Anthony Pellegrino Professor Schoolcraft LIT-229 World Mythology 30 July 2023 Milestone Three There are many theories on how myths spread and preserve their cultural significance throughout generations, two examples of these theories are dispersion theory and the theory of collective unconscious. Dispersion theory is a belief that some of the original themes and archetypes of myths were made by one culture an incredibly long time ago and was spread as the culture emigrated throughout generations. Collective unconscious is a theory that states there is a segment of the unconscious mind within all humanity that shares ancestral memories and experiences. Both theories can be applied to give us a further understanding of myths. Dispersion
In the Genesis creation myths, there is only one God who is the sole creator of the universe and everything in it. A crucial step on the path to monotheism was the naming of God “I am” because it identifies one single God. During the exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian oppression, God makes the ten plagues to show the people that the other “gods” are nothing in comparison to Him. The Egyptian magicians were able to imitate the first two marvels, however, they were unable to perform the third marvel. This proved to the Israelites and the people of Egypt that the LORD God is more powerful than all other gods, including the pharaoh.
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.
Creation stories were told so they could teach their children the meaning of life. Many cultures have common elements despite they were thousands of miles apart. There are a number of similarities and differences between the Greek and Chinese folklore Stories. Two of the similarities revolve around how the earth and humans were created. In both stories, the egg played a major role in the creation of the earth.
The creation myth found in The Way to Rainy Mountain fulfills the characteristics described on page 33. This myth describes how the universe and life began. For example, “it (tree) began to rise into the air …the seven sisters were borne into the sky, and they became the stars of the Big Dipper” (55). Secondly, The Way to Rainy Mountain creation myth explains the workings of the natural world. By way of illustration, the seven sisters came to the stump of a tree while being chased by a bear, whose goal was to kill them. When they got to the stump, the tree bade they climb upon it, which in fact saved them.
1. What phenomenon or practice does each story seek to explain? Pay close attention to the power relationships. Each study seeks to explain origin myth and creation myths. For instance, in the story titled, How the World was made discusses about how the world was constructed, how it began, and how people first came to inhabit it which is a origin myth..
Mythology has been a way of entertainment since the early ages. In the modern age, there have not been many major contributions to a new mythology. However, Neil Gaiman, a British author, has created numerous fairytales for the modern age. His stories, such as Stardust, intrigues audiences of all ages.
Creation Myth Motifs Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, better known as Chuck D, an American rapper, once stated, “Culture is this thing that we can exchange among ourselves as human beings to knock aside our differences and build upon our similarities.” Despite cultural differences, many ancient creation myths have similar occurrences and ideas. While people travel often, it is difficult to think these similarities could have traveled halfway across the world, especially in ancient times. These cross-cultural similarities are referred to as “motifs.” Concerning creation myths, there are three significant motifs: the idea of women bringing evil and harm into the world, the idea of humans being created on the first try, and the idea of humans being made from organic materials.
Research Question I will research the question: How do creation myths in fantasy impact the fictional worlds? Specifically I will study J.R.R Tolkien's Middle Earth and C.S. Lewis' Narnia. I will look at the method of creation as well as the creators themselves and ask what these myths say about the worlds. Especially in regards to magic and religion in the worlds.
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.
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
Greek mythology has been one of the most complicated subjects in the field of religion and mythology. This is due to the complex relations and interactions which exists in the history of Greek gods and the humans who lived in ancient Greece. Different versions of the existence and the establishment of the superior beings were developed, which at times created suspense for readers through their interactions. The various tales which exist explain the various connections between different gods, how they relate to one another, the ideological order in which they came into existence as well as the interactions they had with humans. These tales form the basis of various religious beliefs and practices since it is perceived that it is through the interactions of the gods that humans came into existence, a situation which created the dependent relationship between mortals and gods.
In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting the creation myths of Brahma, the Hindu Creator God, and The Ennead of Heliopolis of Ancient Egypt. I will be highlighting the following; how, according to these cultures, did the world begin, how did humans originate, are there any thematic similarities between the creation myths of these two cultures, what are the most striking differences and do they have any beliefs about how the world will end, or do they believe in some kind of cyclical renewal of creation. Brahma is the Hindu Creator god:
Floating about in all types of literature, there are many legends as to how the earth was created; these legends are known as creation myths. A creation myth offers answers to questions that ask how the earth was created, and explains the social customs of today as well as the workings of the natural world by telling an elaborate story. The Cherokee Indians have spread their beliefs on this topic throughout generations through oral tradition. Recent authors have taken these myths to paper to preserve history and to spread them even further around the world. “How the World Was Made” is a creation myth that not only offers an abundance of information regarding the origin of earth, but also supports the social traditions of today’s society and attempts to explain the intangible, natural workings of the world.
Many different cultures have myths and stories about how they think the world was created. These myths commonly reflect different values that these cultures have. Although these myths are different stories from different cultures, they often have traits in common. The creation myths from the Iroquois and the African Bushmen are similar because they both are about creation and they share many elements, but there are also differences in the stories because they are different myths from different cultures.
