Creation Myths
Reconciling Aristophanes & Genesis
What is a creation myth?
• It is a symbolic narrative of a culture, tradition or people
that describes their earliest beginnings, how the world they
know began, and how they first came into it.
• They are the most common form of myth found throughout
human culture.
• They began as oral traditions.
• They are often cosmogonical– or present the ordering of
the chaotic cosmos.
• They are considered sacred, but not necessarily for their
literal value. They are meant to teach profound truths that
aren’t necessarily literal or historical in their accuracy.
• They are found in nearly all known religions.
Aspects of a Creation Myth
• Deities or Deity (or human-like figures, or
sometimes even animals) that are
transformative.
• Dialogue– the deity speaks
• Reveal central components of a culture or
religion
Types of Creation Myths
• 1. Ex Nihilo- creation through a thought, word, dream, or
bodily secretion of the deity.
• 2. Earth Diver- a “diver” (bird or amphibian) is sent to
plunge into the ocean to bring up sand or mud, which
develops into a terrestrial world.
• 3. Emergence- the progenitors (created people, plants,
animals) undergo metamorphoses or pass through a series
of worlds to meet the present one.
• 4. Cosmic Egg- cracking a cosmic egg or bringing forth unity
in chaos
• 5. Deus Faber- creation crafted from a deity, from two
creators working against one another.
• There are others.
Aristophanes’ Myth
• Aristophanes gives us a type of myth referred to as “World Parent”.
• There are two types of world parent myths, both describing a
separation or splitting of a primeval entity, the world parent or parents.
One form describes the primeval state as an eternal union of two
parents, and the creation takes place when the two are pulled apart.
The two parents are commonly identified as Sky (usually male) and
Earth (usually female) who in the primeval state were so tightly bound
to each other that no offspring could emerge. These myths often depict
creation as the result of a sexual union, and serve as genealogical
record of the deities born from it.[18]
• In the second form of world parent myth, creation itself springs from
dismembered parts of the body of the primeval being. Often in these
stories the limbs, hair, blood, bones or organs of the primeval being are
somehow severed or sacrificed to transform into sky, earth, animal or
plant life, and other worldly features. These myths tend to emphasize
creative forces as animistic in nature rather than sexual, and depict the
sacred as the elemental and integral component of the natural
world.[19]
Why?
• Creation myths are etiological– they seek to
explain origination or causation.
• Some think that these were early attempts at
understanding science but in a very primitive
sense. These myths were analyzed and accepted
in a literal way.
• Nowadays, they are understood as symbolic
narratives.
• They are meant to provide cultural context for
their people.
Examples of Creation Myths
• Ancient Eastern Religions– The Mesopotamian Story:
• Human race created by Enki and the Mother Goddess
Ninmah
• 1st human was made from clay mixed with the blood of a
god who was killed for rebelling against the other gods.
• To control the human race, the gods ordained that all
humans must die, while the gods could live forever.
• In death, humans crossed a river into the kingdom of the
dead to live in darkness and dust, always hungry and
thirsty, unless a living person remembered to offer them
food and drink. [reminds me of ‘purgatory’]
• **This was the prevailing creation myth during the time
Gilgamesh was written.
Lilith
• Lilith is a controversial figure that appears in several Midrashic texts
(insightful reading of Biblical texts).
• While commonly found in Jewish texts, her origin dates back to the
Sumerian culture.
• Lilith is viewed as the first wife of Adam.
• She was created by God from dust and placed in the garden to live
with Adam, but they had problems because she rejected Adam’s
attempts to dominate her.
• One story tells that “Lilith refused to lay beneath Adam during sex”.
• After Adam disagreed, she fled the garden to live in independence.
God sent 3 angels to retrieve her, but she refused.
• The angels said they’d kill 100 of her children every day for her
disobedience.
• It is sometimes said that she robs children of life and is responsible
for the deaths of still-born babies and crib deaths.
• She attempted to return to the garden, but Adam had another
mate– Eve.
• There is EVEN MORE to the story… look it up!
Genesis- Reflections
• Could we have all descended from 1 man & 1 woman?
– Anthropological & other scientific evidence suggests
“no”.
• Does that what the story really says? –Adam was the
1st man, but was he the only one?
• Is “good” and “evil” inherent. For example, the story
suggests that they are naked in the garden, but after
eating the apple, they hide their bare bodies. Once
they have knowledge of “good” and “evil”, is nudity
something that is inherently “evil”?
• What does the way Eve is created indicate about the
sexes? Are they equal?
Continued
• What kind of God would deny his people “knowledge”?
Would you choose to live in denial, in the proverbial
garden, even though you were asked to be submissive (to a
god and to a man?).
• Parts 6-9 of Genesis are “The Flood”, which we know has
been inspired by earlier myths. We also know that many
creation stories were in existence prior to Genesis. Does
that take away from the story’s impact? Why?
• If we take the story literally for a minute, do you think that
eating that apple is exactly what Eve was supposed to do?
Was it her destiny? [The garden seems like a set up for
exactly that. Without that bite, we wouldn’t all be here
today.]
Reflections-Aristophanes
• What is a soul mate? Do you believe in the
concept?
• Is a soul mate always a lover (husband/wife), or
can it be someone else?
• Is it possible to have true love with multiple
people in a lifetime, or even at the same time?
• Is Aristophanes’ story accountable for all of
creation? Given it a real possibility, would it be
something you’d want to believe in?
• More questions to follow next week. Stay tuned!
Questions for Consideration
• 1. Explain both the differences and similarities
between the creation story Aristophanes tells and the
one told in Genesis.
2. Examine how the world might be different today had
Aristophanes version of the creation story dominated
modern culture.
3. Finally, in the 3rd and final paragraph, reflect on the
underlying meaning and value of these stories.
Comment on what you might have learned from
Aristophanes story or comment on what from the story
could make a person think or challenge their ideas
about the world.