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Why Do Cultures Develop Creation Myths

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Why do cultures develop creation myths? In general, what purpose do they serve for the members of that culture?

I believe that cultures develop creation myths to explain the unexplainable. Many people wondered why their world was created and why things such as floods, earthquakes, etc. would occur before they had any sort of scientific explanation to rationalize their thoughts, so they developed creation myths based on what they could observe and had experienced. Creation myths allow people to have meaning for their lives. They give the people a reason to harvest crops, live by a certain code of conduct, and a way to pass down their traditions and connect generations together. Without creation myths, some cultures would see no purpose in coming together as a community or cherishing the land they live on, so creation myths are important to cultures all over the world. For example, the Greeks made sacrifices to the Gods in order to bring them fertility (Aphrodite), rain (Zeus), etc. since they had Gods to represent every aspect of life. This gave them a code of conduct, so to speak, …show more content…

For example, in Egyptian mythology, Atum was the first being present, and although this being did not have a specific gender, the myth refers to Atum as a “he.” Atum went on to create a number of male beings that represented major aspects of life. Geb was associated with Earth, Osiris was king of the dead, and Seth was a trickster/evil. Geb represented the place Egyptians lived, Osiris could control who judged the dead and provided fertility and prosperity, and Seth reflected the many challenges people face against evil and mischief. While Maat represented law, order, and truth, and Hathor was considered the first great mother goddess, these female deities seemed to mainly contribute to the creation of other gods or aspects of existing human

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In Greek mythology they believed in a second order of divine, males were Titans and women were called Titaness. The Titans were one of twelve primeval deities. The Titans were made up of six men and six women, their mother was Gaia, who was the mother of the earth and the father Uranus was the father of the sky. The six Titans were Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus, Crius, and Lapetus. The six Titaness were Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea, and Themis.

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In the time period, the world was full of polytheistic religions, like the Ancient Egyptian religion, and therefore the transition from henotheism to monotheism was extremely significant in history. The start of this transition can be seen in the story of Noah’s ark, especially in comparison to the flood from the Epic of Gilgamesh. These two stories are undeniably linked and share many similarities. An important difference between the two is that the Mesopotamian story contains many gods and the Biblical story only contains one God. Creation myths are essential to a religion because they give an explanation for the origins of the world, and usually revolve around certain deities.

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Persephone in The Odyssey was as well a very strong goddess she carried the effect of the curses of the men in the underworld. In Orpheus and Eurydice the women are very determined

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Stories often reveal details of how given societies and cultures were structured. They provide an insight into historical ways of thinking, and how those ways of thinking were then applied. An example of this insight is creation myths. These are stories about how the world was created and how it came to be. Creation myths vary culturally, and yet they all have one thing in common: creation beings.

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In a religious aspect, myth is nothing more than a story of creation and beliefs of where life will take you in the end. For certain religions, myths explain the creation

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As Armstrong explains, “mythology was therefore designed to help us to cope with the problematic human predicament. It helped people to find their place in the world and their true orientation” (6). The idea of myths was created to teach humans proper behavior that fit with their ideal society, as well as help people live in peace with one another. They also taught valuable lessons on how not to live since people didn 't know where they come from and where they belong. We invented stories by using gods, humans and magical creatures to explain something that happens in nature.

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Creation myths are stories that were created by different cultures to explain to their people how the world was brought about. Each creation myth is similar because they all start off with a supernatural being or higher power creating the world and bringing about life to earth. A similar theme that appears across all creation myths is that the world was created out of nothing which was eventually covered with land and a great amount of water and was later filled with creatures and mankind which is all similar to the birth

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The Greeks created their Gods in order to help them deal with everyday problems. Whether the crops didn't grow or they just had a child, the Greeks now had something to look up to for praise or for questioning what has come about them. It gave them a sense of fulfillment in the idea that they now had one or more overpowering beings to help them make sense of the world and why things happen the way they do. It also gave the Greeks something to look forward to once they died (the idea of heaven); or it gave them a reason to behave while on Earth to avoid hell. “How else could a people so emotionally sensitive, so spontaneously desiring, so singularly capable of suffering have endured their existence unless the same qualities manifested themselves

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Myths have three main purposes: they provide an explanation for the unknown, they give humans a sense of ambition, and they serve as a human guide for behavior. Myths provide an explanation for the unknown. For instance, Armstrong notes in her book "But the Neanderthal graves show that when these early people became conscious of their mortality, they created some sort of counter narrative that enabled them to come to terms with it," suggesting that in order to cope with mortality or death the Neanderthals invented a myth that allowed them to deal with the concept of death. Another function of a myth is to give humans a sense of ambition in life. To illustrate, "But human beings fall easily into despair, and from the very beginning we invented stories that enabled us to

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Myths are a medium by which people explain the world around them to younger generations. These myths generally explain how the world was formed and came to be. However, the teachings of each myth can be varied based on where they originated. If the myth came from a polytheistic culture, the myth may be more focus on the nature and ecological lessons.

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