Theogony v. Genesis
Ding!
Actually, that title is misleading. In Mythology class this evening, we learned that Hesiod's Theogony (the first writings detailing the succession myths) and Genesis are quite similar. The first pages of the Bible were composed around 950 B.C. (no Hebrew alphabet before that) and the story of Moses pegs the oral tales starting approximately 250 years before. Theogony was written after, around 700 B.C., but the oral tales have been pinned to beginning around the Dark Ages. It's fascinating how major themes and similar characters appear in both, yet they're super different to have been created within 300 years of each other. It's amazing how one set of writings has survived the other, simply because the Bible is made slightly more plausible by featuring a hands-off, mysterious figure instead of a horny, drop-in-for-dinner god. Christ must make the difference. What culture wouldn't rather have a story that could potentially end in absolution, as opposed to a story that keeps getting worse and worse with no end in sight?
Both stories come complete with tons of standard misogyny mixed with occasional tales of heroic women -- females are both vessels for creation and complete bitches created to destroy mankind. Hooray for potpourri! Both begin with a male-to-male combat spurred on by a female with too much power. Eve eats something and brings strife, causing her son to whoop up on her other son. In Theogony, Gaia (Mother Earth, which would be the figurehead equivalent of God in this story) gets sick of her husband eating his children, so she convinces her last born to cut off his father's nards and toss them in the ocean. At least Hesiod can be given credit for beating the living hell out of a bush and bluntly announcing woman as a creation to punish man. In fact, he coins the phrase, "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em." The Bible only does the ladies half a favor and gives Adam a smidge of credibility. But who could blame him when she had such tantalizing knockers? Arrrgh.
In both, the world is created from chaos -- that is, elements floating around with no rhyme or reason. Theogony, however, accepts the underworld as a necessary part of existence. It's part of Earth, just like the sky, only darker and full of suffering outcasts. The sky is Earth's ceiling and the underworld acts as the roots. Hesiod explains that the opposite of chaos is corresponding pieces -- day and night, Heaven and Hell, and Earth, Wind, & Fire. In the Bible, Hell is where bad people go. Nice and simple, for kids who have no interest in exploring the world outside the Baptist Student Union building. Since my bias is already showing, I'll just toss in that, of all the things that bug me about the Bible, the ideas of Heaven and Hell disturb me the most. When I read those descriptions, I feel like my free trip to the Peruvian Amazon comes with vouchers for either McDonalds or Shoney's. Which one is Hell? I can't tell. Bottom line, why would a creator make such a beautiful, intricate place covered with complex, delicate human beings, then dump us off at either a prison or a Hamptons full-service spa? It's possible that an afterlife with only pure white goodness would be just as painful as one with only darkness. Unless, of course, we become completely different creatures after death. But then what was the point of life in the first place? My guess is that life after death is unfathomable and completely different for each individual. Or maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's just the peace of an ending.
We also learned that both books display a nice set of cultural manners when it comes to sleeping with members of your family. Parents and children are a no-no, but feel free to boink your sisters until the locusts come home.
Great class. Then, at the end, I told my professor, "See you next Tuesday."
Actually, that title is misleading. In Mythology class this evening, we learned that Hesiod's Theogony (the first writings detailing the succession myths) and Genesis are quite similar. The first pages of the Bible were composed around 950 B.C. (no Hebrew alphabet before that) and the story of Moses pegs the oral tales starting approximately 250 years before. Theogony was written after, around 700 B.C., but the oral tales have been pinned to beginning around the Dark Ages. It's fascinating how major themes and similar characters appear in both, yet they're super different to have been created within 300 years of each other. It's amazing how one set of writings has survived the other, simply because the Bible is made slightly more plausible by featuring a hands-off, mysterious figure instead of a horny, drop-in-for-dinner god. Christ must make the difference. What culture wouldn't rather have a story that could potentially end in absolution, as opposed to a story that keeps getting worse and worse with no end in sight?
Both stories come complete with tons of standard misogyny mixed with occasional tales of heroic women -- females are both vessels for creation and complete bitches created to destroy mankind. Hooray for potpourri! Both begin with a male-to-male combat spurred on by a female with too much power. Eve eats something and brings strife, causing her son to whoop up on her other son. In Theogony, Gaia (Mother Earth, which would be the figurehead equivalent of God in this story) gets sick of her husband eating his children, so she convinces her last born to cut off his father's nards and toss them in the ocean. At least Hesiod can be given credit for beating the living hell out of a bush and bluntly announcing woman as a creation to punish man. In fact, he coins the phrase, "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em." The Bible only does the ladies half a favor and gives Adam a smidge of credibility. But who could blame him when she had such tantalizing knockers? Arrrgh.
In both, the world is created from chaos -- that is, elements floating around with no rhyme or reason. Theogony, however, accepts the underworld as a necessary part of existence. It's part of Earth, just like the sky, only darker and full of suffering outcasts. The sky is Earth's ceiling and the underworld acts as the roots. Hesiod explains that the opposite of chaos is corresponding pieces -- day and night, Heaven and Hell, and Earth, Wind, & Fire. In the Bible, Hell is where bad people go. Nice and simple, for kids who have no interest in exploring the world outside the Baptist Student Union building. Since my bias is already showing, I'll just toss in that, of all the things that bug me about the Bible, the ideas of Heaven and Hell disturb me the most. When I read those descriptions, I feel like my free trip to the Peruvian Amazon comes with vouchers for either McDonalds or Shoney's. Which one is Hell? I can't tell. Bottom line, why would a creator make such a beautiful, intricate place covered with complex, delicate human beings, then dump us off at either a prison or a Hamptons full-service spa? It's possible that an afterlife with only pure white goodness would be just as painful as one with only darkness. Unless, of course, we become completely different creatures after death. But then what was the point of life in the first place? My guess is that life after death is unfathomable and completely different for each individual. Or maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's just the peace of an ending.
We also learned that both books display a nice set of cultural manners when it comes to sleeping with members of your family. Parents and children are a no-no, but feel free to boink your sisters until the locusts come home.
Great class. Then, at the end, I told my professor, "See you next Tuesday."
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