Deity, Supernatural Beings, And Humanity In Mythology - Essay Example

?Creation Myths The story of Adam and Eve tells why humanity is suffering from death and destruction. It tells about the beginning of Christianity and mankind. Egyptian mythology is a compilation of the activities of numerous gods and goddesses. The beginning of mankind is also explained here. Both the mythologies tell about how the first seed of sin was sown in the blood of humanity. Cultural influence Adam and Eve According to the Genesis the first human beings created by God were Adam and Eve. After seven days of hard work God created the first man by taking some clay from the ground and named his Adam. God then created a beautiful garden Eden so that Adam could live in it. God then brought animals into the garden so that Adam can name them. So it was Adam, who was the first human being, responsible for naming the animals. Since Adam was the sole human being on earth he was given the power to dominate the animals. However, seeing his loneliness and lack of company God created the first woman and named him Eve. Adam and Eve were given the power to control everything on earth that was created from dirt. There was a tree in the center of the garden. Adam and Eve were forbidden by God to touch it. One day a snake entered the garden and tempted Eve to eat a fruit from the tree. The tree was known as the knowledge tree and provided knowledge to distinguish between the good and the evil. By eating the fruit Adam and Eve committed the first sin of disobedience. They failed to obey the order of God and this instilled in their minds a sense of guilt. When God asked Adam if he has eaten the fruit he put the blame on Eve. “And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate”. (Troyer, 2007, p.105) Similarly Eve blamed the snake for her own act of disobedience. “And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate”. (Troyer, 2007, p.106) With this the seeds of temptation, disobedience, blame shifting and feelings of guilt were planted in the blood of human beings. Apple was the forbidden fruit and for eating it Adam and Eve were banished from Eden. Therefore in Christian culture apple symbolizes sin and knowledge. Egyptian creation mythology According to Egyptian mythology in the beginning there was only ocean on earth. The first living creature appeared when Ra who was the Egyptian sun god was born out of an egg. He had many names and they symbolize different positions of the sun. He was “Aten (sun disk), Khepri (the rising sun), Ra (supreme god of Heliopolis), and Atum (the setting sun)”. (The Egyptian Religion and Creation Myth, n.d., p.35) Egypt is a land of “eternal sunshine” and so it was natural for them to symbolize the sun god as the creator of the universe. The human beings were created from the eye of Ra. The eye got lost and Ra could not find it. His son Shu and daughter Tefnut went to fetch it but failed. There was a struggle between them which caused the eye to shed tears. Human beings were born from the tears. Therefore the eye of Ra symbolizes life. “The act of bringing the eye back to the creator was equivalent to healing the earth – the restoration of right and order”. (The Egyptian Religion and Creation Myth, n.d., p.33) Ra’s son Shu represented dry air while daughter Tefnut represented moisture. Together they are symbolized in the Egyptian culture as life and justice. In both the mythologies it was the male who first created. Adam and Ra were both representatives of the male. In both cases there is the event of sibling murder. In Egyptian mythology Set killed his brother Osiris while in the Genesis Cain killed his brother and in both cases the reason was jealousy. What role does sex play? After God created Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden, God brought all the animals into the garden and authorized Adam to name them. So it was Adam who named the animals and not Eve. This authority was given to man by God and so it is more a man’s duty than a woman to fulfill the command of God. Since Adam was created before Eve and so he had the authority to control Eve. Therefore it was his duty to stop the conversation between Eve and the snake before she got tempted to eat the forbidden fruit. “Adam should have stopped the conversation. Adam was in charge and watched as Eve was sucked into a conversation of evil intent” (Troyer, 2007, p.129). On the other hand every man or woman is responsible for his or her own actions and as such it was Eve’s own choice to be swayed by the snake’s evil intentions. That God has forbidden them to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge was known by Eve but still she went ahead and did the first act of sin. Then she even forced Adam to do the same because she wanted Adam to share her feeling of guilt. Egyptian mythology has numerous gods and goddesses. Each of them played distinct roles in maintaining peace and order in the land of Egypt - “The goddesses were depicted as snakes and gods as frogs” (The Egyptian Religion and Creation Myth, n.d., p.33). The most powerful god was Amun and he ruled the land as the king. Shu who has an appearance of a lion separated the earth from the sky. Nut was the goddess of sky. She symbolizes day and night as it is believed that she swallowed Ra and then gave birth to him in the morning. Geb was the husband and brother of Nut. It is believed that he caused earthquakes with his laughter. Unlike the Genesis, the Egyptian mythology is concerned with gods and goddesses while Adam and Eve were human beings created by God. Reaction of deity, supernatural beings and humanity When God created man, He created a separate entity from Himself. When Adam and Eve committed the first sin of disobedience it was similar to mankind refusing the power of God. God hates any kind of sin and He believes by committing sins mankind is getting further away from God. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit they were banished forever from the Garden of Eden. “Therefore Jehovah God sent him out from the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he has been taken”. (Troyer, 2007 p.112) Lucifer was an angel with wisdom. Lucifer was given the power to protect one third of the armies of God but he was not satisfied with what he had. He was jealous of Adam who had the control over all the animals in the Garden of Eden. Lucifer used the serpent to serve his purpose. It was not necessary for the serpent to obey Lucifer since it was Adam who had control over all animals and not Lucifer. But the serpent was tempted to rebel against the power of Adam which was equal to rebelling against God. The serpent thought “I am going to increase my stature. I will make myself something special by my own crafty gifts. I will take upon myself more power because of my own ability”. (Troyer, pp.131-132) The nature of humanity was manifested the sinful actions of Adam and Eve. They gave in to the temptation that was provoked by the serpent. The evil powers tempt humanity even today and human beings succumb and they lie, steal, hate, kill and commit numerous sins. Ra who is the creator of the universe tells that there was no space to move on. The earth had only ocean called Nun. “Atum created himself out of Nun by an effort of will or by uttering his own name’. (The Egyptian Religion and Creation Myth, n.d.) Atum created a hill on earth. The hill represented light while Nu represented darkness. It was Atum who created more gods as a result of union with his shadow. Atum was a bisexual god unlike the story of Adam and Eve which tells that living beings are created only with union between the male and the female. Human beings were created from the tears of Atum when he cried after getting back his children Shu and Tefnut who got lost in the ocean after their birth. Importance of sex In Christianity the story of Eve teaches to restrain sexual and social freedom of women. It has also given men the reason to believe that women are the cause behind the suffering of mankind. It is believed that women can redeem themselves by becoming epitome of purity and obedience like Virgin Mary. In Egyptian mythology the gods and goddesses creates life among the chaos. Atum is considered as both male and female and he created Shu and Tefnut through masturbation. It symbolizes connection of two spirits. How is deity in charge of sexuality portrayed? In the story of Adam and Eve apple has always been considered as symbol of sexuality. Although nowhere in Bible it is said that apple was the forbidden fruit, still it is associated with the Original Sin because of its many sexual implications. In Egyptian creation mythology Set is considered as god of male sexuality. He is portrayed as a man with the head of an unidentifiable animal. He symbolizes disharmony as he had murdered his brother Osiris and fought with his nephew Horus to become the ruler. The female sexuality was symbolized by Nephthys. She has a headdress on which her name is in hieroglyphs. She is considered as protector of the dead. Depictions of sex In both mythologies there has been incident of one brother killing the other. Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain was jealous of Abel because God favored Abel and accepted his offerings. God rejected the offerings by Cain. Cain murdered Abel and became the first murderer of mankind. In Egyptian creation mythology Set and Osiris were sons of Geb, who represents the earth, and Nut who represents the sky. Osiris became the king of the earth after Ra and this aroused jealousy in Set. Set killed Osiris to gain power. Conclusion In Egyptian mythology the king acts as link between gods and humanity. Humanity was born from tears of Ra’s eye who was the king. It also says about how right successors should get the throne. Set wanted to get the throne by force and this resulted in the first murder. Similarly, Abel being favored by God was bestowed with royal powers. Cain out of jealousy and to win the favour of God ended up creating more distance with God by committing the first murder. References The Egyptian Religion and Creation Myth, (n.d.) from: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:CQ9SFnAfdWQJ:www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/egypt/pdf_eng/e-9802-c.pdf+&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj61Yd6MqAXvMC4U4CijUfg8hUQP-uWW9u9zB-IthwilQUZ8q2J5_GwJchGzvqPyVn41vTe38Wws6a7FJ_ISi7kQ-dG0e10ooLUt7rL8HvTYyCN5c5ieyqdWnduyopc9Xz0qbly&sig=AHIEtbQnOL9Yjmep53J_MWSVUG_U-yYHgQ Troyer, D.O. (2007) Genesis 1-2-3, USA: Xulon Press Read More