Where do we begin when studying mythology?

Creation myths

From around the world

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Essential Questions?

• What are the characteristics of a creation myth?

• How do different cultures explain the beginning?

• What are the similarities and differences in creation myths from around the world?

• What unique cultural traits are revealed in the creation myths?

The characteristics of creation

• Nothingness • Primal ooze • An egg • A serpent • The formation of the earth and geography • The peopling of the world

Types of ways in which the earth was Created:

• By emergence • By sacrifice • By secretion • By thought • By word • By cosmic egg • From ancestors • From chaos • From clay • From dismemberment of primordial being

Emergence Stories • a type of creation myth popular among

Native American

tribes. • The emergence story stresses the idea of the Earth as a womb from which the people emerge gradually, as in childbirth.

• At each stage they grow in knowledge and ability

Sacrificial Stories

• A type of creation myth popular among

Mesoamerican

peoples • Stresses bloody gore

Secretion Stories

• Type of creation myth used on occasion in

Norse

legends • Beings formed from the sweat of Ymir, the frost god

Thought stories • Type of creation myth used on occasion in

mayan

legends • Gods sitting around thinking about things and they are created while that is happening.

Spoken word stories • Type of creation myth used on occasion in

Japanese

legends • Type of creation in bible “let there be light…” • Gods sitting around discussing things to create and then creating, altering, etc.

Ancestor stories • Type of creation myth used in bible, greek, roman • The world begins with two individuals and all other humans are descendents of these two.

Chaos stories • Type of creation myth used in germany, egyptian • The world begins with a swirling chaos, winds, fires, and from this begins life

Clay stories • Type of creation myth used in some african tribal stories • The man, animals, environment can all be created out of clay

Dismemberment stories • Type of creation myth used in some hindu cultures, norse, Greek • A creature consists of everything in the world, but not until he/she/it is separated do they all truly exist