For my essay I want to look at the role of “god” or the divine beings, and the rold of man in the creation myths. Specifically in the creation myths we studied: Enuma Elish, Theogony, Metamorphoses, and the Genesis creation story. I want to look at the motivations for creation, and why each “divine” chose their method of creation. What was man created for? Why weren’t the “gods” just simply happy with being “gods”, why did they create man? Did the creation “just happen” or did the “god” carefully plan the creation for a specific purpose? Were the gods justified in creating man and initiating chaos in the universe? Did the gods actually intitiate chaos by creating man? Is the chaos always bad in the creation myths? When did man become “man”…or did the gods create “other gods”?
These are just some of the ideas that I have been attempting to organize, because I believe the study of the creation of man and the universe is very important. It is important because it attempts to explain how man and the world came into being. This is an extremely significant topic because if one knows where he/she came from, they can get a better understanding of where the future holds, and what man’s purpose of living is. Without this knowledge man is left to wonder about life seeking true joy and contentment and unable to find it.
Possible sources (may not all be peer reviewed, but a few are):
http://www.ancient.eu.com/article/225/
http://www.meta-religion.com/World_Religions/Ancient_religions/Mesopotamia/genesis_and_enuma_elish_creation.htm
http://bartleby.com/108/01/1.html
http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/xeno.ovid1.htm
Leeming, David A. (2004). "Biblical creation". The Oxford companion to world mythology (online ed.). Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t208.e229. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
Hamilton, Victor P (1990). The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17. New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 540. ISBN 0802825214. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=c1DrrBMFuZYC.
(Sorry the sources look funny...It wouldn't let me post them right)
I think this is really solid. The questions you raise in the first paragraph will yield some interesting discussions and argument in the essay, I bet. Your sources look good too. You need at least two peer-reviewed sources, but anything beyond that is fair game.
ReplyDeleteI really like the approach you suggest in the final paragraph, that these stories are somehow instructional: "Without this knowledge man is left to wonder about life seeking true joy and contentment and unable to find it."
One other approach to these stories might be to look at what each one seems to say about how to live a good life and compare and contrast these messages.
Good work here.