Mrs. Efpatridis –ETS 4U1
Creation Myths
Creation myths are told throughout the world and are traditional yet unique stories to each
cultural group in an attempt to explain how life began. None of these tales are exactly alike, but they all
share a commonality: they tell of a Supreme God who knows everything and who made the universe.
The Supreme God is known by many different names which reflects the beliefs and values of each
individual culture.
How and Why?
All cultures also have myths that attempt to explain natural phenomena and account for the origin of
items within their individual cultures: death, the source of an animal, where lightning came from, etc.
Mythology attempts to provide answers to the questions how and why? which have been asked since
the beginning of time, and also reveals the ingenuity, wisdom and humour of a particular group of
people.
In The Death of Osiris the legend of the tamarisk tree is provided to explain why the tree is so large. The
origin of the desert is also explained through the death of the country’s leader. Likewise, an explanation
of the eclipse is provided in Bao Chu’s Search for the Sun.