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Mythology

Greek Mythology- Parallel Themes in World Mythologies

October 20, 2005

|Theme |Mesopotamian Myth |Egyptian Myth |Greek Myth |

| | | | |

| |Tiamat, primordial goddess of |Nut, goddess of the sky, arches |Atlas whose name means support |

| |salt water is split in two by |her body over her husband Geb, |is punished by Zeus and must |

|Solid-Sky Theory |Marduk to create the earth and |god of the earth and holds back |hold the weight of Ouranos, the |

| |the dome of the sky. |the primordial waters of Nu. |sky. |

| | | | |

| |The world begins with two |Re, the first god wills himself |Homer says that the beginning of|

|Primacy of Water |primordial deities: Apsu, sweet |into being and rises out of the |all things was Okeanos, the salt|

| |water, and Tiamat, salt water. |primordial ocean, Nu. |river circling the world. |

| | | | |

| |Ea, god of wisdom creates |Khnum, a ram-headed Nile god, |Both Kronos and later Prometheus|

| |Marduk, the perfect warrior, |makes mankind from clay. The |create humans from clay. The |

| |from clay and gives him life. |goddess Heket who has a frog's |goddess Athene breathes life |

| |Furthermore Anzu, the |head breathes life into the |into the clay. |

|Life from Clay |demon-bird, threatens to use the|clay. | |

| |Tablets of Destiny to "turn the | | |

| |gods back into clay." | | |

| | | | |

| |The Anuki flood the world to |It is mentioned in the pyramid |Zeus floods the world to punish |

| |punish mankind for impiety. One|texts that Re (if he wished) |mankind for impiety. One man |

|The Great Flood |man, Ut-Napishtim, and his wife |could order Nut to let loose the|and his wife, Deukalion and |

| |survive. They repopulate the |waters of Nu, which she holds |Pyrrha, survive. They |

| |earth. |back. |repopulate the earth. |

| | | | |

| |Nergal, the god of Kornugi, |Osiris, the god of Tuat, remains|Hades, whose kingdom shares his |

| |remains sovereign from the reign|sovereign from the reign of |name, remains sovereign from the|

|The Two Kings |of heaven. He is also referred |heaven. His cult was one of the|reign of heaven. He is also |

| |to as the "Ellil of the |most popular in Egypt, even |referred to as the "Zeus of the |

| |Underworld." |exceeding that of Re. |Underworld." |

| | | | |

| |The stars are embedded in the |The stars are imbedded in the |The stars are imbedded in the |

|The Position of the Astral |dome of heaven. The sun is |body of Nut. The sun is held in|dome of heaven (Ouranos). The |

|Bodies |assumed to be similarly placed. |the solar boat of Re. |sun is held in a chariot driven |

| | | |by the Titan Helios. |

|Theme |Mesopotamian Myth |Egyptian Myth |Greek Myth |

| | | | |

| |Nergal is bound to the |Osiris, although a god, is bound|Persephone becomes trapped in |

|The Imprisoning Nature of the |underworld after yielding to the|to Tuat after being killed by |the underworld after accepting |

|Underworld |charms of Ereshkigal, the queen |Seth. |food from Hades. |

| |of Kornugi. | | |

| | | | |

| |Marduk defeats the older, |The god of the earth Geb is a |Olympians fight the giants and |

| |primordial deities and puts the |protector god who keeps people |Typhon who were spawned by the |

| |cosmos in order. Gilgamesh and |safe from snakes. Worship of |earth (Gaia). Herakles and |

|Civilization vs. Nature |Enkidu fight the ogre Humbaba |hippo and crocodile gods was |other heroes fight fantastical |

| |and clear his forest to make the|thought to offer protection from|monsters that terrorize the |

| |walls of Uruk. |such creatures. |Greek countryside. |

| | | | |

| |A snake sheds its skin after |The sun travels in a boat |The dew on the grass each |

| |eating the plant of life in the |through the river of the |morning is the tears of the dawn|

|Explaination of Natural World |Gilgamesh epic, thus explaining |underworld each night, thus |goddess Eos who cries for her |

|through Myth |how snakes seem to age in |explaining how the sun gets to |son Memnon who was killed by |

| |reverse. |the east each day to rise again.|Achilleus in Asia Minor. |

| | | | |

| |Gilgamesh and other kings listed|The kings were regularly deified|Several mortals are granted long|

| |on the Sumerian King List are |and even Imhotep, an advisor to |life (such as Tiresias). And |

|Divinity / Longevity of Mortals |allotted unnaturally long |an early king, became regarded |other mortals like Herakles and |

|of Earlier Times |life-spans such as 300 or 400 |as a god. |Rhadamanthys are granted |

| |years. | |immortality or special honor in |

| | | |the afterlife. |

| | | | |

| |Heaven is a solid place above |Heaven is a viewed as the sky in|Mt. Olympos was seen as reach up|

| |the earth. In one myth Etana |Egyptian myth. For the most |to the height of heaven. The |

| |rides an eagle to reach heaven |part the gods were thought of as|hero Bellerophon attempts to |

|The Reality of Heaven |(though what happens when he |living upon the earth or in the |reach heaven by flying on the |

| |gets there is lost). |environment of their aspect. |back of a winged horse. |

| | | | |

| |Kornugi was seen as being a real|Tuat was seen as being a real |Hades was a real place beneath |

|The Reality of the Underworld |place beneath the earth where |place below the earth where the |the earth accessible by way of |

| |the spirits of the dead were |souls of the dead were carried |an entrance that lay somewhere |

| |sent. |by Re when the sun set in the |to the west. |

| | |west. | |

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