Theogony, Works and Days, Genesis, Metamorphoses
From your reading and the class discussions, know the following
names and terms:
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Theogony
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Genesis
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Metamorphoses
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Chaos
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Adam
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Four Ages
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Eros
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Eve
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Jupiter
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Ge or Gaia
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Cain
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Lycaon
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Ouranos
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Abel
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Flood
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Aphrodite
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Lamach and Seth
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Deucalion
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Titans
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Noah
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Pyrrha
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Cyclopes
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Shem, Ham, Japheth
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second creation
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100 handers
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Python
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Kronos
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Terms
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Daphne
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Rhea
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source criticism
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Apollo
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Zeus
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Yahwistic tradition
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Io
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Hera
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Elohistic tradition
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Hera
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Athena
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Priestly tradition
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Mercury
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Typhoeus
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Pan
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Prometheus
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Syrinx
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Pandora
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Muses
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Study Questions
1. There are two accounts of creation of the world in Genesis, chs.
1-3. What do they have in common? How are they different? Why are
they different? There are two accounts of the genealogy of Seth.
Why are there two? Are there any other doublets in Genesis 1-11?
Do they contradict each other? Do they each present something valuable
and "true"? Explain.
2. How does Genesis fit with the other creation myths
we have seen so far? Similarities? Differences? Is the account of
creation historical in any of them? Are any of the accounts true?
Explain.
3. Compare the creation story in Genesis with the
one in Metamorphoses, Bk. 1. How many gods are involved in the two
myths? To what extent is there theogony or cosmogony or genealogy
in the two myths?
4. Compare the accounts of the flood in Genesis and
Ovid. What do they have in common? How are they different? What
accounts for the differences? Are there any aspects of the flood
in the other myths we have read?
5. Examine Genesis and explain what role violence
has in chs. 1-11. Is there any way to say that it is parallel to
or different from the violence of Hesiod's succession myth?
6. Think about the role of human beings in all the
creation myths we have read. Do they have the same lot or fate in
each account? What kind of relationship do they have with the gods
in each version. Do you think this relationship is true to life?
7. Compare the creation of Eve with Pandora. Are each
created for the same reason. Do they each have the same effect?
Compare the Hebrew view of women with Hesiod's and then also Ovid's.
8. How does the view of history in Hesiod's "Ages
of Mankind" with Ovid's. Then compare with the view in Theogony
or Genesis or the Homeric Hymns? Is time cyclical or linear? Are
human beings progressing or regressing? What are the reasons?
9. One might say that the composers of each myth had
a similar purpose in telling about the creation of the world, but
different audiences account for the differences between all these
myths. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
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