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…• 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..

• 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.

• 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)  |  Night + Erebos

• 2. Gaia ("Earth")  |  Ouranos ("Sky"),  Mountains,  Pontos ("Sea")  |  Aether   Day

• 3. Tartaros4. Eros ("Desire")Gaia + Ouranos ("Sky") | 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-in-chief 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…• Once the mighty priest Tvashtri, out of dislike for the god Indra, created a three-

headed 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.

• 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.

• 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…