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.
