HUM10159A0 World Mythology

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HUM10159A0 World Mythology
P 1D
Natural Disaster Myths Discussion
There are many myths and legends that explain natural phenomena
related to natural disasters. These myths fall under the themes of
cosmic disasters (the end of the world), the Great Flood, cyclical
disasters, punishment of humanity, the doom of the gods, or cosmic
fires. Of all the many myths relating to disasters, those related to the
creation of the world, and of floods and storms are the most numerous
ones. This is in part due to the fact that the theme of the flood is one of
the most widespread myths, what Bierlein (1994) calls parallel myths
because they occur across cultures and times. Thus, from stories
like Noah and the ark , to the Magic mould (Verniero, 2001), these
stories all explore the theme of destruction, and then the recreation of
the Earth in one way or another.
Of all the cultures regarding cosmic disasters, the Aztec tradition is the
most representative one. According to the Aztec myth of the five suns,
the world was destroyed four separate times in the struggle between
gods. The first world was destroyed by jaguars, the second by a great
hurricane, the third by fire, and the fourth by a flood. We are presently
in the fifth world; predestined to be devastated by earthquakes. In Hopi
mythology, we are in the fourth world; the previous was destroyed by
fire, by ice (when Earth toppled on its axis), and by a flood, in that
order.
In the Japanese tradition, the two youngest gods, Izanagi and Izanami
created the first island, Onokoro, by trusting, on the mud floating
everywhere, a spear given to them by August lord of Heaven. Once the
island was formed, the spear began to rainwater and the oceans were
formed. After consummating their marriage, the myth explains how it is
that Izanami gave birth to the rest of the islands that make up Japan.
They continued the creation of the world after she gave birth to the
gods of wind, rain, mountains, mist, streams, rivers and the seas.
According to Tibetan folklore, the Earth is being sustained on its back
by a giant frog. When it moves or jumps in the water, it causes an
earthquake. According to Bali tradition, it is a tortoise that carries Earth
upon its shoulder, and that when it moves produces earthquakes. In the
Polynesian tradition, it is Ruau-Moko, the youngest child of Papa, the
Earth goddess, moving in the womb that causes earthquakes. The
Chincha of Peru has Mama Pacha as the Earth mother, often not only
overseeing the planting and harvesting but depicting her as a dragon
that is the originator of earthquakes. The Mayan god of earthquakes
and mountains is Cabrakan.
There are also many myths and legends related to how mountain ranges
were formed. In Chinese mythology, Pangu’s body became the Earth, as
we know it. Thus, from his head the mountains of the East were
formed; from his stomach, grew the mountain of the Center; his left
arm originated the mountain of the South, and the mountain of the
North grew from his right arm; and it was from Pangu’s feet that the
mountain of the West originated. Even the constellations, stars, and
planets originated from his beard and his eyebrows respectively. The
sun originated from his left eye, while the Earth grew out of his right
eye. His voice emerged into thunder and lightning. The seas and rivers
have their origin in Pangu’s blood.
Among the Native American tradition, the integration of myths related
to mountain formation and volcanoes is of no surprise. Especially, when
taking into account that the history of many of the Northwest tribes
still endures the memory of early accounts of eruptions of what is now
called Mount St. Helen. For the Puyallup tribes, St. Helen with a
symmetrical cone covered in perpetual snow is the body of Loowitlatkla
(“Lady of fire”), is surrounded by Mount Hood (Wyeast mountain), and
Mount Adams, represents two brothers who admired so much the
beauty of Loowit that after a long fight for her admiration caused the
great chief Tyee Sahale to turn his two children into the respective
mountains.
The origin of the word hurricane is based on Taino mythology (Uracan)
referring to the evil god who was the originator of sea storms. In the
Mayan mythology, Hurakan (meaning one-legged) is the creator god of
wind and storms. He lived in the mists over the primeval flood. Hurakan
was believed to be the creator of the ancestors of the Mayan people
after he destroyed the previous inhabitants of Earth by sending floods
to destroy them.
Questions!!!!!!!
What if there were no actual floods in our experience in life? Would
there still be flood myths? Can a single archetypal flood myth be
derived from these many cultural dreams of the flood? What are the
necessary details of that myth? How are these details significant? Do
these details apply to other natural disasters? How so?
PT2
HUM10159A0 World Mythology:
Natural Disaster Myth Journal
(Unit 4) — Pick only ONE video to
watch and write about
Hide Assignment Information
Turnitin™
This assignment will be submitted to Turnitin™.
Instructions
Each week, a video from Crash Course Mythologies (some weeks might have
more videos that you can choose from) will be posted. For your journal
assignments, you are to do the following steps:
•
•
•
•
Watch the video (and take notes if necessary).
Write a 1 paragraph (fully developed = 5-7 sentences) summary of the
video.
o You must include the name of the video in this paragraph.
o You must also have a quote from the video and thus the in-text
citation in this paragraph.
Write 1 paragraph tying the video to what you have learned from the
readings.
o You must also have a quote from one of the books in this paragraph,
as well as the appropriate in-text citation.
Write a paragraph applying what you learned in the readings and the video
to OUTSIDE of the classroom.
•
Write a Works Cited page.
Hide Assignment Information
Turnitin™
This assignment will be submitted to Turnitin™.
Instructions
Each week, a video from Crash Course Mythologies (some weeks might have more videos that you can
choose from) will be posted. For your journal assignments, you are to do the following steps:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Watch the video (and take notes if necessary).
Write a 1 paragraph (fully developed = 5-7 sentences) summary of the video.
o You must include the name of the video in this paragraph.
o You must also have a quote from the video and thus the in-text citation in this paragraph.
Write 1 paragraph tying the video to what you have learned from the readings.
o You must also have a quote from one of the books in this paragraph, as well as the
appropriate in-text citation.
Write a paragraph applying what you learned in the readings and the video to OUTSIDE of the
classroom.
Write a Works Cited page.
Attach your journal to the assignment portal and submit.
Please make sure to ALWAYS use the proper MLA format, including the heading and header, and Works
Cited page. Points will be deducted from all written assignments that do not follow this format.
Attachments
MLA Checklist.docx (14.81 KB)
Free Citation Generator
Noah’s Ark and Floods in the Ancient Near East:
American Floods
Yu the Engineer and Flood Stories from China
Flood Myths From Across the World
10 Most DANGEROUS Natural Disasters!