How The Gods Of Antiquity Were Used To Explain Creation

For thousands of years now, there have been countless myths passed down by word of mouth. These myths try to make sense of the unexplainable and the unknown. Gods of antiquity, from the myths of ancient societies, have provided ways for people to explain vague situations throughout history. Each civilization has its own apparent uniqueness. While some cultures use mythical beings that have not been seen by man, others are based on actual facts. One of the phenomena that many civilizations use their gods of antiquity to explain is the creation phenomenon. The creation myths through various gods of antiquity are distinctively different, but the end results are the same - the being of all things as we know it.

In the Greek culture, there are two main creation myths. Both stories began with a common mass called Chaos. Chaos was an "amorphous, gaping void encompassing the entire universe" (Greek 1). The first version of creation, told by Hesoid in his Theogony, is obscure. It tells of how Chaos gave birth to the Earth (Gaia), the Underworld (Tartarus), Desire (Eros), and many others. This version also speaks of how Chaos lay with Heaven and had many children. These children are later called the Titans. The familiar Titans include Oceanus, Rhea, and Cronos. From Cronos and Rhea, the gods of Greek mythology were born. They were the gods who created the human race and governed them from Mt. Olympus (Greek 1-3).

The second Greek creational myth also speaks of Chaos, but in this account, she was surrounded by the god Oceanus. In Oceanus, the Goddess Eurynome also dwelled. Eurynome set about trying to make order out of Chaos. One example of this is the way she separated the sky from the sea by "dancing on the waves of Oceanus" (Greek 1). Later, after Earth had been created, Chaos gave birth to Gaia and Uranus. These two, in turn, bore the Titans. Like the first Greek myth, Cronus married Rhea. However, because Cronus was told that a son of his would overpower him, he swallowed all of his offsprings. Rhea finally tricked Cronus to swallow a rock instead of one of their children. Zeus, the surviving offspring, later vanquished Cronus to the Underworld and freed his trapped siblings. Zeus's siblings divided up places in the world to rule. For example, Poseidon became ruler of the sea while Hades became ruler of the Underworld. Prometheus slipped fire to the human race he had created earlier. This creation myth ended with Pandora, who was given a box to hold, but not to open. When curiosity got the better of her, she inadvertently released "all the evils that plague men" (Greek 3). The only gift that stayed in the box was "hope" (Greek 1-3).

The Norse ancestors also created an interesting creation myth. The legend began with "a great void" called Ginnungagap (Norse 1). Eventually there came a region of mist and ice called Niflheim and a region of fire called Muspellsheim. When the two regions met, they made Ymir, a frost-giant with a human form. From Ymir's sweat came a race of giants. A huge cow was made to feed them. The cow licked ice from Niflheim daily, and by the third day, Buri was made. Buri had a son, Bur, who then had Odin, Vili, and Ve. These three were the first Norse gods produced. Together, they murdered Ymir, causing his blood to become a great sea, while his body was made into the land on Earth and his skull formed the Heavens. The maggots that fed on the frost-giant's body were converted into a race of dwarves. The first man and women were made respectively from an ash tree and a vine that grew fro the new land (Norse 1).

The Japanese creation myth differs greatly from the Greek and Norse legends. It started with two chief deities, Izanagi and Izanami. All other gods were either born from them or somehow related. There were gods and goddesses for almost everything. For instance, they had a tree god, a sea god, a wind god, and a fire god. The wind god called Kami-Shinatsuhiko-no-Mikoto, had breath that was so powerful that he scattered all the clouds and mists that had hung over the earth. Because of this, the world was filled with light. The birth of the fire god had brutally burned his mother, Izanagi. Although she regained consciousness, her appetite was lost. From her dying body, many other deities were formed until at last, Izanagi became the first to ever die. Izanagi was so miserable without her. He went to seek her out in the Nether Regions to bring her back to the world. When he finally got there, he met Izanagi, and they rejoiced. Before going back up with him, she had to ask for the permission

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