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Comparison of creation myths
Comparison of creation myths
Comparison of creation myths
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What is a creation myth? Creation myths are stories that rationalize and explain the unknown. Creation myths were told with the senses and rich in visual imagery. The four-creation myths that are discussed in this chapter are "The Song of Creation" from the Rig Veda, An African Creation Tale, Popel Vuh ("Sacred Book") Of Central America's Maya Indians, and Native American Iroquois. These four stories have different ways of how humankind was created, but there are also some elements that are similar with their stories, which is the creation of humankind. What makes the four creation myths different is how life came to be, in "The Song of Creation", it talks about how we began in a watery darkness and then the One came with light. In this creation myth, it …show more content…
In this myth, a deity name Unkulunkulu created all of man, he gave them fire so that it can light their way. He taught them about the different animals that they can use for meat and cook it by dressing it in the fire, and he told them that they needed to marry and have children to increase the population on earth. Popol Vuh links creation to light, thought, and language itself. In this myth, the world was nothing; it was just silence and darkness. The only ones there were the Creator and the Maker, Tepeu and Gucumatz, also known as the Forefathers, the two gods with each other on how to bring the world from the darkness and into the light. They said, "Let there be light, let there be dawn in the sky and on the earth!" the formation started and then created humankind. The Native American Creation Tale, "How Man was Created" talks about the Good Spirit fashioned humankind in its diversity. In this myth, the Good Spirit, Sat-kon-se-ri-io, first created plants and animals to inhabit the earth, but while he was resting, he felt as if something was missing, he thought about the idea for awhile and he came up
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.
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
In the creation myth, there are four deities/beings, 3 in a celestial world called Tepeu and another called Q’uq’umatz who was on a terrestrial plane. Q’uq’umatz, god of wind and rain, combined with Tepeu, god of fire and lightning, created animals, followed closely by humans. The first “attempt” of these gods to create humans was less than successful, making them from earth and mud, which dissolved in the elements. The second attempt created men out of wood, who stood up to the elements, but lacked souls or self will. These “wood humans” quickly fall out of favor with the gods, causing them to be destroyed in vengeance.
Storytelling and myths have been a tradition in all cultures since the beginning of time. One well-known myth is “When Grizzlies Walked Upright” by the Modoc tribe, which is about the creation of Earth. Another myth is “The Earth on Turtle’s Back” by the Onondaga tribe, which is about how a muskrat and a turtle create the world. The two stories are similar because they both are about the creation of the Earth and rely heavily on animals, but they are different because of the importance of gods in the stories. Although the stories are very unalike, they both show that the creation of Earth and its population was mainly because of animals.
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.
In my essay I will be telling you how there are so many motifs in the creation myths from all around the world. You would not even believe how so many creation myths are so much alike, even when they stories are coming from halfway around the world. I would understand if they were nearby, but some of these appearcame from Egypt all the way to South America. There are three main motifs, the idea of the gods breathing life into humans to make them come to life, the idea of the creators deciding they were unhappy with the creations so they destroyed humanity, and finallylastly the idea of there being a bloody struggle.
According to Terrence W. Tilley in his book Faith “A myth is a story the sets up the word . . . . [They] are the fundamental stories that articulate the contours of the world we inhabit” (76). Myths help us understand the world in which we life in and express the values of a culture. When most Christians think of the beginning of time, they refer to the Book Of Genesis. However, creation myths arise from cultures all around the world. For example, The Norse creation myth is told from the perspective of Icelandic vikings. Both the Book of Genesis and Norse myths establish the creation of the world, but they also have numerous differing characteristics.
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:
A creation myth is an explanation of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. Every creation myth is different, but there is similarity in most of them. Motifs are recurring ideas that help develop a theme and these motifs are common in many creation myths. Three similar motifs are the idea of a supreme being, the idea of people being created from organic material, and the idea of rulers being overthrown. These concepts appear in the Inuit, Greek, Hindu, Chinese, Norse, and many more myths. These three motifs connect to one another and are common in many creation myths.
Norse, Japanese, and Greek mythologies, too, agree on a lot of ideals. They each contain a clash of gods and the death of certain gods in order to form life. The list of creation myths, and myths in general, that relate to each other could stretch out for miles. With these parallels, humanity can better understand earlier cultures and document the method to how mythologies change over time. Works Cited Browning, W. R. F. Dictionary of the Bible.
People have faith in many things. Some believe in many gods, one god, or that their is no god. All those people have their opinions on how the world was made and each of these stories from different people have some similarities. Those stories are the Navajo, Inca, and Zulu creation stories. All three made by different people in different continents and at different times but they all have some wide ranges of similarities in them.
myths. Creation myths are those that try to explain the origin of the world, the creation of
In both myths the relationship between humans and nature is shown as a positive one but with negative effects from humans’ greed and necessity for more. In the beginning of the Creation Story it is stated in the first few lines “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” God then began to create the Earth in seven days. On the first day he created day and night out of the darkness and light. The second day led to the creation of the sky. The third day was the creation of the land. The fourth day led to the creation of the season. And finally on the fifth and sixth day, animals and humans were created, and the first two were a male and female named Adam and Eve. At the end of everyday during creation the words “and God saw it was good” are written. God is happy with his creation of nature. The phrase shows the positive connotation of...
The rational myth theory states that myths were made to better understand natural events and forces that occurred in the everyday lives of people. This theory also explains that the gods and goddesses controlled all of these happenings of nature. Examples of this type of myth are creation myths from different cultures. Creation myths explain how man was created and explain what the gods and goddesses used and what actions they took to create humans. These myths also tell what substances were used (if any) in order for man to exist. The existence of man is a natural event but creation myths give other
Myths are the creative answers to questions humans fail to answer any other way. Modern humans are as superstitious today as they were in the cave. Humans want to know who they are, where they came from, and why they are here so badly they will invent their own answers. Humans are also clever enough to figure out that veiling their myth as fact can give their human recipients the illusion of knowing without the struggle of study. Humans are inherently skilled at developing detailed narratives. Our ancestors attempted to quell their insatiable curiosity with stories that matched their philosophical notions. Each culture and age develops the myths and stories passed on to them by the preceding generation. The first myths centered on the natural world, including the sun, moon, stars and whatever materials provided sustenance to humans, including rain, fire, vegetation and animals. As entirely oral traditions, these myths underwent constant revision and were sometimes short lived. The stories shared by a community were among the most precious information held by the community after where to hunt and gather food or find shelter. These myths were the core of a community’s identity and were often the first knowledge to be preserved by the written word. For millennia, myths permeated knowledge bases so thoroughly that carving them out of farming, trade, astronomy, biology or other texts would leave little remaining. Reading and writing were very specialized skills limited to a select few. Not surprisingly, it was not long before a society’s most trusted members, such as monks, shaman and priests, were entrusted with the myths. In many cases, these trusties were the only people in a community with the ability to read, let alone interpret a...