World Mythology and Creation Epics Lecture Note Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary terms covering world creation myths, deities, and key anthropological concepts mentioned in the lecture notes.

Enūma Eliš

The Babylonian creation epic, likely composed around $1100\,BCE$, whose name means 'When on high.'

Apsu

The primordial freshwater in Mesopotamian myth who is killed by Ea after wanting to kill younger gods.

Tiamat

The primordial saltwater and chaos dragon whose body is split by Marduk to create the sky and the earth.

Marduk

The storm god and patron of Babylon who defeats Tiamat and becomes the supreme king of the gods.

Ptah

The creator god in the Memphite tradition who creates the world through the intention of his heart and the command of his tongue.

Chaos (Greek)

A 'gaping void' or space that was the first thing to exist in Hesiod's Theogony.

Gaia

The primordial Earth goddess who parthenogenetically births Ouranos and eventually plots against him.

Kronos

The Titan who castrated his father Ouranos and swallowed his own children to prevent being overthrown.

Titanomachy

The war led by Zeus and his siblings against the Titans for control of the cosmos.

Typhoeus

A monstrous chaos creature defeated by Zeus to solidify his position as king of the gods.

Pandora

The first woman, created by Hephaestus, who released evils into the world from a jar, leaving only Hope inside.

Five Ages of Man

The Greek concept of human decline over time: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Hero, and the current Iron age.

Kumarbi Cycle

A series of Hittite myths adapted from Hurrian sources describing a succession struggle among the gods.

Ullikummi

A stone giant created by Kumarbi who grows from the shoulder of Upelluri to challenge the storm god Teshub.

Nahui-Ollin

The 'Movement Sun,' which is the current fifth age of the Mexica world, predicted to be destroyed by earthquakes.

Nanahuatzin

The humble, diseased god who sacrificed himself in fire to become the sun in Mexica mythology.

Popol Vuh

The K'iche' Maya creation epic describing the creation of humans from maize dough.

Hero Twins

Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who defeated the lords of Xibalba and the false god Seven Macaw through trickery and ballgame victories.

Leviathan

A chaos sea monster associated with the sea in Israelite and Canaanite myths, representing forces controlled by the divine.

Mot

The Canaanite god of death who swallows Baal, leading to a period of dryness on earth until he is killed by Anat.

Atrahasis

The protagonist of an Akkadian epic who survives a Great Flood sent by Enlil after being warned by the god Ea.

Ymir

The primordial giant in Norse mythology from whose corpse the gods created the world.

Ragnarok

The Norse end-of-the-world event involving a final battle between gods and giants followed by the world burning and sinking.

Cuneiform

The world's first writing system, invented by the Sumerians around $3400\,BCE$ using wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.

Parthenogenesis

The process of reproduction or birth without male fertilization, such as Gaia producing Ouranos.

Bronze Age Collapse

A period around $1200-1150\,BCE$ when many Eastern Mediterranean civilizations like the Mycenaeans and Hittites fell.

Syncretism

The blending and merging of different religious or cultural traditions, such as Greek Zeus becoming Roman Jupiter.

Succession Myth

A narrative pattern where one generation of gods overthrows the previous one, often seen in Greek and Hittite traditions.

Xenia

The Greek code of hospitality requiring kindness toward strangers, as they might be gods in disguise.

Anthropogony

A myth specifically explaining the origin of human beings.

Ex Nihilo

A Latin term meaning 'out of nothing,' referring to creation through speech or thought without pre-existing materials.

Aztlán

The mythical ancestral homeland from which the Mexica migrated before founding Tenochtitlan.

Dying and Rising Gods

Deities like Baal or Osiris who descend to the underworld and return, often representing agricultural or seasonal cycles.