Transcript Creation Myths

Creation Myths
Chaos
• Most of the myths begin as Chaos
• Chaos is the mythological term for
nothingness
• All of the elements of the universe were
one entity
• The Earth, sky, sea altogether
• There was no shape, no separation
between each
Chaos…
• The elements fought with each other and
an unknown force put an end to the
disorder…..
Theogony
• One of the most celebrated Greek myths
• A basis for much of Greek mythology
• Author is Hesoid…throughout the text he
tells the geneology of the Greek Gods
Theogony…
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Theogony starts with a variety of disasters that happened to the Earth
Typhoon was one of the disasters and was an unimaginable electric strom.
Many scholars have said that this is proof that many years ago, Venus and
Mars (who were wondering cosmic bodies at the time) came very close to
each other and caused Earth’s rotation to stop..
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Works and Days is a very different story. After Hesiod's father died, his
brother, Perses, tried to rob him of part of the inheritance. We all know how
bitter fights among siblings can be, especially about inheritances.
So Hesiod decided to write a book to teach his brother some lessons,
beginning with a little history and theology, and then some practical advice
on how to make a decent living by hard work and honesty. The result is a
variety of important myths, like the ages through which man has passed
(Golden, Silver, Heroic, Bronze and our own), as well as Pandora's myth.
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He also tells us about Prometheus, the Christ-like figure of the Greeks.
Creation in Theogony
• Theogony- means “birth of gods”
• The world starts out as nothing…Chaos
• It is known as an abyss to the greek
culture
• From this abyss, three gods are created
• Gaia ("Earth")
• Tartaros
• Eros ("desire"--source of our English word "erotic").
• At first, Gaia the earth, does not need males to help her give birth to
the rest of her domain, namely the mountains, the sea, and the sky
["without any joy of desirable love" line 131].
• It is only after she mates the male Ouranos (sky) that strife (called
"Eris"--line 225) and division enter the world.
• Division, of course, is what usually happens in creation stories-from a start with an undifferentiated lump (or gap or abyss like
"Chaos"),
• The universe begins to divide into more and more beings of
increasing variety, diversity, and complexity.
• The order of the universe "was established by the unions and
separations, the divine marriages and births, constituting a mythical
history of the primordial beginnings which, taken as a whole, we call
a 'theogony'" (33).
The Order of the Creation of Gods
• 1. Chaos (Void)
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Night + Erebos
• 2. Gaia ("Earth")
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Ouranos ("Sky"), Mountains, Pontos ("Sea")
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Aether Day
• 3. Tartaros4. Eros ("Desire")Gaia + Ouranos ("Sky")
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12 Titans [including Ocean, Rhea, Cronus], Cyclopes,
Hundred-handers
Eros
• Eros is the God that started mating…
• The other God’s were all mated asexually
Theogony
• The story begins with the muses singing
praises…
• The nine muses are the daughters of Zeus
and Mnemosyne (memory)
• Why would it be important for them to start
the story?
• Why is Theogony Mnemosyne revered as
one of the best Greek myths or a basis for
Greek mythology?
Genesis
• One of the most popular creation stories
• Based on the Christian language
• God took seven days to create
everything in nature and life
• Created male and female
• Evil was in form of the serpent
• Everything was ordered
Genesis
• Myth because it is trying to explain the
unexplainable using a supernatural force
• Other biblical stories are also myths
• Why would this be an important creation
myth to study?
Enuma Elish
• Babylonian Creation myth
• Written on seven tablets
• Often compared to Genesis, but has some
major differences
Enuma Elish
• The seven tablets refer to each day, just
as Genesis has seven days
• Earth and sky formed on day four, in
Genesis they are separated on day two
• The primitive scene is presented. There is nothing.
• Apsu (the fresh water god) and Tiamat (the sea
goddess) give birth to Anshar and Kishar, gods
representing the horizon, which forms the boundary
between the earth and sky. T
• o Anshar and Kishar is born Anu, the sky god, who in
turn bears Ea (the goddess representing earth). This
brood of gods is so ill-behaved that Apsu determined to
slay them.
• Instead, Ea kills Apsu and establishes her abode above
his body. Marduk (the city god of Babylon) is born to Ea.
Tiamat, transformed into a raging avenger of her slain
husband, takes a new husband, Kingu, in place of the
slain Apsu.
• As goddess of the sea, Tiamat represents malevolence
and chaos. She must therefore be challenged and
subdued. First Ea confronts Tiamat, but fails. Then Anu
challenges Tiamat, but even the sky god is unsuccessful.
• Finally, Marduk is selected to fight the raging Tiamat. He
is chosen on the basis of ability to remake a destroyed
garment. He is vested with great power and authoritative
word, and he faces Tiamat, slaying the sea goddess and
cutting her body in two. With one half he forms the sky,
and with the other he forms the earth.
• Marduk places the celestial luminaries in the sky to
establish days and months and years.
• Kingu, the husband and commander-inchief of Tiamat, is also slain, and from his
blood is formed mankind, who are
assigned to perform menial tasks for the
gods.
• Marduk’s is chief of Babylon and head of
the Babylonian pantheon because of his
role in creation. The Gods of Babylon rest.
http://mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/2_babylonian_full.htm
Rig Veda
• Veda- Knowledge
• There are four
Veda’s that were
written by
Samhita…a Hindu
culture
• The Rig Veda is a
bunch of hymns
that were created
to worship the
Indian Samhita
Gods
Hindu Creation Stories (based on
Rig Veday)
• Believe there is one spirit; that spirit is God
• The spirit can take the form of many God’s
and Goddesses
More Hindu…
• There was no heaven, no earth, no space
between
• Water was everywhere; along the shores
and along the night
• Vishnu was the only spirit alive, and he
was watched over by the mighty serpent
• The place was peaceful, so Vishnu would sleep
and be peaceful, with no dreams. However, from
the depths, a humming soon grew larger, and
erupted the peaceful world with energy.
• The night had ended, Vishnu awoke. As the dawn
began to break, from Vishnu’s nose grew a
magnificent lotus flower. In the middle of the
blossom sat Vishnu’s servant, Brahma. He
awaited the Lord’s command. Vishnu spoke to his
servant: ‘It is time to begin.’ Brahma bowed.
Vishnu commanded: ‘Create the World.’ A wind
swept up the waters. Vishnu and the serpent
vanished.
• Brahma remained in the lotus flower, floating and tossing
on the sea. He lifted up his arms and calmed the wind and
the ocean. Then Brahma split the lotus flower into three.
He stretched one part into the heavens. He made another
part into the earth. With the third part of the flower he
created the skies.
• The earth was bare. Brahma set to work. He created
grass, flowers, trees and plants of all kinds. To these he
gave feeling. Next he created the animals and the insects
to live on the land. He made birds to fly in the air and
many fish to swim in the sea. To all these creatures, he
gave the senses of touch and smell. He gave them power
to see, hear and move.
• The world was soon bristling with life and the air was filled
with the sounds of Brahma’s creation.
Rig Veda continued…
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Once the mighty priest Tvashtri, out of dislike for the god Indra, created a threeheaded son to take over Indra's throne. This son was a religious Spartan who
appeared to be mastering the universe with his three heads, which made Indra
uneasy. After futilely tempting Tvashtri's son with dancing girls, Indra slew the young
man with a thunderbolt and ordered that his three heads be cut off.
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Enraged, Tvashtri made a colossal dragon named Vritra to destroy Indra. This
serpent reached up to the heavens and swallowed Indra. But Indra tickled its throat
and leapt out to resume battle. The dragon proved too strong and Indra had to flee. At
length he went to the god Vishnu, who advised him to compromise with the dragon.
The serpent agreed to peace, provided that Indra did not attack it with solid or liquid,
or attack it by day or night. Indra, however, nursed his hatred and tried to get around
this agreement.
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One evening at twilight Indra saw a huge column of foam containing the god Vishnu,
so he hurled this at the dragon, who fell dead. The gods and men rejoiced at the
serpent's death, but Indra bore a great sin for killing a priest's son.
The Poetic Edda…
• Known as Elder Edda
• Collection of poems from Icelandic
medival times
• Important source of Norse mythology
– Norse is the term for Scandanavian culture
– Thus, the Peotic Edda is the Scandanavian
belief of creation
http://mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/2_norse_full.htm
• Ginnungagap is the great emptiness that
encompassed the world
• Out of the melting ice, Ymir emerged…the first
being
• Next to him, a cow emerged and the cow started
to lick the ice, while Ymir drank the cows milk
• The cow licked away tons of ice and licked away
two more beings
• These beings were the god Buri and his
goddess wife
• They had a son named Odin, who became
the King of all the God’s
• Ymir was cruel and evil; The Gods joined
together and slew him
• His huge body formed the earth; his flesh
was the land, his blood the sea, his bones
the mountains, and his hair the trees
• Odin and the other Gods formed the sky
with his skull
• Odin created sun and moon from sparks
• This caused plants and trees to begin to
grow
• The greatest tree was the Yggdrasil, which
grew in the center of the Earth
• Odin named the new land, Midgard, “The
Middle Land”
• Odin created people from fallen trees and
breathed life into the beings
• Yggdrasil became known as the “Tree of
Life” which had lines that represented a
human life.
The End…