Creation Mythology Vocab

Primordial Beings/Deities

the first gods and goddesses born from the void of Chaos

primordial waters

waters that exist at beginning of or even before creation

Aether

God of light

Pontus

God of the sea

Hemera

Goddess of daylight

Nix

Goddess of night

Kronos

Greek god who separated Ouranos (Sky) from Gaia (Earth)

Structuralist

Myths are stories about those basic human needs (economics, social control, political organization, and education) that require social institution; myths that refer to duality in individual and social contexts (good and evil, light and dark, etc.)

Phycological Structuralist

Myths are stories that express universal images or archetypes of the collective unconscious that reflect needs and urges common to all humans

Ritualist

Myths explain or are actual scripts for ancient ritual; myths explain ritual, or work with ritual as cultural responses to the human desire for sacred interaction with the supernatural or divine

Functionalist

Myths support and reinforce social order and provide member of society with models for understanding roles, practices, rules and the consequences for breaking them.

Thalassa

Primeval spirit of the sea

Earth Mother

Symbolic of fruition, abundance, and fertility, this character traditionally offers spiritual and emotional nourishment to those with whom she comes in contact. Often depicted in earth colors, has large breasts and hips symbolic of her childbearing capacities.

Cyclopes

a race of one-eyed giants; an individual member of the race is a Cyclops

Sky Father

a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a "father"

chaos

complete disorder

ex nihilo

creation out of nothing

Erbus

dark area of the underworld where th dead reside

Rhea

daughter of Uranus and Gaea; wife of Cronus; mother of the first six gods: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus

void

emptiness

Gaia

goddess of the earth

Cosmic Egg

is a mythological motif found in the creation myths of many cultures and civilizations. typically, a beginning of some sort, and the universe or some primordial being comes into existence by "hatching"

Rationalist

myths are primitive interpretations of science or distortions of historical events.

garden archetype

paradise, innocence, unspoiled beauty

Titans

Children of Gaea and Uranus

Tartarus

Deep dark pit in earth part of Underworld where Uranus threw the cyclopes and his other undesirable children. Zeus later put the Titans there.

Hecatonchires

First three children of Uranus and Gaea with 100 hands and 50 heads

Ouranos

sky god

Creation Myth

stories and explanations which describe the beginnings of humanity, earth life, and the universe

Pantheon

A group of gods; a group of people so accomplished in a skill or field that they seem like gods

motif

A recurring theme, subject or idea

Flood Myth

A story that tells about the earth being destroyed by water

Pre-human cosmic war

Battle between gods before humans

World Parent Myth

When a creator brings a universe into being

Cuneiform writing

The earliest writing in Mesopotamia was a picture writing invented by the Sumerians who wrote on clay tablets using long reeds.