Mythology Myth Parallels Heroquest Hubris First ManWoman stories

Mythology Myth Parallels

Hero/quest Hubris First Man/Woman stories Flood Stories The Creative Sacrifice Global Myth Parallels underworld Stories Life-Death-Rebirth Order Vs. Chaos Miraculous births Creation stories Fate and Destiny

Creation stories All mythologies have a story of how the universe, world, humans, and elements were created. Creation Myths always begin with nothingness.

The Creative Sacrifice n Divine figures whose death creates an essential part of reality Mesopotamian n Tiamat n Killed by Marduk Norse n Ymir n Killed by the gods

Hubris n Hubris: excessive pride or self-confidence. Whenever a character exhibits hubris in myths, it leads to the character’s quick punishment, usually from the gods n Many humans/gods/demigods follow a pattern of self-destructive behavior n

Hubris n Greek Mythology Icarus – he flew too close to the sun, which melted his wings and he fell to his death n Prometheus – gave humans fire, which he wasn’t supposed to do. He was punished for stealing the fire. n

Floods Stories n Stories of floods are widespread. Floods were likely experienced frequently, as people needed to live near a water source. n Floods also occurred from melting glaciers. n n Said to be a punishment from gods

Flood Stories n Hebrew Tradition: n Noah and the Great Flood n n Mesopotamian (Babylonian) Tradition: n The Epic of Gilgamesh n n God commands Noah to build an Ark in advance of a flood sent by God as punishment. One of the great gods, Ea, commands Utanapishtim (a hero) to build a boat to save living creatures from a flood caused by the gods. Greek Tradition n Deucalion and Pyrrha n Zeus, unhappy with civilization, puts a great flood on the earth, wiping out all but two people.

Flood Stories Deucalion and Pyrrha Noah’s Ark The Epic of Gilgamesh

Fate and Destiny n n Many mythologies involve a character’s destiny which drives his/her actions No human or god can escape fate. Roman: n Aeneas’ destiny to found the Roman Empire Gilgamesh: n Gilgamesh’s fate is to die Greek: n Hector’s fate is to die by Achilles

First Man/ Woman The first humans are either fashioned by gods or emerge from natural elements n Norse Mythology n n Greek Mythology n n Ash and Elm (Ask and Embla) Prometheus and Epimetheus/ Pandora Babylonian Mythology n Marduk’s creation of man from Kingu’s blood

Order Vs. Chaos Often in creation myths, a group of younger, more civilized gods who represent order conquers and/or struggles against a group of older gods or monsters who represent the forces of chaos. Greek Mythology: n n Titans vs. Gods Mesopotamian: n Younger vs. Older Gods

Miraculous Births n n Miraculous conceptions occur through intervention by a deity/ supernatural Miraculous births make divine status obvious usually when the mother is human and father is a deity. n Babylonian/ Sumerian n Marduk n n Greek Mythology n Heracles n n Created in the heart of Apsu Fathered by a god (Zeus), virgin mother Egyptian: n Set n Born through his mother’s side

Quests A hero goes on a journey and oftentimes must overcome their own weaknesses and faults in order to succeed. n Greek Mythology n n n Sumerian n n Hercules Odysseus Gilgamesh on the quest for immortality English Mythology n Percival (one of King Arthur’s knights) and his quest for the Holy Grail

Underworld The land of the dead the destination of human souls in the afterlife n Often the hero travels to the underworld as an ultimate challenge. If he/she returns from the underworld, the hero has passed the true test of bravery and skill. n

Underworld Myths n Roman Mythology n n n Greek Mythology n n n Hades/Tartarus/ Elysium Persephone Norse Mythology n n n Pluto/ Inferno Cupid and Psyche Hel/ Niflheim The Death of Balder Egyptian Mythology n n Duat Osiris, Isis, and Horus