, all of which created a “power to live and to grow, even in emptiness” (352). At this point there was still no being, only thought and desire which gives the idea that what is being addressed are the human attributes of feeling, sensing, desire and thought, this is where this story is different from other creation myths.
Though the two Creation stories are supposedly intended to be connected - even interchangeable - the only similarity they share is the presence of the omnipotent God and His role in the creation of the earth. Where the first creation describes a detailed, six-day process in which God first delineates day and night, establishes the physical world, and then finally creates man, the second creation is a much simpler process, one almost contradictory to the first story's strict schedule.
The creation myths that I have studied are similar in many ways. They also have differences that show an inherently different way of thinking about the world. All have creators-gods that make the world into what is now. There are conflicts within their world, and these conflicts change the face world. God to god or human to god maybe be involved in these conflicts. Their bloody struggles prove who is more powerful, causing change in the control of the world. Some gods are beneficial to man and others are self-serving, using man only as a tool.
The second creation myth I will examine in this essay is of Greek origin and is known as The Five Ages of Man. This myth begins wit...
Two Brothers and their Grandmother and The World on the Turtle’s Back bears several similarities and differences. A major comparison is both stories beginning with “Sky People”. In Two Brothers and their Grandmother, The sky was occupied with a tribe of humans. However, in The World on the Turtle’s Back the Sky World was inhabited by “people-like gods”. The story began with a husband and pregnant wife removing bark from a Great Tree and broke a hole through the ground. But, in Two Brothers and their Grandmother, the chief’s daughter fell ill and the people of the tribe dug a trench around a tall tree in hopes of curing her. This lead to the tree falling through and creating an abyss. Both stories included a female character falling through
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.