Creation myths are used to explain the origins of man and the universe as regarded by a particular culture in a specific time period. Although there are many similarities throughout different creation myths, in this essay, I’d specifically like to explore the common themes of animals in these tales reflecting human inferiority/superiority, and different cultural interpretations of the ‘ages of man.’
Animals in many creation stories highlight anthropological insights that reflect a society’s cultural beliefs and practices. One way in which they do this is by reflecting the way individual society’s viewed their relationship with the gods and the earth. Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the Biblical creation story demonstrate this through the explanation of the genesis of man, and the order in which all living things are created. In both the Bible and Ovid’s version, man is made last: “And the waters shared their dwelling with the gleaming fishes; earth recieved the beasts, and the restless air, the birds. An animal with higher intellect, more noble,
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This leads to the Heroic Age, in which Zeus creates “a godlike race of heroes, who are called the demi-gods – the race before our own.” (p.46, line 52-53) This is the only age that Hesiod acknowledges any improvement in the human condition. The fame of the demi-gods is used an example of the moral perfection that can be achieved through noble deeds.
The fifth race, “who live now on the fertile earth” (p.40, line70), is characterized by hard work and strife. As punishment for our immorality, Hesiod describes a time in which “Father will have no common bond with son. Neither will guest with host, nor friend with friend; the brother-love of past days will be gone.” (p.46, line 79-81) “And only grievous troubles will be left for men, and no defense against our wrongs.” (p.47, line 100-101) According to Hesiod, this will eventually lead to the gods abandoning