Creation and Apocalypse - Unit 1

David Hume

• 18th century Scottish philosopher

• said that cause and effect is vital for humans to make sense of the world

  • we’d rather accept a bad explanation than no explanation

• the guesses made in myths were analogous to familiar events

  • either the universe was born or created, just like humans

Pangu

• Chinese story of creation

• emerged from the primordial egg using an ax to split it open

• he separated things to create order

• he holds up the sky, and eventually his body becomes part of the world

Geb and Nut

• Egyptian creation myth

• Geb is god of earth, Nut is goddess of sky

  • they give birth to the next generation of gods

  • their father Shu (dry air) keeps them apart in order to have space on earth for their kids, etc

Prelapsarian

• Christian tradition

• the time before the fall of humans

• in the Garden of Eden

• paradise

Postlapsarian

• Christian tradition

• the time after the fall of humans

• on earth

Nebuchadnezzar

• Nebuchadnezzar is a king

• he has a dream of a statue with a gold head, silver chest, bronze legs, and gold feet

• David explains to him that these are the stages of humanity, and Nebuchadnezzar is ruling in the golden age, but those who come after him will cause the worsening of humanity

Gigantomachy

• at the end of the Iron Age, the giants try to usurp the gods, but Zeus strikes them down

• their blood soaks the soil, and new humans emerge

• the new people are just as bad as those who came before them

Lycaon

• Jupiter goes to visit this mortal king

• Lycaon serves Jupiter human flesh as a test

• Jupiter turns Lycaon into a Versipellis/skin changer/werewolf

Deucalion and Pyrrha

• Jupiter wants to remake humanity, so he sends a flood

• as the only worthy humans, Deucalion and Pyrrha survive

• they visit an oracle, who tells them to throw the bones of their mother behind them to repopulate the earth

• they take this to mean rocks, and it works - new people form

Phaeton

• son of Apollo/Helios/Sun

• Phaeton wants to prove to his bullies that he’s actually the son of a god

• dad has to let him drive the sun chariot because he swore on styx, but he thinks it’s a bad idea

• Phaeton looses control, and Jupiter has to strike him down

  • earth cracks open

  • underworld is released

  • FIRE

  • deserts and dark skinned people are created

Compare and contrast Ovid’s and Hesiod’s Myth of the Ages

Ovid

• gold

• silver

• bronze

• iron

Hesiod

• gold

• silver

• bronze

• heroes

• iron

similarities

• decline

• metal names

• departure of immortals

differences

• number of ages

• age of heroes

• hesiod is greek (individual), ovid roman (historicizing, state)

Why do so many cultures have apocalypse stories?

• the human brain is built on stories

  • creation, life, and apocalypse mirror the beginning, middle, and end of a traditional story arc

• cause and effect - we are mortal, so the world is mortal

• prophetic beliefs are appealing to humans

• there is a meaningful progression towards an end

• after apocalypse is utopia?

• feeds on socioeconomic circumstances and real and perceived oppression