Creation Myth Motifs: How The Earth Was Made?

Their Gods: The Mesopotamians had hundreds of gods who all had different task such as making bread, or poetry. Supposedly it wasnt the gods who created the world or humans, but the blood of a dead dragon named kingu, or the rivers tigris and euphrates which were also made from a dragon

The question being asked is, why do cultures build religious structures? Also, how have artists tried to portray images of deities?

     In the Olmec art forms there is evidence of ritual importance of the natural landscape. Mountains symbolize an entrance to the upper world. Caves symbolize and entrance to the under world. “Water symbolizes the precious essence of life” (Evans 2004:135). These theological themes may have been precursors to following cultural belief systems; the Aztecs also shared similar beliefs about their environment.

For example, during one of our earliest cultures, the Paleolithic period, the Women of Willendorf sculpture portrays a grossly heavy female figure representing fertility and beauty of being

The most commonly used motif of all is the quest for something of importance. In the Odyssey,

Throughout this course, I have learned about what a myth is and all of the themes that fit into myths. The most common themes seen throughout the myths we have studied during this course are fate, pride and hubris, heroism, justice and vengeance, and beauty. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about mythology throughout this course and I have always felt that the controlling question driving this course is, why is mythology so important to us, even today? It is important to know the answer to this question and to know about the different themes seen throughout the myths studied in this course.

The general purpose for all myths is to bring an understanding of unknown. The ancient people widely used myths to explain new phenomena and occurrences. The lack of scientific modes of theory formulation caused the people of old to come up with myths to fill the vacuum with the knowledge that existed during their time. The need by man to explain his origin and the origin of the universe led him to the formulation of creation and origin myths. Men of olds came up with myths to explain the mysteries they had no clue about including creation.

The passage from “Enuma Elish” reveals that water was a precious element to the Balbylonians; it was difficult to find water because they lived in such dry and barren land. In Babylonian culture, Titmat became the Earth, which literally made her, Mother Earth, therefore making the land and agriculture important to the civilization. “The Creation of the Titans and Gods” shows that the people of Greece were abundant in agriculture thanks to Zeus; although Mother Earth and Zeus are not the same, they had the same value in society and that they had created the land the people lived on. Not only were the land, water and agriculture important in society, but also the society and structure itself was a growing matter. The myth, “The Creation, Death, and Rebirth of the Universe” tells of a message that was sent throughout the people of India about their roll in society. In order for one to be the best of their abilities, they must work within their social cast and not be removed from said placing. In a Chinese teaching, called “The Creation of the Universe and Human Beings”, the people believed in the wealthy and the poor; “The people whom Nu Kua had fashioned by hand from the rich yellow earth of the riverbed were high-born, wealthy, and intelligent. But the people who had fallen in drops from her rope were low-born, poor, common folk.”

gods and the natural world. Gods of rain, fire, water, corn, sky, and sun were venerated. There

The Minoans were recognized for their symbolism relating nature and their culture. This was evident during the Prehistoric Aegean, where Minoan art was immense with motifs of nature present in their art. Some examples range from the snake goddess, the bull, the horns of consecration, and other animal associations of the like. The rhyta present in Minoan art were used in religious rituals consisting of liquid offerings being poured and were widely prominent with the elite and at the palace at Knossos. The “Terracotta vase in the form of a bull's head”, demonstrates the importance of the bull in relation to their culture and religious rituals that took place during the Late Minoan II period on Crete.

There are many different types of stories, some fairy tales and some are origin myths. Within each story there are different things not seen by just reading the story and not thinking about the deeper meaning behind it. Such as in origin myths there are cultural characteristics. Cultural characteristics are the beliefs of a culture in which its society is based off of. These cultural characteristics can be seen as a blend of beliefs that tie the people to the land around them. This is very evident when looking at the creation stories of ingenious people. Each culture has different characteristics. For example the indigenous creation stories called “The Earth on Turtle’s Back”, “When Grizzlies Walked Upright”, and the Navajo origin legend; all have characteristics of the Native American culture. Such as the Native American cultural characteristics that you should respect animals, nature, and elders. Those cultural characteristics are very evident throughout the first two stories. The third creation story has different cultural characteristics.

display the power and jobs of the goddesses. The Greek people lived to please the deities

The motifs found in the creation myths are undoubtedly different from those found in any other type of myth. Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of the creation myths is much greater than a primitive attempt to explain the mysteries of creation. Behind each creation myth is a vast variety of symbolism along with a number of motives which are often shared between cultures, despite vast geographical differences. My intention here is not only to discuss the purpose of the creation myths, but also to compare and contrast common themes which can be found in three selected works. These being, an Eskimo creation myth, the Ongwe creation myth and the Navajo creation myth.

There are many motifs in mythology. A motif is a repeating idea. Learning these myths are challenging, but they explain so much about how the Earth, time, and humans were created. Explaining the myths, or even the motifs, could be hard considering there are many different ideas on why and how the motifs are included. Three motifs caught my attention, which were the destruction from gods, humans created from organic materials, and family trees, and I am here to explain them.

Each creation story highlights the most important aspects of the cultures that wrote them. Not only do they show the values of the people, but they can give us an insight into how these cultures might have been. Comparing the Atra-hasis, Rig Veda, Genesis, Yijing, and Popol Vuh has uncovered many distinct themes when focusing on the time and place the creation story occurred. Patterns found in creation stories from different parts of the world show how similar human beings are.