1. Intro Unit Universality Creation Myths Motifs
World Literature
Intro Unit
Universality
Creation Myths
Motifs

2. What is the human condition?
How does an examination of literary works from various cultures deepen my understanding of the human condition?
What is the human condition?
 the positive and negative aspects of existence as a human being, esp. the inevitable events such as birth, childhood, adolescence, love, sex, reproduction, aging, and death
Brainstorm answers to the essential question
The universality of human responses to the world
Universality – relation, extension, or applicability to all

3. The universality of human responses to the world
Before examining literature of the world, it is necessary to visit the genesis of story-telling. Myths serve as the basis of such a journey. Myths pose “vital questions about the human visions of the universe: the spiritual and intellectual strands that bind us together through time and across deep and alien seas; the unexplainable creative urges that fuel us even in the bleakest of times; and the twin presences of good and evil, joy and sorrow, birth and death that we all must grapple with and reconcile (Stillman, Introduction to Myth).

4. The universality of human responses to the world
There are, of course, differences between the numerous mythologies and religions of mankind; however, there are similarities, as well, and once they are understood, the differences will be found to be much less great than is popularly (and politically) supposed.

5. Myth
A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or describing the psychology, customs, or ideals of society

6. Creation Myth
A sacred narrative (story) explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present form
Nearly every culture that has ever existed has a story of their own of how the world and people were created
There are undeniable similarities among the creation stories of world cultures

7. Why do we study myths from around the world?
Brainstorm
The world is now a global society and it is important to understand other cultures
The myths of a culture give us insight into the culture’s beliefs, customs, and traditions
Myths, through their similarities, help us recognize the universality of the human experience
Myths form timeless universal truths
Without myths, there would be no literature

8. Group Assignment
Research the creation myth of your assigned culture

9. Universal Ideas in the myths we read
Darkness/nothing
Heaven and earth were one
Supreme beings
Eggs
Chaos/disorder
World destroyed and recreated
Water
Separation of mother/father or male/female
Many creation myths sprung from civilizations that never interacted

10. Myths and literature Similarities Differences Both are stories
Both contain narrative elements
Both evoke emotion
Both tie together commonly held human identities
Both entertain
Myths do not originate with 1 author
Myths were not originally written
Myths have changed over time
Myths were not conscious works of art

11. Maori
In the beginning, Rangi (Heaven) and Papa (Earth) clung close together and all was darkness
They had six sons who eventually wanted to live in light, so five of them decided to separate their parents
Tane-mahuta pushed his parents apart, creating the earth and sky
When light appeared all of the humans fathered by Tu-matauenga were revealed

12. Greek In the beginning, there was empty darkness and a black bird, Nyx
Nyx laid a golden egg and when Eros emerged from the egg half of the shell became the sky (Uranus) and the other half became the earth (Gaia)
Zeus, the grandchild of Uranus and Gaia, told his son Prometheus to create man and his other son Epimetheus to create animals
Prometheus created man in the image of the gods and gave them the gift of fire

13. Chinese
In the beginning, heaven and earth were one and the universe existed in chaos inside an egg- shaped cloud
Pan Gu created heaven and earth by breaking out of the egg; when he died, his body parts became the earth’s elements
Many centuries later, Nu Wa, a lonely goddess created humans from mud

14. Egyptian
In the beginning, there was only watery chaos, called Nu, and darkness
Atum , the sun god, gave birth to Shu and Tefnut
Atum was separated from his children for a long time and when they reunited, he cried tears of joy
Humans formed in the places where his tears fell

15. Hopi (Native American)
In the beginning, only the creator, Taiowa existed in the endless space of the world
Taiowa created Sotuknang to do his work for him
Sotuknang gathered the matter from the endless space to create nine worlds/universes (First Creation)
Sotuknang created land, sea, winds, and breezes in the worlds (Second & Third Creation)
Sotuknang created Spider Woman and gave her the power to create life
Spider Woman created humans using different colors of mud mixed with her saliva
She created women in her own image

16. Norse
In the beginning, there was nothing except for a place called Niflheim
Where cold and warm met, Ymir, the first frost- giant, was created
In that same place, a cow was created and that cow created Buri, the first god
Buri’s son, Bor, married Bestla and they had 3 sons
The 3 sons killed Ymir, whose body parts became the parts of the earth
The 3 sons then created humans from 2 logs

17. Hebrew In the beginning, the earth was a formless void in darkness
God, the creator, spoke and in six days created everything on earth
He created humans in his likeness

18. India
There is no real beginning or end to the cycle of creation – the world is destroyed and recreated over and over
After the world is destroyed by Lord Shiva (the Destroyer), Lord Vishnu (the Preserver) floats on a snake in a vast ocean of chaos
Lord Brahma, the Creator, awakens from Vishnu’s bellybutton to create everything
Brahma splits in two to create male and female, then he becomes one again to create humans