Similarities in the Mythologies of Creation

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 ...

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...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.