Religious Allusions In Avatar

The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament. Sandra L. Richter, InterVarsity Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-8308-2577-6

The ark is another symbol that contributes to the theme that though humans are intolerable, there are people who are righteous. This is demonstrated in The Epic of Gilgamesh when the god Ea tells Utnapishtim to “‘tear down’ his ‘house and build a boat’”(108), and then proceeds to inform him of “‘the measurements of the barque as’ he ‘shall build her’”(108). The god Ea further details him to “‘take up into the boat of all living creatures’”(108). Utnapishtim listens and “loaded into her all that’ he ‘had of gold and of living things’, his ‘family’, his ‘kin, the beast of the field both wild and tame, and all the craftsmen’”(109). The ark symbolizes safety and security. The ark itself would protect themselves and ensure that there would be no danger. These living beings are the only ones who survive. If the god Ea were to choose someone righteous to live, he would choose Utnapishtim and his family, otherwise, he wouldn’t have told Utnapishtim about the upcoming flood. In the Bible, God tells Noah to “‘make’ himself ‘an ark of cypress wood’” and tells him of the content and measurements(New International Version, Genesis 6.14 -

After the world was shaped by an unknown creator, Prometheus, a Titan, sought to create the noblest of animals, man. Prometheus took some of the earth and gave it an upright stature thus man was formed. Prometheus had a brother named Epimetheus who was tasked to provide for man and all other animals with the necessary faculties for their lives. Epimetheus gave gifts to different animals such as wisdom, courage, strength, and swiftness, and a variety of physical aspects. However when it came to Man, Epimetheus ran out of gifts to bestow upon Man because he used them all up on the other animals. So Epimetheus turned to Prometheus and asked for his aid. Prometheus agreed to help Epimetheus and gave man the gift of fire, which allowed man to create tools, weapons, conquer the climate, and introduce the arts and jumpstart the economy. Jupiter was angered by Prometheus’ theft of the fire of heaven and gave the first woman to Prometheus as a gift. This woman was named Pandora. Pandora was made in heaven and every god gave her a gift to perfect her character. For example Venus gave her beauty, Mercury persuasion, Apollo music, and so on. After being made in seemingly perfect image she was sent to earth and presented to Epimetheus, who gladly but warily accepted her. Pandora was also gifted the trait of curiosity, and the problem that occurred was that Epimetheus’ house held a jar that contained various

The story of Noah’s ark and the story of Abraham both convey many non humanistic ideas, mainly the concept of monotheism because people often hold too much dependence and faith in God to act upon themselves.

After reading the creation of the first woman in both Theogony and Works and Days there are clear differences between Pandora in each myth. Although Pandora is portrayed two different ways, each story is extremely misogynistic. In Works and Days, Pandora is not made out to be as terrible as she is in Theogony. First off, the first woman is not even given a name in Theogony which can be seen as degrading and sexist. In addition to this, only two gifts are given to the first woman in Theogony rather than three.

The Earth existed for at least 4.5 billion years before modern humans came into being. The different cultures of the world have different ideas or stories of how humans came to be. The Hopi and Zuni tribes have creation stories that were passed from generation to generation. These stories claim that the world, despite being made before man, is meant to be ruled by and sustain mankind. Daniel Quinn’s novel, Ishmael, imagines its own creation myths to showcase how these stories work and the messages that they send. The Native American myths referenced in this paper and in Ishmael rank mankind as more important than the Earth through the timeframe of the creation stories, the way Earth is described, and how mankind interacts with the Earth.

For example, many values presented in the bible have been used to build the morale system in many societies. It is fascinating to see how this work alone is reflected among many religions and morality. In the book of Genesis, an ancient Near East literature, presents the creation of the universe from a supernatural being. The book of Genesis has a significant impact in Ancient Near East because this teaches them how creation was made and by who. The Near East are the nations and/or empires that are surrounded geographically in the land where God promised to Israel. The story of the creation explains how there were two parts, the creation of the universe and the creation of mankind. These two stories have influenced the Near East culture to show that God is the creator therefore people should only follow him, and with the creation of Adam and Eve (the first people on earth) it is explained that there are only two genders Male and Female. The Bible’s idea of creation was an action that brought functionality into a nonfunctional world. The message that was given cannot be fully understood without the having the knowledge of the cultural and historical background of the people to who the revelation is given to. After the book of Genesis, Exodus, a hero is chosen by God. Unlike the Greek, Hebrews have been wanderers where their goal is to search for home. Unlike The Odyssey, The Bible is straightforward in telling the story with a beginning, middle and end where Moses took the Jews out Egypt and took them into the promised land. Therefore, this story is primarily for the Jews. The story of Exodus influenced the Near East by showing them faith, but also influenced modern society. “Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses” (Exodus

Throughout this section we learned about Genesis 1-11 and what it teaches regarding the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and civilization. Learning about these different chapters and topics can really shape and define your Biblical worldview. Before college most of us didn’t have much of a worldview other than what our parents believe. These topics affect and shape our own personal worldview.

But despite these similarities, Eve and Pandora are characteristically different. Unlike Pandora, Eve is not naturally evil. She was created from one of Adams’ ribs, making Eve of the same material and nature as her husband. Pandora, conversely, is basically different from man. I figured this because Hesiod does not give a significant story of how man came to be in these sections, but Pandora’s attributes from the gods, including both her beauty and her deceitfulness, marks her as a separate individual. However, Eve is meant to be a companion for Adam, to say that Pandora was a gift is plainly ironic. This inconsistency is at the difference between the women. Pandora is a punishment for man. Theogony exposes this, by calling her evil for man or through the instance with the jar, which is an indicator of her deceitful nature. Neither work specifies if Pandora actually undergoes suffering alongside man. Eve, however, is a victim of her actions as much as Adam is, and these two suffer together, if not wholly in the same way.

Pandora’s myth includes the first human woman in Greek mythology created by the gods Hephaestus and Athena as prompted by Zeus. Pandora was delivered to Prometheus’ brother as a bride. Zeus gives her a jar filled with various evils as a wedding present; however, an important condition given by Zeus was that she was forbidden to open it. Her thoughts were overwhelmed by the possibilities that could be within the jar. One day, out of curiosity, Pandora opens the box and releases all evils into the world. After noticing what she had done, she traps Hope inside of the jar. The idea of Hope is considered an Absurdist idea as it holds mortals back from accomplishing positive reality by causing them to focus the positive possibility of their future

The myth goes that Zeus had Hephaestus create Pandora from earth and water so that he could use her to punish Prometheus after he stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. Before her departure, the Olympians showered her with a range of divine gifts from beautiful silvery robes, to

The gods created Pandora to be a punishment for mankind as a result of Prometheus giving them the knowledge of fire. All of the gods gave Pandora a gift during her creation. According to Hesiod, each of the gifts given to her were beautiful but evil. Hephaestus molded Pandora perfectly out of clay. Athena taught her

The book is an analysis of the Biblical view of the world and compares it other works in the Ancient Near East of that time with the development of the Bible. This is done by an in-depth analysis of the underlying beliefs inherent in mythology and the Biblical text. Of primary significance is the author's portrayal of the Biblical insistence on monotheism and divine transcendence compared to the polytheistic underpinnings of mythology.

When reading any type of literature about Adam and Eve, you are most likely persuaded that she was the start of messing up mankind. Eve was known for being a weak women and having a vein personality. Although, Eve was known for all of these ruthless things, in literature, readers are never fully aware of how compliant, loyal and passionate she was to her significant

Avatar: God on Earth is the “coming down” to earth of a god in Sanskrit theological terms. In many parts of the world, the idea of a god being born in human form was becoming established during the first century during the Common Era. Early on, there were stories about the “coming down” but there were a couple major differences in the stories. In the first story it is said that the “ancient gods came down to earth as gods, the avatar is a god in a truly human form – (17),” The gods are thought to walk, eat drink, and do everything just as we do as humans. The gods are incarnated in the womb. They are then born, where they proceed to grow up, teach, save the world, and then die. The second story states that the avatar figure is a savior figure. They claim to have at least two ways to prove this innovation. The god saves the world from power, like Satan or demonic kings, that are viewed as evil. He also secures a place in heaven for the individuals who put their faith in him, saving them from hell. Amongst the avatar religions they practice the ritual of placing faith in the savior god, instead of the ritual of sacrifice practiced in other religions. The avatar gods have a common pattern, they are well-known. Usually the avatar god is not conceived through sexual acts, thus making it special. Being exceptionally pure, a mother is chosen to carry the god. The mother is notified that her child has a “special destiny” by and angel or prophet. The birth of the god is swarmed with