Enuma Elish Motifs

In mythology, certain motifs can be seen repeated throughout stories. Different cultures may adopt similar gods or creation myths to where these same stories are replayed in slightly modified ways. One of the earliest creation myths written is the Enuma Elish. Countless myths are inspired by this and others. In almost every story, there is at least one thing similar to another myth. In this paper, three motifs will be discussed and examples will be provided for each. Specifically, the idea of humans being made from organic materials, the idea of the earth being made of a being’s body, and the idea that from the beginning of mankind, humans were made to work and toil. It will soon be shown how several cultures, religions, and people are influenced

Their first race of humans were made from clay, their second race from wood, and their third and final race made of corn paste. The Tulugak, the Inuit creation myth, had the first men born from pea pods. In the Greek Theogony, humans were made up of dirt and clay, both similar things scientists see in the bodies of humans today. Other myths like the Yoruban and Incan also include this motif in them. Incan humans were originally formed from mountain rock, while Yoruban humans were made from wet clay. The Earth is made of a supernatural being’s body.Even though this motif may sound strange, it is actually used in many creation stories. All throughout the world, from Egypt to Norway to China, this myth has been adopted and adapted in very similar ways. Usually, the myths keep one thing the same, except for a few exceptions, the Earth is made from a female being’s body. This may be the reason for multiple creation myths having this motif as part of their story. The “Mother Nature” aspect translates into Earth. The people who wrote this motif may have wished for “Mother Nature" to be watching over the Earth and bearing fruit as a female bears a

His body became the Earth, his skull became the sky, his hair became the trees, and so on. Mankind made to work and toil Just like the motifs above, the creation of mankind can differ throughout myths, but a common motif among them is the reason for mankind’s existence. It would make sense for a god to love and care for the beings they created to roam the Earth. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. A lot of myths have their gods or gods creating humans in order to work and toil upon the Earth. The main reason for their existence is to take care of the land and worship the gods. Multiple creation myths possess gods who do not care about the beings, in fact, they McKlin 4 sometimes bring destruction upon them. This motif may be shown throughout different stories because it reflects the world throughout time. The world is not free of pain and suffering, humans must work and toil in order to survive. The people who created these motifs and myths most likely noticed this about their world and revealed it within their stories. They probably also realized many of their gods were jealous. They do not want humans to worship or idolize anything other than