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Common Themes In Creation Myths

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Each every creation myth is unique in its own way. Of course, creation myths have their similarities, but each of them has at least one detail that separates them from every other myth. The question is how those similarities came about, considering for some of these groups that didn’t even know that each other existed. It would have nearly impossible and extremely unlikely for them to communicate with each other let alone, share their stories with each other. Yet, despite this there are some extremely common themes and events throughout these myths. Three of the most common creation myth motifs are, women bringing in evil and suffering, a bloody struggle or warfare, and an imperfect creator. Women bring evil and suffering in the world: This motif is in multiple myths, including the Greek creation myth where Pandora becomes curious and opens her box that releases evils onto mankind. The sisters of Ymir, who carve into the tree of life that causes pain and suffering in man 's life. Also, in Genesis where Adam and Eve eat the fruit of knowledge and gain knowledge, but the knowledge also brings suffering into their lives. The …show more content…

The list is long and includes over half of the creation myths. Including the Theogony where it takes Prometheus five attempts to make humans. In the Rig Veda where Prajapati defiles his daughter. The Chinese creation where Nuwa makes some humans better than others. The Inca creation where Pachacamac makes humans that cannot function properly. The Mayan creation where it takes Tepeu and Gucumats 3 attempts to make man, and even on the third attempt the human’s eyesight was as good as the Gods, so they removed some of it. IN the Inuit creation myth Raven didn’t mean to make man and doesn’t know how to take care of man at first. Then in the Egyptian creation Atum doesn’t even mean to make mankind, and in the Yoruban myth, it takes multiple attempts to make mankind

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So it is very likely that there was an original story or event that came from one group of people. As this group of people split up and spread all across the world their story of creation was carried with them. Over time this story changed into the many different variations that there are today.

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109 Words | 1 Pages

Between “The Babylonian Creation Epic” and “Theogony” there are many similarities and differences that can be found. One similarity between these two is the idea of two beings, Tiamat and Apsu (fresh and salt water) and Gaia and Ouranos (earth and sky) who couple together and give birth to the first gods. In Gaia and Ouranos’s case, these ‘gods’ are called Titans. In the Babylonian story Marduk, a son of the gods, kills Tiamat and creates humankind from the blood of one of the gods who stood on her side. Whereas in “Theogony” Ouranos is hated by all of his children and ends up castrated by his son Kronos.

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1253 Words | 6 Pages

The creation myth according to the Aztecs is a continuous story of creations and disasters, it is called the Legend of the Fifth Sun. Creation began when the dual Ometecuhtli (Lord of Duality) and Omecihuatl (Lady of Duality) created itself. This god gave birth to four other gods. These gods created the world. When the first creation was completed, a cycle of 5 suns followed which corresponded to 5 world ages, each one ending in elimination.

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There are many creation myths and not all are the same but many share some similarities, they are called motifs, but how many myths share three well known motifs? It is a very amazing thing that all of these different people shared some of the same ideas on how their people were started and some of them were oceans apart. It is a curious thing and also cool seeing how all of them thought the same thing. The three motifs that I am going to go over are the motif of people being made out of organic materials, the earth being made from objects, like body parts or objects, and the motif of there being a great flood that almost wiped out all humans on Earth.

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The second day God separated water into the sea and the sky. The third day God created land and plants. On the fourth day God created the sun and moon, along with the stars. On the fifth day, the Lord created fish and birds. On the sixth day, God created animals and humans.

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Women, in both Greek and Mesopotamian mythology, are often symbolic of temptation, mischief and trouble. Before women first stepped onto the earth, men lived peaceful and healthy lives. The stories of Pandora and Ishtar serve as two prime examples of women depicted as the sources of punishment, trickery, or otherwise general immortality. When Zeus sent Pandora to earth, he had only vengeful punishment in mind. While Pandora was beautiful and gifted, she was also very deceitful, which was a fitting attribute considering Zeus’s plan to trick Epimetheus into his own punishment.

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633 Words | 3 Pages

All cultures and religions have a beginning. The land, water, people, and animals had to be created somehow. The myths of creation varies widely from culture to culture, however, in some instances there are similarities between the cultures and their beliefs. Despite the many differences, creation myths of the Iroquois, Navajo, and Christian people all contain archetypical elements and symbolism that make each of them unique, such as the different characters and developments that show that despite the many differences, there can also be some similarities.

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They created the Earth and the light and the plants and then decided that they needed beings to worship them. They created animals but the animals couldn’t worship them the way they wanted. The first time they tried to create Man, they weren’t suitable so they destroyed them and tried again. They did this twice before finding a race of Man that was suitable. The Old Testament says that there was nothing in the beginning and each day, God created something new.

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Each culture establishes their own story of creation, as well as their own portrayal of who is “the supreme creator”.

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For example in the Greek creation myth there are three creators, Gaia (the world), Prometheus and Epimethius, but in the Chinese, Incan, and Mayan creation myths there are two creators. In the Chinese creation myth the creators are Pan-gu and Nuwa. In the Incan creation myth the creators are Patchacana and Patchamama. Lastly, in the Mayan creation myth the creators are Tepeu and Gucumatz. I think many creation myths used this motif because most times the creators wanted shared power.

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1154 Words | 5 Pages

Creation myths are types of narratives that cultures or groups throughout time use to explain how the world as we know it began or how it became what they knew of it back in their time. With various groups in society throughout time we are now able to look back at several different aspects and outlooks through these creation myths that still live in some way, shape, or form. However, the creation myths we observe in the class have evidence that dates back to the time of their telling whether it be through text or hieroglyphs. With several ways to observe these creation myths an interesting way would be by comparing and contrasting the views and beliefs held by groups through time and how they shift. A genuinely intriguing topic of discussion is the role of women in the creation myths and

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586 Words | 3 Pages

The Cherokee creation story and the biblical account in Genesis 1–3 present contrasting viewpoints on the origins of the universe, offering insights into the way different cultures perceive the beginning of the world. While both narratives incorporate elements of creation and a significant flood, they differ significantly in their cosmology, moral implications, and the nature of their deities. Firstly, the Cherokee creation story portrays a world initially characterized by peace and contentment, with no evil or sorrow. However, evil infiltrates this utopia, corrupting the minds of the people and leading to widespread wickedness (“Cherokee Creation Story,” 1996, para. 3).

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There are hundreds of motifs scattered throughout the world about many vastly different creation myths. There are some myths linked with only a few motifs, and they originated from the same continent. Then there are also myths which originated from the other side of the world and share so many motifs one would think they were just a hundred miles away. With so many different motifs, it remains unclear and unproven as to how so many different cultures can share the same theory about how Earth and humans were created. Although there are so many fascinating motifs about the creation of the world and everything on it, I believe these three are the most common motifs shared by creation myths: nothingness (chaos) in the beginning of time, humans

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479 Words | 2 Pages

For example in the the Iroquois Creation story it states “ the turtle increased every moment and became a considerable island of earth, and apparently covered with small bushes”(David Cusick). In this section of writing it states that the earth was formed on the back of a large turtles shell. In the Bible in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 it states “ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. In this part of writing it states that God had created the heavens and the earth.

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Many with a modern, Christian worldview believe there is only one God and He created the world. The Mesopotamians, according to the Enuma Elish, believed in multiple gods and they seemingly were constantly fighting amongst themselves. Tiamat was the name given to chaos and it was through her defeat that the world was created. Later in the story, Marduk creates humans to essentially be servants to the gods.

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