Creation As Seen Through Greco
-Roman, Norse, and Mesopotamian Beliefs
“For as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and morality” (1, Back Cover). Myths form many purposes in society. In some societies the myth is used for the purposes of entertaining the masses. In other cases it is used for educational purposes such as explaining why certain things occur like the rising and setting of the sun or what occurs to us when we die or the changing of the seasons. There is also another use for myths, they help us to philosophize as to who we are and where we came from as well as where we are going ...
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If we take a closer look at some of the different theories of creation one of the most interesting reoccurring themes is the belief that all was created from nothingness. Each culture has a name for it but it is commonly referred to as the void.
For example, The Greco-Roman theory of creation refers to the void as Chaos. “In the beginning, there was only Chaos, who is not quite a god but a shapeless and confused mass of elements. This was all there was for who knows how long” (3). “The Norse believed that at the beginning of time there was Niflheim which was an icy region, Muspell which was a fiery region and a large void called Ginnungagap” (4). In Mesopotamian myths, “Tiamat is a huge, bloated female dragon that personifies the saltwater ocean, the water of Chaos. She is also the primordial mother of all that exists, including the gods themselves. Her consort is Apsu, the personification of the freshwater abyss that lies beneath the ...
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depicted from the excerpt were not created from Chaos, rather Death, Love, and Aether are spawned from the creations of Chaos and then the cycle continues when Love decides to make creations of his own. While these things are important in explaining the creation of the universe, they do not explain the creation Zeus, the head of the pantheon. Zeus’ origin starts with “Gaea, or Mother Earth, who came from somewhere that is mysterious and unexplained. She was the first of all the gods”…” Her husband, Uranus, or Father Sky, was also her son. He was born as Gaea slept, and was equal to her in all ways.”…” Together, she and Uranus had their first ...
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"Creation As Seen Through Greco." Essayworld.com. October 26, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Creation-As-Seen-Through-Greco/73356.
"Creation As Seen Through Greco." Essayworld.com. October 26, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Creation-As-Seen-Through-Greco/73356.
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