Myths about the Sun and Moon
The sun and the moon are powerful beings that bring life and death to all living creatures. They control when it is day or night, which season it is, and the weather. They fascinate humans and a considerable amount of mythology has been dedicated to the creation of the sun and moon and why or how they travel across the sky during the day and night. This paper will discuss and compare some of these myths and the gods attributed to their care and existence.
The sun and the moon are such influential powers that the creation of them is right along with the creation of the world and humans in some of the better-known mythology. The story of creation in Christian Bible tells of God’s creation of the sun and the moon. On the fourth day “God made two great lights - the greater to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night... God set them in the dome of sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1.16-18).
A similar myth of the creation of the sun and the moon is found in the Qur’an, "It is Allah Who hath created the heavens and the earth and sendeth down rain from the skies... He has made subject to you, the night and the day; the sun and the moon; and the stars in subjection by His command." (Qur’an 14:32-33).
These two myths are from monotheist religions in which the sun is just created out of nothing, they describe the creation but they lack explanation as to how and why the sun and the moon where put in the sky and have no detail about the orbits or movement or them.
“The Creation of the Sun and the Moon” by Michelangelo is a large fresco of God creating the sun and the moon. In the foreground he has one hand pointing towards a large yellow ball, the sun, and in the background he is pointing towards a large bluish ball, the moon. He is looking forcefully at the sun in the foreground. This fresco is just one person’s take on the creation of the sun and the moon as the bible explains it.
The Egyptian sun god was Re. His name meant sun and he represented strength.
Ancient Pueblo Indians had a great understanding of astronomy. All of the pueblos in the canyon were aligned to match the movements of the sun and moon. Also, they marked their complexes with daggers and spirals to keep up with the moon cycles and sun movements. The film explains that the moon moves north for nearly ten years and then south for about ten years. To fully understand this cycle of the moon, Pueblo people had to study it for years in order to build their Pueblos in relations to it. The sun however, was different because it set and rose in the same position. The concept of building structures in an astronomical pattern this complex cannot be found anywhere else.
Although the myths share many similar ideas, the myths are created differently with contrasting ideas and parts. For example, one difference between the two myths is in Genesis, God created the Earth, while in The World on Turtle’s Back, a woman created the Earth. Regarding creators, there is only one God and creator in Genesis, while there are multiple in The World on Turtle’s
However Vala mentions that the Sun didn’t have her “hall” yet or know her purpose nor did Moon, noted to be Sun’s companion, know its purpose yet. The Northern Europeans understandably associated the sun and moon together as it appeared that one rose at night and one in the morning and both celestial objects glowed and must’ve held a purpose or influenced life on earth.
My research paper will investigate the Greek God Apollo. The reason I chose Apollo was I have never had a chance to look into other Gods or Goddess’ other than Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. The next seven paragraphs are paraphrased depictions, stories and relational information directly related to the god Apollo The information was compiled by author: Atsma, Aaron J., on the website: Theoi.com. Theoi Project Copyright © 2000 – 2011. 12 May 2014. Each paragraph is a separate encyclopedia reference and is noted in the following footnotes reference.
Mythology is the study of a compiled group of stories that describe the culture’s practices and past experiences. Mythology is a valuable aspect of every culture. It communicates the culture’s truthful everyday experiences or fabricated details of past events, roles, and traditions such as family, sexuality, art, religion, philosophy, laws and marriage. A culture’s collective group of stories help communicate loyalty, ethical and rational teachings, and social models. Ancient Greece and Egypt are two cultures that we’ve studied in this course so far that I will discuss the Creation Myth associated with each culture.
Both of these myths reveal to us about their understanding of the universe, and about their culture. Not only do they talk about their various gods, and heroes, but they also talk about how they viewed the universe in general (Rosenberg 79). Greek mythology evolved from two early civilizations, the Mycenaean’s and the Minoans. It was the combining of these different Greek cities and Kingdoms during 10th century B.C. that created the Greek Mythology. Its geographic isolation gave it a place for mythologies to evolve (Gale Virtual Reference Library: Greek Mythology 454-456).
suggest that I do not believe that the sun and moon are gods, as is the general
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.
According to the authors of our text, Apollo’s personification of the sun is illustrated by his blazing chariot that journeys through the sky daily (Harris and Platzner 41). Without knowledge of Apollo or any other godlike figure owning the responsibility for the sun’s strange actions throughout a normal day, a normal Greek citizen could possible go mad trying to explain it himself. So, a benefit that the people of Greece were lucky to have is that Greek myth helped ease the minds of Greek citizens of the unknown by explaining the unknown phenomena that they faced daily. Another personification that Greek myth used to explain the crazy, but natural phenomena of our world is the god Zeus and his rule over the skies. Thunderstorms, to the those who don’t have an explanation for them, would seem magical and frightening as they are loud, booming noises coming from the skies for no apparent reason. The explanation that Greek myth had for such a strange phenomenon is that Greek mythology’s most powerful god, Zeus, was responsible for the thunderstorms as he used them to achieve universal obedience from his subjects. Yet another natural event that Zeus’ has reign over is rain, a byproduct of his storms. Stephens and Platzner contend that the rain of his can be seen as his own semen coming from his phallic weapons that fertilize the earth it falls upon (171). Thinking of rain in that way helped the Greeks understand what rain was and how it worked to help them keep
The two creation myths chosen to compare and contrast focuses on the Norse culture of Iceland Vikings and the Genesis creation of the Hebrew origin of Christian culture. Both creation myths begin with an empty void where chaos or conflict develops. The Norse myth narrates a conflict between the fiery realm of Muspell and the dark, cold realm of Niflheim within the emptiness called ginnungagap and where nothing could grow. The Genesis conflict was between God and nothing, loneliness, and the need to create something beautiful.
human beings and the birth of gods and goddesses. Explanatory myths are those that try
4).14 Painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo’s series represent several narratives from the bible. This painting is considered to be the most outstanding series of illustrations depicting biblical stories that were ever produced. It has also been suggested that the figures in the frescoes reflect Michelangelo’s personal Humanist philosophies. He believed that “the body should be celebrated as a reflection of both divine beauty and the beauty of the human soul”.15 The Creation of Adam, in particular, demonstrates the exact moment when God stretches out his finger and gives life to Adam, the first human. In this image, Adam on the left is portrayed completely nude as he sits languidly on the Earth. On the right, God’s presence appears assertive while he floats amongst several biblical figures in the sky. As their fingers do not touch, it is indicated that Adam is yet to receive the gift of intellect and
3 In Book VIII of Paradise Lost, Raphael discusses the source of the moon’s light (140-58).
Stories surrounding the creation of the universe varies between religions. In some parts of the world, cultures believe the creation of the universe began its start from the desecration of a mythical creature. For others, the universe existed prior to their deities’ birth. Every story has a beginning, however, how the interpretation of the story differs
Genesis 1 is titled “The Beginning” discussing how the earth was formed. The very first paragraph discusses God creating the heavens and the earth. This includes the whole frame and furniture of the universe. As Christians, their duty is to keep heaven in their eyes and the earth under their feet. The earth was made empty and formless. God decided the earth was so shapeless that he needed to create light and darkness to separate day from night. God saw that the light was good and would call the light “day”, and the darkness would represent “night”. Light was seen as the great beauty and blessing of the universe. The light was made purely by the word of God’s power. God saw the light as good, exactly how he designed it. Light was fit to answer the end for which he designed it. He had simply said, let there be light and it was done, there was light. This is how the separation of day and night was created by God, never allowing them to be joined together.