Paraphrase assignment

September 13, 2011

CLCV 115 – ADH

Pre-Quiz #3: Ethnotheogonology

1. Ovid’s Metamorphoses contains many similarities to Hesiod’s Theogony in his account of the creation of the world. Both are in accordance that the nothingness that existed before anything was created was called Chaos. Then came Earth and the seas. Both myths also describe Zephyr and Borea, the West Wind and North Wind, respectively.

2. Genesis also has some similarities to the creation myth described in Hesiod’s Theogony. Although it supports a monotheistic belief, the order of events is essentially the same as Hesiod’s. Genesis claims that first all that existed was darkness, similar to Chaos in Theogony. In addition, the creation of woman is comparable to events in Hesiod’s epic poem. God takes a rib from man to create woman, which is similar how Hesiod describes the creation of Aphrodite; she was also born of a body part of a fellow god.

3. Not many similarities exist between Genesis and the Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish; they are only superficially related. Both accounts reference a time when the earth lacked form; also, both are chronologically similar. The only other similarity is that there are seven tablets of the Enuma Elish and seven days of creation, though this is purely coincidental.