Similarities In Creation Myths

All people throughout history have strived to explain the unknown. This is reflected best in the creation myth. The creation myth serves to answer that most pervasive of ancient questions: that of the origin of the world. All cultures have tried to answer this question. Two of these cultures are the Aztecs and the ancient Greeks. The Aztecs claimed that the world began with the goddess Coatlicue becoming impregnated by a ball of hummingbird feathers. Her previously born children try to kill her, but she gives birth to the sun god Huitzilopochtli, who kills her attackers and ascends to rule the heavens, leaving Coatlicue to rule the recently created earth. In Greek mythology, the earth goddess Gaia marries the sky god Ouranos, producing the titans, the first gods. One of the titans, Cronos, kills Ouranos with a sickle and rules the world. His children defeat him and send him down to Tartarus, the greek equivalent of hell. This essay serves to demonstrate the profuse similarities between the Aztec and Greek creation myths. The writer will show how the Aztec and Greek creation myths have many intrinsic themes and similarities.

Throughout the plot of these four creation stories, it is visible that each culture has varying beliefs on how land was developed. For example, Cherokee Indians conclude that land was created by a water beetle who sculpted soft mud, where as Hawaiians believe that land emerged from the slime in the ocean. Both Europeans and West Africans teach that a supreme being used his or her powers to form land. In Genesis, God was responsible for the land, whereas in the Golden Chain story, a creature called Obatala was deemed accountable for creating the land. One similarity betweens these stories is that they all begin in an almost identical setting. In every myth except for

Myths – as they are known to most of the world – give insight into the pasts of various countries and religions as the people saw them. They have been used to explain phenomenons in nature or describe the tales of courageous and important men and women throughout history. Creation myths in particular define how the Earth itself was created, along with the universe, heavens, hell, people, and creatures that exist today. Genesis of Christian mythology, for instance, tells the story of how the single deity God spoke and formed everything from day and night to man and woman. Various African creation myths, such as with the Yoruba, explain the creation of the Earth through at least a couple gods working together and all life

Almost every culture on earth has a creation myth. Most if not all of these myths borrow from the core theme of a God-centered creation as contained in the book of Genesis chapter one. According to Van Over (11), a good number of these creation stories show a similarity in the point of their origin. Rumor has it that some of these myths have emanated from actual historical occurrences or events. All creation myths emerge from one ancient source and only diverge when it comes to their timing and the surrounding cultural circumstances. The variations in the myths come as a result of the differences in time and cultural circumstances. Aside from the two causes of variation, in general all creation myths show a basic outline and they also share some basic elements.

Origin myths deliver stories explaining how the world, humans or objects came to existence. Describing where the nation comes from, they are very important to the culture of given region. Therefore, each nation developed its own stories and beliefs; however, there are many similarities between myths of various religions and cultures. A good example would be Native American stories about origin and their resemblance to Greek mythology or to the Bible. Similarities can be seen in different spheres such as creation of humankind or even in the story about flood.

Creation myths across cultures have several obvious similarities and differences. There is substantial importance in the larger ideas, such as gender, the role of the human beings, and the outcome of the creation. I find it fascinating that many of the mythical stories from around the world have told a story where a God floods the earth. I think the flood stories in each myth may be a link between them. Creation myths concern our ancestors and gods of nature; the earth, the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars. They are supernatural explanations of human origin and they help explain what humans could not explain to answers question about the creation of the earth and man that could be passed on for generations. Our culture and history would not be the same without the mythical place that surround the stories of our creation.

There were plenty of differences in each myth. The Greek myth was filled to the brim with gods and goddesses whose lives intertwined with one another. It was also packed with different versions of myths including the world being created by a woman, serpent, and cosmic egg. In the Hawaiian creation myth, it seems that the Earth was already there when Kumulipo and Po’ele started creating plants and animals. This myth does not go into detail about how the Earth was created. Finally, in the Ute myth Manitou lived in the sky with nothing around but the sun and clouds suggesting He-She created the world. He-She created the world from a hole unlike female-serpent relationship in the Greek myth that suggests some form conception.

The most popular creation myth, in present day is the “one god” myth. It existed yet, had a brief life and it was in the minority. Here Ptah was the closest thing to monotheism that the ancients had. This is a popular theme in Memphite theology, but it was present in parts of Egypt. Ptah supposedly had all that is manifest in thought and then created them with his Word (Baines, 1991). It is also said that the “one god” is and the other god names are used to personify an extension of the “one god” (Ancient Egyptian Religion pg. 2 and 3). Ptah creates the Ennead with thought and word. This monotheism was not very widespread and it did not last long.

Creation stories are common among different cultures, but the Greek and Genesis creation stories have both similarities and differences in how they began and how humans were created.

After reading the 5 creation myths, one “elementary idea” that is evident in at least 2 of these myths is the idea of forbidden things being broken. This is shown through the Greek Creation Myth and the African Bushmen Creation Myth. The idea behind this elementary idea is that when there is something in the world that is forbidden people are eventually driven to do the forbidden thing and break the rules. Both myths additionally share the “elementary idea” there being a being that originally created everything and formed the world.

What challenges did reading these creation stories and trickster tales present?  What surprised you? How do these creation stories compare to others you might know (i.e. the Genesis story from The Bible, Greek Myths, etc.)?  While I was somewhat apprehensive of reading a type of literature that was totally new to me, I actually found this reading to be enjoyable. Tales of penis’s flying off to impreganate women far away certainly were a surprise and far from boring. While I firmly believe in the Genesis story of creation, I have always been fascinated by learning about the beliefs of other cultures. I recall loving geography in sixth grade because we got to study other cultures. I don’t recall

So many myths have multiple motifs that are similar to each other. Why are so many myths similar? Why do they share so many motifs? We may never know the answer, but I do have some valid points that may explain it a little bit better. Some motifs that multiple myths include: Creators using organic materials to form humans, ruler using floods to wipe out an entire race, and ruler having supreme power.

There are many myths from country to country in the world. There are even some for individual cultures and religions. The Greek creation myth and Japanese one have a similarity although there are differences between them. According to the Japanese creation myth, before the earth began, the world was filled with one germ of life. The heavier part of it sank and lighter part of it rose.

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

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.