Preview

Taoist And Greek Myths Similarities

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1131 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Taoist And Greek Myths Similarities
People of every culture have some myth or story that explains how the world, themselves, and everything else was created. Each culture has a unique story that reflects the culture itself and holds some significance to the people of the culture. Greek mythology is a widely known form of Greek culture that has its own creation story that shares similarities and differences with other creation stories. The Chinese Taoist creation story is not as well known as Greek mythology, but it still shares some commonalities and dissimilarities with other culture’s creation stories. Greek mythology and Taoist creation have a few similarities and differences within their creation stories that reflect their own individual culture and show parallels between …show more content…
One similarity between the two myths is the very beginning of the creation. In the Pangu creation story there was an egg full of mass in which Pangu formed. Similarly in Hesiod’s Theogony of Greek Mythology there was Chaos and from Chaos, which was just darkness and space, and then Gaia and Eros came (Buxton, 2004, p. 44). These beginnings are similar in the fact that in both myths something, Pangu, Gaia, and Eros, came from almost nothing. Another similarity is the fact that in both myths, everything is created from something or someone. In the Pangu myth, everything is created out of Pangu’s body, like his blood becomes rivers and his breath becomes the wind (Lutz, 2015, para. 5). In Greek Mythology, Gaia is earth, Eros is sexual love, Erebos was a dark realm, and there was Night and Day (Buxton, 2004, p. 44-45). These are similar in the fact that from the creator, different concepts, features, and beings are formed. There are also several differences in these two myths. One difference is the fact that Greek Mythology is a widely known cultural myth, whereas Pangu’s myth is not widely known or accepted. One difference within the myths is the fact that in the Pangu myth, Pangu is the sole creator of everything. In Greek Mythology, Gaia comes from Chaos and both Gaia and Chaos, along with the other beings created create other beings and concepts. The main difference between the two myths are there significance to their cultures. Greek mythology is very significant in the culture it is derived from, and it holds morals and stories that show people how to live their lives. On the other hand, Pangu’s myth is not as significant in Chinese Taoist culture. As mentioned before, very few people believe that this myth is the true creation story of the universe. Both Greek

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Cosmic creation myths are at the center of literally every culture of the human race. The Inca and The Navajo people are no different each has a cosmic creation myth. The two myths are similar in many ways there also are some differences in each cosmic creation myth. The Christian cosmic myth is one most every person from our American culture is familiar with, god created the world in 6 days, and on the seventh day he rested. Then there was Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden. The rest of the story is well known.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The different stories about how the world was created between numerous diverse cultures are called origin myths, which are stories that explain how things came to be and are probably the first stories human beings told. There are many similarities and differences between the Cheyenne Myth, “How the World was Made,” and the Hebrew Story, “In the Beginning,” that show how each culture views its’ God and humanity’s relationship to each of these. While both stories have animals being created before the humans, it shows the power of a greater being which is perceived differently for how they each treated the animals or humans and how they created the earth.…

    • 244 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In this paper I will compare and contrast two myths from different cultures. The two myths chosen for this paper are the Genesis creation (Hebrew origin) of the Christian culture, and the Norse culture of Iceland (the Vikings). Both of these creation myths start with an emptiness where conflict and chaos eventually develop. The Genesis conflict is between God, nothing, blackness, emptiness, loneliness, and the need to create something. The Norse conflict is between the dark cold realm of Niflheim, within the emptiness of ginnungagap, and the fiery realm of Muspell, where nothing can grow.…

    • 1837 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The world is made up of people from different religions, ethnicities, and cultures; and they all have their own-tailored- creation stories. A story that explains how all things came to be and what gave everything meaning. A story that lies the foundation for all beliefs and expectations for the culture. A story that will be told for all generations. It may never be known which story is the true one. One of the more interesting comparisons in cultures is that of the Native Americans and the Puritans.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pan Gu Myth

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages

    All throughout history many cultures and civilization have had their own understandings of the world and its creation. These cultures seek to explain how everything in this world was created through creation myths. The two myths that will be compared are the Hindu myth of Purusha and the Chinese myth of Pan Gu. Both myths share many similarities and differences. One key similarity is both myths are considered etiological, because they answer the question of our origination.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After reading and listening to the two creation myths, I have come to conclusion that, even though most myths come from different cultures and places in time, there will always be some sort of similarities and differences to make them unique in their own special…

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After reviewing and researching the many creations of Myths I have finally narrowed it down to two creations that are excite me to tell you about. Egyptian creation, starting from a creation of water, and Inca creation, a creation starting from a bright burning ball of fire we call the sun. I will give insight to how each Myth was created and compare the creators as well as give you my thoughts and findings of their similarities and differences.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and ancient Hebrew cultures were all very different. The earliest known creation writings were dated from the third millennium B.C.1 Whether it is belief in one God or several, each culture represents one or more. How each God or Gods comes into their world, how they interact, or how they worship each God is unique to their culture. The creation stories are the foundation of religious cultures that have spread throughout the world.2…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Considerable attention is given to a specific set of myths: those stories that deal with the creation of the world. Cosmogonic myths try to resolve the problem of man's search for meaning in existence“. Accounts of the beginning of the world are the quintessential form of myth” (Paden, 1994, p. 85). Different stories of creation are evidence of different worldviews. Hopi and Japanese creation myth deals with the origin of human kind. While they both narrate how the world and human being were created, they utilize different metaphors. The Japanese myth imagines chaos at the beginning. Earth and heavens came together to create harmony. Cosmos and order were brought where disorder and infinite operated. Void was filled and many divinities appeared. They were created in order to organize and “preside over the land, sea, mountains, river, trees and herbs” (Japanese Creation Myth). For Hopi, gods…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cosmic Creations

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Norse creations and Chinese creation have similarities and differences. Both creations were formed by one entity with help from other gods or entities. Darkness is a similar theme in the stories of both creations. Both creations start with an emptiness. They both entail elements of the earth and sky yet their creators are different.…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ancient Greek and Chinese civilizations were great periods of time in history, especially their golden ages. The two golden ages were very different, with some similarities, as seen in their foreign relations, governments, and cultural achievements. The even more influential golden age, in my opinion, was the ancient Chinese civilization.…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Myth Vs Greek Mythology

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The reason behind the adoption of similar themes by different cultures lies in the underlying reason that is the basis of the myths. This means that although there may be different adaptation of myths, a common theme guides different cultures. For instance, human beings, being inquisitive in nature, always seek an explanation behind every situation. Therefore, the basis of questions such as where we came from has always piqued the interest of all individuals across different cultures. Therefore, different myths as adopted by these cultures are composed to provide an explanation to such questions. For instance, most myths indicate that human beings originated from a higher power. However, different cultures have their own definitions of their higher powers hence the difference in mythical structures. All in all, universal themes form the basis of myths regardless of the culture that is…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Creation Myths were first created to help the peoples of the certain time period in different places across the world figure out why they were put on the Earth. The Mayan, the Shinto, and the Christians all had different beliefs to how they were created. The Mayan myth comes from the Popol Vuh, a sacred book of the Mayan peoples. While the Shinto’s myth came from Japan’s oldest chronicle, Kojiki (“Record of Ancient Matters”). The Book of Genesis comes from the first book of Hebrew scripture, Genesis tells the creation myth of the Christians.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The beliefs of Christianity and Greek Mythology vary in many ways, but they are also very similar. Some examples include the number of gods, and how the gods help. The most common belief of Christians is that there is only one true God, who saves everyone from their sins. Even though there is only one God, he appears in various ways.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ancient Greek Myth

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page

    Majority of Christians believe that the stories of the Bible, are factual historical accounts. They hold Genesis as the true form of creation and inherent truth. These same people regard Greek mythology as fantasy or fiction. The premise that Ancient Greeks held, Greek Mythology as religion or fact is incompressible to many Christians. The Ancient Greek world seems so distant from modern society, but still the early foundations of mythology and Greek culture is rooted in today’s world, media, arts, and school of thought. It is ignorant for westerners to ignore the similarities between Ancient Greek creation and the Genesis account.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays