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Similarities between Greek and Egyptian mythologies
Similarities and differences in greek vs egyptian mythology
Similarities and differences in greek vs egyptian mythology
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The ancient world was comprised of mysteries, with no scientific explanations for the structure of the world, the existence of humans, or the meaning of life. To explain these dilemmas, they turned to religion and mythology. However as they were often isolated geographically, there was no universal answer to any of these questions. Yet, many cultures derived related solutions to certain questions, despite being separated by large physical distances, such as the Greeks and Egyptians. Although there are minor differences, Greek and Egyptian mythologies share many similarities. One parallel between Greek and Egyptian creation stories is that they both began with a God or Gods being created from the universe. The creation of the Greek world began when Eros (cupid) sprang from the great, shapeless mass of chaos and was later followed by Gaea (Earth), Erebus (darkness), and Nox (night). These later deities would become the ancestors of all other greek Gods and goddesses. Similarly in Egyptian mythology, Ra came into being, and gave life to other gods, “After I had come into being as the only God, there were three gods aside from me [Shu, Tefnut, and Nun].” Eventually, Shu and Tefnut begot Geb and Nut, who in turn created Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. Creation from the universe is a common factor in both Greek and Egyptian stories. Another parallel between Greek and Egyptian creation stories is the concept of birth involving only one parent. For example, Athena is commonly described as “having sprung into life, fully armed, from the head of Zeus . . .” Some myths also describe Aphrodite’s birth as involving one parent, Uranus. In Egyptian mythology, Ra gave life to Shu by masturbating, “I it was who aroused desire with my fist; I masturbated with my hand, and I spat it out from my own mouth. I spat it out as Shu . . .” In both Greek and Egyptian mythology
Each of their gods made the mountains, stars, animals, humans, oceans, moon, and the planets. The only thing that was not made by all three was the sun, because that is Begochiddy. So in the stories that the tribes had made their gods not only breed creation but, in two of the stories they caused destruction and chaos through thievery and impatience which are the same traits that people have in today's world. The communities must have thought that the gods looked like humans and acted like humans but, also have supernatural powers to help create the world around
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.
Myths – as they are known to most of the world – give insight into the pasts of various countries and religions as the people saw them. They have been used to explain phenomenons in nature or describe the tales of courageous and important men and women throughout history. Creation myths in particular define how the Earth itself was created, along with the universe, heavens, hell, people, and creatures that exist today. Genesis of Christian mythology, for instance, tells the story of how the single deity God spoke and formed everything from day and night to man and woman. Various African creation myths, such as with the Yoruba, explain the creation of the Earth through at least a couple gods working together and all life sprouting from a seed. But all share a common themes, such as a form of chaos or nothingness before life is created. Joseph Campbell notes that “... the idea of an absolute ontological distinction between God and man – or between gods and men, divinity and nature - first became an important social and psychological force in the near East, specifically Akkad, in the period of the first Semetic Kings, c. 2500 B.C.,” showing another similar trait – a god or set of gods exists to create in each story (626). Joseph Campbell makes a comparison of how both Genesis and the Book of the Dead of Egypt share the same idea of their bodies belonging to their god in some way, or being reabsorbed into them at death (630-631). Others, like the Japanese and Iroquois creation myths, claim the Earth was once covered entirely of water before land was formed. 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.
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 Greeks believed that the earth was formed before any of the gods appeared. The gods, as the Greeks knew them, all originated with Father Heaven, and Mother Earth. Father Heaven was known as Uranus, and Mother Earth, as Gaea. Uranus and Gaea raised many children. Amoung them were the Cyclopes, the Titans, and the Hecatoncheires, or the
The Greeks believed chaos was one god that came first because he was the primal existence, after that came Mother earth (Gaia) and she was the one that created mountains high and low, she created rivers, lakes and even seas. After mother nature was Tartarus and he built his home in the underworld way below the world of Gaia. Chaos also created Eros out of love and he became the most handsome gods of them all. The Greeks thought these first gods which kind of made sense where if we look at it today Chaos is the galaxy and everyone life that we know lives on earth after that Greeks back then believed there was an underworld to where the dead went and then everyone need and deserves “Love” Eros. Greeks were very close to discovering what scientist today discovered just thought of it in a god form of thinking, in a scientific way of thinking the Big bang theory is like Chaos being born he is the first god of existence. Greeks had a big belief in the gods that they would protect them from any harms way that they held unlimited powers, and they thought that these gods controlled every human aspect like rain ...
During Antiquity, what could explain the mystery of Earth? No one could explain its creation, and reason of some animals and other elements formation. The author Ovid in the book Metamorphoses uses the God’s myth to explain how the world was created, and explain the meaning of life or the creation of certain animals or plants. Ovid also uses those myths to teach us lessons, which is the main meaning of his myths. All the myths have a very specific ending. Ovid wrote those myth to show us what we should achieve and not accomplish, he is like the master in Tao Te Ching, and his tying to teach us, to be better in what we are doing, by showing the punishments the character had to deal with. The three myths that teach us the most are the Minerva and Arachne myth, the Daedalus and Icarus myth and the myth of Thisbe and Pyramus. In the myth of Minerva and Arachne the lesson is that we should never be to confident and to be respectful to higher-class people. In the Daedalus and Icarus myth, Icarus had over excitement, it made him forget his father’s advices, and in the myth of Thisbe and Pyramus, the myth shows us that we should never take decision to quick and we should always think before acting. Those three myths have a lot in common, they all finish tragically, and the characters are punished or transformed to teach us the creation of some animals or elements.
The tales of Greek heroes and the gods are older than all of us. Most of these tales are thought to be myths, but every interpretation of Greek mythology and the stories that it contains correlates with something in the real world today. The story of the creation of the world, and the stories of the heroes Hercules, Perseus and Theseus, are only but a few of the compelling stories Greek mythology has to offer. In the beginning, chaos was all that lived. Out of the void appeared Erebus, The place where death dwells, and with it came Night.
They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time.
Ancient Egyptians tried to understand their place in the universe. This is why their mythology is centered on nature such as the earth, sky, moon, sun, stars, and the Nile River. There are many Egyptian myths of creation, but the Heliopolitan Tradition, Hermopolitan Ogdoad, and the Memphite Theology are the most commonly used. They all have some common elements and gods. For example, many of t...
Another parallel between Greek and Egyptian creation stories is the concept of birth involving only one parent. For example, Athena is commonly described as “having sprung into life, fully armed, from the head of Zeus . . .”(Murray 95). Some myths also describe Aphrodite’s birth as involving one parent, Uranus. ...
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).
Ancient Greek creation story, the earth began with darkness and nothingness- a void, or Chaos, as known to the Greeks (Genesis 1:2; Tripp 159). This Chaos was the bearer (meaning that he gave birth to) of Ge/Gaia (Earth), Tartarus (underworld), Eros (love and sex), Erebus (darkness), and Nyx (night) (Tripp 159). In the Christian creation story, God is the parallel to the Greek Chaos in that he invents the same things (with the exception of an underworld; the creation of Adam and Eve and their later reproduction could be comparable to Eros) as Chaos bore (Genesis 1:1-18).
In the Bible and Greek Mythology both were the believe of us to God(s). In biblical stories, christians believe that the lord God created the world; he created birds, animals, and humans. Similarly, in Greek mythology, Zeus and his forces established the mount olympus to be there Eden, and he ordered to create all alive things in earth, even though he doesn’t want mortals, but the mortals still appears. Therefore, Biblical stories and Greek mythology have many similarities, both have the stories of the creation of human. In particular, the three examples that have the closest similarities are The Creation of woman, How god's punish those who don’t worship them and reward those who worship them. and The Kingdom of God.
Within the texts of Genesis which belong to the biblical scriptures of the Hebrews, and the myths of Egyptian origin, there are a multitude of similarities and differences. When compared side by side, the most obvious factor of both texts is that a single God was the creator of all that we know today. In Genesis that creator is simply referred to as God, while in Egyptian mythology, the creator is known as Neb-er-tcher. Both creators have striking resemblances, such as the ways they went about the production of the world.