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Comparing and contrasting creation myths
Comparing and contrasting creation myths
Comparing and contrasting creation myths
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Throughout history many civilizations and cultures have had their own ways of explaining the world and its creation. Each of these civilizations has created unique descriptions and accounts of such events. However, when comparing them to each other, are they really different? Look at the ancient Greco - Roman creation myths as told by Hesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when compared to the creation myths as seen in the Old Testament’s book of Genesis they may not be as different as one would think. Taking a more in-depth look at both Genesis and Hesiod’s and Ovid’s work more closely, the reader can see that on multiple occasions the myths have almost identical similarities which reflect their views in society. The similarities in particular are the myths of the creation of man, women with their subsequent role of evil in ancient times, and the great floods. These similarities prove that even though these two scriptures were centuries apart, the concepts presented in each myth were almost identical to one another. The first similarity seen in the comparison of these creation myths is the creation of man. The ancient Greco-Roman mythology has two accounts of man’s creation, both of which were created around the same time, yet the conflict with each other. The first account comes from Hesiod and tells of the five ages of Man. Throughout this account Hesiod tells how Cronus and eventually Zeus, the supreme god, creates the human race in each of the ages. This relates to The Seven Days of Creation myth in the book of Genesis because God is the supreme power that creates humans, just like Zeus in Hesiod’s telling. When God is creating the world, he states “Let us make humankind in our image, according ... ... middle of paper ... ...g the myths of both cultures they share similarities that exceed beyond a reasonable doubt each culture had similar views of how the world works. Whether it is woman causing evil, god creating man, or the floods reflecting the wrath of god on man, these views stood firm throughout time and connect two different worlds. Works Cited Bible. "Genesis." The Holy Bible: Authorized King James Version, Containing the Old and New Testaments. Nashville: Zondervan Pub. House, 1983. Print. Hesiod, and Richmond Alexander Lattimore. The Works and Days. Theogony. The Shield of Herakles. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1959. Print. Morford, Mark P. O., Robert J. Lenardon, and Michael Sham. Classical Mythology. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print. Ovid, and Brookes More. Ovid's Metamorphoses ... in English Blank Verse. Boston, MA: Cornhill Pub., 1933. Print.
The Biblical account in Genesis, probably written by Moses around 1500 B.C., and the story of creation and flood in Ovid's Metamorphosis, written somewhere between 8 and 17 A.D., have weathered the criticism and become the most famous. The Genesis account, however, may be the most prominent of the two accounts. Within these accounts, are many similarities, as well as differences, which make these two writings well respected, while holding their own in the literary world. Though both accounts of the creation and flood are well respected on their own, when compared side to side, they are drastically different.
These civilizations present many resemblances that were once part of the foundations of their society. Although both of these civilizations were at one point enemies of one another, they had similar correlations that shaped and formed their cultures and societies. The main difference between these two civilizations is religion. Without its differences, each civilization had governed its people in manners that it could not be differentiated among each other. Overall, these civilizations presented different methods of leading a civilization and still had similarities among one another.
In the article “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” researcher Gordon H. Johnston reiterates the conclusions that A. H. Sayce, A. S. Yahuda have reached about the comparisons of Genesis 1 and Egyptian creation myths (Johnston, 180). Johnston postulates that there are undoubtedly strong similarities and connections between Genesis 1 and Egyptian creation myths (Johnston, 180). Johnston noted that these earlier analyses were overlooked and not accepted due to various reasons; easily accessible Mesopotamian materials, the assumption that Genesis 1 should be classified as a Priest source, ignorance of the Hebrew bibles’ Egyptian origins, and misunderstanding of the Egyptians terminology when analyzing creation ideas (Johnston, 179).
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.
Have you ever noticed why so many creation myths seem to talk about the same thing? The world being created by the body of a god is a common one. Many myths mention how humans at one point got destroyed or wiped out, or something happened that made their lives difficult forever. The most common motif I seemed to find is that humans were made from organic material such as bones left from dead gods, clay, mud, corn, trees, and even tears. It never occurred to me how so many motifs had so many similar things in them.
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.
Genesis and Theogony came from very different cultures. The book of Genesis is the Hebrew description of creation, and make up the first book of the Holy Bible. This creation story is not only the most well-known by foreigners, but also the most accepted, by the Christian and Judaic cultures. Hesiod's Theogony is the Greek story of the creation of earth and humankind. Before Genesis, there was no book to decree what one should believe about the beginning of humans, and Hesiod's story of creation was the most popular at around that time. At this time the Greek culture was a polytheistic one meaning they worshipped and had many more than one god. The Genesis description of creation showed a vital change from the polytheistic culture of the Greeks
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 first creation myth I will begin with is Hebrew in origin and comes from the Old Testament book of Genesis, specifically chapters one through three. Chapters one and two focus on Jehovah’s (God) creation of the heavens, earth and all living things. After man (Adam) is created Jehovah, gives him a single command: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of he tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (The Revival Study Bible, Genesis 2:16-17).” Jehovah then creates a mate for the man, woman (Eve). Throughout this creation story the reader is given the impression that the creation itself is perfect i.e.: following creation God declares everything good, man has a close friendship with his creator, man and woman were naked and experienced no shame. Unfortunately that perfection ends when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They then felt shame, cast blame to others rather than to themselves and hid from God. As a result of their disobedience God punished them according to his law. Both Adam and Eve and their offspring after them were sentenced to a life of pain, suffering and death.
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.
Just look at two creation stories side-by-side and you should easily see their similarities. Perhaps the easiest way to do this would be to take one unknown creation story and compare it to one from one’s own culture. Below is an example of a Mongolian creation myth:
In the organization of the accounts, each story starts with very little. In the beginning of The Book of Genesis, there is only one God. Likewise, in the beginning of the Enuma Elish there are only two Gods. In the same way, Theogony begins with nothing more than void, earth, and eros. With respect to the general idea of the accounts, in all three creation myths, the god or gods have the power to create aspects of the universe. Each account also portrays the gods as being very powerful. The earth is seen as a major creation in these creation accounts, with the exception of Theogony, as the earth already existed in the beginning of the story. Additionally, we see conflict in each of these three accounts. In The Book of Genesis, there is the conflict between God, the man, the woman, and the serpent, after they eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. In both Theogony and the Enuma Elish, there is conflict between the gods; as the Titans fight the Olympians in the Greek myth and as Marduk fights Tiamat and her allies in the Mesopotamian myth. Another notable similarity is that in both of these accounts, the younger generation of gods are victorious; the Olympians in the case of the Greek myth, and Marduk and his followers in the Mesopotamian
Throughout time we have seen in many different ethnicities and religions the many takes on their idea of how they believe creation came to be. Along all these myths or tales we tend to see something similar as if a common pattern is being repeated. We see patterns such as temptation always leading to someone's downfall or this sense of someone falling into something terrible and so on. Even though these different religions or ethnicities are nowhere close in distance or time from each other, it does not seem to make a difference on their beliefs of the world's creation. For example, Native American tales such as The World on the Turtle's Back and our own Catholic Creation Story have many similar key ideas being portrayed in both accounts. Although many may argue that the Native American tale The World on the Turtle's Back and the Catholic Creation Story differ, they are relatable in the sense of curiosity leading to big consequences, the good versus evil being introduced, and the personification of animals.
In conclusion both the Egyptian and Mesopotamian creation stories are greatly different. In one there was much more violence than the other. However there are several themes that tie the two stories together and these themes could be seen through several examples of both stories. Both of these creation stories in their different respective ways showcase exactly how earth was created, and how men were created. They also detail how the creation of man leads to their own destruction and how the compassion of the greater God allowed them to continue to live until today. Therefore, though both the stories are very different in context, they still carry very important themes that are very similar to one another. That being said through their context they are very different, but through their themes they are similar in more than one ways.
In conclusion, there are differences and similarities in the West African and Genesis creation stories. Both stories tell how man is created by the dust of the earth, but the difference is how the earth was created and by who. These differences and similarities give both creation stories unity to tell the religion of these