Motifs In Myths Concerning The Creation Myth

In ancient Europe and Japan, life was relatively tranquil. However, this peace disintegrated as aggressive tribes invaded and power struggles erupted. To keep order and restore the peace, feudalism developed in both regions. Feudalism was a system in which large landowning lords gave land to lesser lords (vassals) in exchange for loyalty and service. The vassals were often part of a professional warrior class, known as knights in Europe and samurai in Japan.

Myths are distinctive because of their continuity. Every aspect of a myth co-exists. They are intertwined, and there is no distinction between humanity, nature, and the deity. One of the interesting aspects of myths is that they lack barriers, and as a consequence, humans can actually participate in the nature and in the divine. Furthermore, symbols are reality. Everything is connected, and the lines are

All three creations myths begin similarily with the divine being or spirit being in a void. Written in Genesis 1:2, as well as the Enuma Elish with Tiamat, goddess of primeval chaos and bearer of sky and earth, and Aspu, god of water, along with Ahura Mazada from the Avesta. Notice the first three words in both the Old Testament and the Avesta, "In the beginning."

A technique that is used in many creation myths can be referred to as "creation from above." In this method of narration, the creator often creates a replica of earth within the heavens, and somehow recreates this image in the abyss below. An example of this can originally be found in Kund Rasmussen's collection of Eskimo myths. In this story a being called Tulungersaq, or Father Raven is born in the heavens. He initially takes the form of a human being and is entirely unaware of how he came into existence. He is in complete darkness and it is through his sense of touch that he becomes aware of his surroundings. Through his exploration, he discovers a sparrow, and realizes that this is the only form of life that had been in existence before him. He goes on to bury something beneath the earth and soon after he discovers that the earth is no longer sterile, it is now covered in bushes and grass. Tulungersaq is still

These people could not of known about the ocean. Another motif found in creation myths is that the younger people will always take over the old either by overthrowing or just letting the old die. Did the people see this in real life and, think the gods must of occurred with the gods? Another one of the motifs used in creation myths was that humans were always made of organic materials straight from the Earth. Why is this?

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.

All around the world there are stories and explanations as to what the beginning of time was like and what events led to the creation of earth and humanity. Different cultures from different areas have miraculously retained similar explanations and ideas. When multiple creation myths all share the same similar ideas, those ideas are called motifs, such as the creation of humanity using organic materials and in the beginning only chaos existing. People have yet to discover how cultures from completely different sides of the planet came to have such similar creation myths. Regarding creation myths, there are three motifs that I find to be more important: the idea of women being the reason of evil and punishment in the world, the idea of humans being created to care for the earth, and the idea that humans were created using organic materials.

The gods and goddesses that attempt to make people try multiple times before they get it right and make us they way we are. A fun fact is that this in In the (Inuit Creation Myth) Raven decides to make plants and animals for man to eat. She made mountain sheep, fish, birds, and other animals out of clay for man to eat. Another creation myth that uses this motif is (Norse Creation Myth) and it says that the god Odin makes people out of elm trees that he pulled from the mud and made the first man and women out of them. Odin gave them life by breathing life into them. The man was named Ask and the women was named Embla and they were given the task to look after Midgard while the gods and goddesses ascended into heaven. I believe this motif is seen in so many creation myths because a man and a women would have had to made first so that they could populate the

There are nine classifications of creation myths, which most include more than one motif. The Genesis cosmogonies applies both ex nihilo, and deus faber motifs. The

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

The first creation myth of my interest is humans being made up of completely organic materials. Humans in these creation myths are usually made up of clay, mud, plants, bones, corn, rocks, and other organic materials. The Theogony, the Genesis, the Chinese creation myth, and the Yoruban creation myth are similar because all of them have their people made out of clay or mud. In the Elder Eddas people were created of trees, the Incan people of rocks, Mayan people of corn, Enuma Elish people of bones, the Egyptian creation myth of Atum’s tears, and the Inuit

One of the most commonly known creation myths is about the Christian/Hebrew creation of man. In this myth, the first man is made from organic materials and the first woman is made from a rib taken from the first man. Ancient cultures realized that they were made from the same things as the environment around them, so it would only make sense for their creation myth to involve man being made from all sorts of organic materials. This inclusion of this motif shows that ancient cultures had at least a basic understanding of the elements and what makes up everything on the earth. In the Cheyenne creation myth, Maheo also uses one of his ribs to create the first human. Humans are respectively made from dirt clods, rocks, clay, demon bones, trees, mud, stone, white corn, pea pods, and tears throughout various creation myths. Every

Creation myths are the most common form of mythology throughout most of the ancient cultures of the world and evolved from first an oral history passed on to the next generation ending with multiple versions. Mythologists have categorized these mythologies from the various and numerous ancient cultures into five types, which include Ex Nihilo, Creation from Chaos, World Parent, Emergence and Earth-Diver.

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

Ovid’s Metamorphoses, tells of “The creator of the universe, originator of a better world, fashioned him from divine seed, or earth, . . . mixed with rain water by Prometheus, son of Iapetus, and fashioned by him into the likeness of the gods” (Ovid Metamorphoses I. 76-88). Prometheus is the creator in this account, and his method of creation resembles that of the Book of Genesis. God creates man in his Garden of Eden in the same fashion. God forms man out of the earth, just as Prometheus does. The two myths become even more alike when the reader finds that Athena breathes life into Prometheus’ man, just as God breathes life into Adam. When comparing these myths, it is quite apparent that the civilizations have similar views; both show strong ties to the idea that man thought it was created from the earth and made in the image of the gods.