Today was the last day that we discussed creation myths. We discussed the Epic of Gilgamesh and, afterward, compared it to Genesis. We noticed that both stories had the following elements in common:
- snake
- forbidden element
- mate
- flood
- magic plant
Yet, while both stories had similar elements, they treated these elements differently. Here are some of the differences.
- Snake
o Genesis: temptation, evil and dangerous, caused the Fall, intentionally evil. (personified)
o Gilgamesh: thief (not personified)
- Forbidden (equality w/ Supreme Being)
o Genesis: don’t eat fruit/ = with God
o Gilgamesh: abuse power, search for immortality (= to God)
- Mate
o Genesis: Adam = Eve, supporting role. Eve was a part of Adam. Established hierarchy.
o Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh = Enkidu. Balanced each other. Matched strength. Cooperated.
- Flood
o Genesis: destructive, punishment
o Gilgamesh: increases difficulty
- Plant
o Genesis: fruit/tree of good and evil. Provides knowledge. And it’s forbidden.
o Gilgamesh: Plant of immortality. Challenge. Goal.
You noticed that the difficulties and pitfalls of Genesis were often created intentionally, while in Gilgamesh, these elements occurred naturally (they often created challenges, but were never punishments or temptations).
From this realization, we realized that this suggests very different relationships with the world and with dieties. The world of Genesis is invested in punishment, while the world of Gilgamesh might be challenging, but is not intentionally so.
As a soundtrack to Gilgamesh, I suggested the song "Fame" precisely for the lyrics.
As a soundtrack to Gilgamesh, I suggested the song "Fame" precisely for the lyrics.
I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna learn how to fly
(High)
I feel it coming together
People will see me and cry
I'm gonna learn how to fly
(High)
I feel it coming together
People will see me and cry
I'm gonna make it to heaven
Light up the sky like a flame
(Fame)
I'm gonna live forever
Baby, remember my name
Light up the sky like a flame
(Fame)
I'm gonna live forever
Baby, remember my name
These words state am ambition of acheiving greatness, similar to Gilgamesh's ambition for immortality. (But Gilgamesh probably did not wear legwarmers.)
Group Work:
Identify the culture that produced your assigned myth
Summarize the story
Explain how it fits the definition of "creation myth"
1) Illiad
2) Odyssey
3) Aeneid
4) Dante's Inferno
5) Chinese creation myth
Please post your answers (1 per group) as a comment to this post.
Group work(group 5)
ReplyDeletemembers：Gloria、Thea、Anthea、Lindsay、Grant、Jerry
Chinese creation myth
Pan Koo
The sky and the earth were at first one blurred entity like an egg. Then Pan Koo was born into it. Every day the sky rose ten feet higher, the earth became ten feet thicker, and Pang Koo grew ten feet taller. Another eighteen thousand years passed, and there was an extremely high sky, an extremely thick earth, and an extremely tall Pan Koo. Finally, in all, the universe and Pan Koo combine in one.
The great hero died, but his body did not disappear. His voice became thunder; his eyes became sun and moon; his hair became stars; his blood became sea and river; his muscle became vast land; his sweat became rain; his head, legs and arms became five famous mountains; his soul became human beings. So human beings are paragons of creatures.
Proof: Pan Koo created everything in the earth, separated the sky and ground, his body enriched the elements of environment. It’s the origin of earth, human beings and environment.
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ReplyDeleteGroup work(group1)
ReplyDeleteMembers: Carol, Iris, Vanessa, Yifan, Yan
Iliad Creation Myth
1.ancient Greek culture
2. Achilles's anger is main topic. During the Trojan War, Achilles was enraged by King Agamemnon, because the slaver he loved was robbed by King Agamemnon.He refused to join the war so that Trojans always won the battles. Achilles's friend wore his armour to join in the battles.His friend was dead during the battle so that he decided to join the battle. Then he killed the Hector and gave the body to the Trojans.
3.Yes, because it shows how the culture is changing.
Group 3:
ReplyDeleteThe Aeneid is a Latin epic poem and belong to ancient Romans.
The Aeneid has two parts. One of the part is the banishment. Aeneid has to take the banishment because his country has been destroyed. So he has to lead his people and get through a lot of things to rebuild his country. In the next part, they arrived in Italy. And it tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed.
Aeneid is the son of Venus and the hero of Troy. He has always believed in his faith even his mother let him get married. During his way to rebuild his country, he has get a lot of help from gods. He lead his people create a country from nothing.
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ReplyDeleteGroup2 ( Charles, David, Yilia, Young, Kris)
ReplyDeleteOdyssey is the hero and main character of the story. He shows his wisdom and courage in the Trojan War and he wins at last. After this war, he doesn't return home but go on his journey on the sea. What's more, he has a great adventure. He faces monsters and kills one monster, who is the son of the God of Sea. This annoys the God of Sea and he punishes both him and his crew members. With the help of other Gods, he survived after suffering lots of obstacles. Ten years later, he eventually goes back home. However, some greedy men are desire of both his assets and his wife. Odyssey use his wisdom to kill these people and retakes what he owns. In the end, he brings lasting peace to Ithaca and live happily ever after with his family.
Group4(Aurora, Veronica, Cindy, Zoe,Cherry)Our group think that the Rome culture produce the myth. In the time that Dante lived in Florence, which was controlled by the church. Dante’s inferno tells that Dante falls asleep and loses his way on the journey through life. He meets with the poet Virgil and then they begin a series of travels. Dante and Virgil go to Hell where they witness the many punishments for those who disobeyed God during their lives. The inferno has nine circles and from circle one to 9, they are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery. We think the creation myth is the nine circles inferno associated with the hell. Each circle represents a meaning.
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