Greek Mythology Summary And Analysis: Creation

“Mythos”- a Greek word meaning “tale” and the origin of the word mythology; according to the dictionary mythology means, a traditional story aiming to explain the meaning of things concerning deities and demigods.

“Greek Creation” it’s says, “Uranus feared these powerful creations and hid them deep in earth.

According to the book, no one myth regarding the beginning of all things or the origin of humans ever became universally accepted, however, the separate accounts mentioned all share a great deal in common, yet of course differ in some way, with many other creation myths taught so far. The creation of the world, or cosmic order, out of Chaos, is similar to the creation myths of Chinese, Indian, and Egyptian mythology, however, the details differ. In Egyptian myth, Nun embodies chaotic energies which are later put into order by the first deity. Both Greek and Indian mythology mention creating order out of Chaos but neither divulge many details on how this happened. Chinese creation myth, also making mention of creating order out of Chaos, explains

“The Iroquois Creation Story” tells the ancient myth when only two worlds existed. One, in the lower half, complete darkness filled with monsters and the other, the upper world, filled with mankind. There, in the second world, a women conceived twins. As her labor intensified she fell closer and closer to the lower, darker world. While in distress the twins were born and “entered the dark world by compulsion”. Only a few moments later the women fell to her death. As the twins grew older they possessed different minds. One was the good mind and the other was the bad mind. The good mind used the parent for his initial creations. Around the head, an orb was created to “bestow light to the new world”, now known as the sun. Another orb was placed around the body which was “inferior” to the light, now known as the moon. He also created spots of lights to connect the day and night which are now know as stars. All of these were created to help “regulate” the days, nights, season, years, etc.”. The good mind continued his creations by creating animals, oceans, mountains, insects and mankind.

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

Not only that but that when the chief’s daughter fell ill the Sky People dug up a tree and laid the girl next to the hole that remained. When they laid her next to the hole she fell through the hole where two swans caught her. Then they put her on The Great Turtle’s back and it counseled that she was a symbol of good fortune. The Great Turtle sent all the other animals to bring the Sky World tree back with earth covered roots. Many animals tried but failed, coming back to exhausted and died. Finally an elderly woman toad had just enough energy left to spit a mouthful of earth onto the back of The Great Turtle. The earth was magical therefore it grew and grew enough for the Sky woman to live on. The swans circled enough till it grew in to the land mass it is today. But it was dark so The Great Turtle called the animals to put a great light into the sky. A little turtle climbed into a black cloud collecting lightning as she went. She made a big bright ball called the sun and a smaller ball called the moon. Then The Great Turtle commanded the animals to make holes in the comers in the sky so the sun and moon could go down as one when up as they circled. The Sky woman gave birth to twins, one good called Tharonhiawagon, one evil called Tawiskaron. From her breasts grows the three sisters; corn, beans, and

Although a lot of other cosmogonic myths have presented creations as part of a natural process that has the clear understanding that it is an act of divine and creative will. We all know there are several creation myths across different cultures. It is known that every different culture even has its unique creation myth that also explains how life and world came to be (Leonard & McClure, 2004). The two myths I would talk about when it comes to this topic are Genesis creation (Hebrew origin) of the Christian culture, and the Norse culture of Iceland (the Vikings). From the readings of both, both myths also start with an emptiness where conflict and chaos may even eventually develop. The Genesis conflict is between God, loneliness, blackness, emptiness, and the need to create

No matter what back ground a person comes from, there is always an in the beginning. My experience is that the in the beginning was God created from nothing in six days, the seventh being a day to catch his breath. While the beliefs we are studying here in this class may differ from my teachings, there is the common thread that something came from nothing/chaos. A common ground that the world should recognize and build upon.

In the beginning there was emptiness called Chaos, as well as Earth, Hell, and Love named Eros. Eros was half girl half boy and created the earth named Gaia. Gaia, out of her own fertility, created a male companion named Ouranos, sky (Stone 39). Ouranos and Gaia would begin to create all other creatures of the universe including the massive Titans. Some of their offspring were giant rats and lizards, some only had one eye in the center of their forehead, and others had fifty heads and one hundred arms. Ouranos was disgusted by these deformed creatures and hid them away deep within the earth. Gaia did not agree with this decision and vowed to get revenge upon him. She turned to the Titans for help and promised if one of them would use an adamant sickle against their father they would assume his role as the master of the universe and king of the Titans. Kronos, the largest of the Titans, stepped forward. That same night Kronos snuck up behind his father and cut off his genitals. Kronos raised the genitals in victory spraying blood everywhere. Some of the blood hit Gaia and seeped into her womb (Stone 40). Other drops dripped into Tartarus, the deepest part of the underworld, and created the Furies. Finally, drops would become the Giants of the Earth which would be impervious to death, even by the hands of a god. Although Kronos was now king of the Titans he was told by his mother and father that he would be

The first thing he created was light, but of course there was still darkness, but the light and the dark were separated. Light was called “day”, and dark was called “night”. He made the sun to rule the daytime. For the night He made the moon and the stars.

This essay will compare and contrast the Biblical creation myths with other creation myths from Greece and the Ancient Near East. It will first discuss the initial creation of the universe followed by the creation of mankind and finally the recreation of man whilst drawing parallels to Sumerian and Babylonian texts, The Old Testament and Hesiods Theogony. In paying particular attention to the chronology of each myth it will be shown that the creation myths regarding the universe and mankind evolved from as far back as the Sumerian stories.

Together the Gods went to war against Cronus and the Titans for ten years, and Cronus was defeated. Having beaten the old gods, Zeus made himself supreme god of the Olympians and most powerful god. The brothers drew straws for domains of the Universe and therefore were divided into three parts. Poseidon became the god of the sea, Zeus became the king of gods, the sky, and heaven and earth and Hades became the god of the underworld.

When the cyclopes were locked in Tartarus, Zeus was fighting the Titans. Gaea told Zeus to go to Tartarus and unlock the cyclopes and also their brothers, the Hekatoncheires. Zeus freed them. The cyclopes were so grateful that they made a lightning bolt for Zeus, a cap of invisibility for Hades and a trident for Poseidon. With the Cyclopes help the Olympians won the Titanomachy.

Like most ancient middle eastern creation stories, God had to control “dark, unformed chaos,” which is also referred to as dark forces, before he could begin creation. Once the forces were dealt with the first thing that God created was light ("The Creation Story and Social Justice”). This was a very logical first things because light means the opposite of dark, which signifies the defeat of the dark forces. Another key thing that happens in this first “day” or phase is the separation of light from darkness. It shows that there is a contrast between good and bad, with bad referring to the dark forces of chaos. The main misconception in this first Creation story is the concept of the word “day.” The word itself comes from the Hebrew word “yom” which actually means “a given time period.” The actual length of time is unclear. But a better way to think of the “days” of creation would be to think of them as phases or eras.

The Great Spirit created the Sun and the Moon who were given the task of further creation. The Sun and the Moon then moved on to create man and woman. Like many other creation stories, it starts out with a supreme being who then creates some deities and they create mankind.