Mythology

1. Mythology Myth Parallels

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

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

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

5. Hubris • 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 • Many humans/gods/demigods follow a pattern of self-destructive behavior

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

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

8. Flood Stories • Hebrew Tradition: • Noah and the Great Flood • God commands Noah to build an Ark in advance of a flood sent by God as punishment. • Mesopotamian (Babylonian) Tradition: • The Epic of Gilgamesh • 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 • Deucalion and Pyrrha • Zeus, unhappy with civilization, puts a great flood on the earth, wiping out all but two people.

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

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

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

12. 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: • Titans vs. Gods Mesopotamian: • Younger vs. Older Gods

13. Miraculous Births • 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. • Babylonian/ Sumerian • Marduk • Created in the heart of Apsu • Greek Mythology • Heracles • Fathered by a god (Zeus), virgin mother • Egyptian: • Set • Born through his mother’s side

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

15. Underworld The land of the dead • the destination of human souls in the afterlife • 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.

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