MYTH COMPILATION

UNIT 1: Folk Literature (Mythology & Folklore): An Overview

Introduction

Developing a learner holistically is one of the goals of education. To attain this, various factors
such as the learner’s curriculum should cover not only their cognitive development, but also their
affective domain. Literature always plays an integral part in this holistic growth. Its significance in
developing literary appreciation and comprehension skills to learners is inevitable. A country’s literature
mirrors its cultural, economic, and social development. Hence, the more familiar we are with the culture
of a nation, the better we understand and appreciate its literature.

In this module, it will journey you to the history of folk literature particularly on mythology and
folklore. Here, you will get to know the ways of living, the traditions, and the social ideals which our
ancestors brought from across the seas, or absorbed from contacts with other people of the world.
Through the activities you will undertake, you will have a better appreciation of literary masterpieces,
their theoretical underpinnings, and as well, inspiration to love literature and to teach them to the
younger generations. For pre-service teachers, this journey would not only equip you with knowledge in
English language, but would enrich your creativity and love in reading which would help you also in the
teaching and learning process.

In this unit, you are expected to:

Ø Determine the historical background of folk literature as a relevant artifact;

Ø Differentiate mythology and folklore;

Ø Develop awareness on the different genres of folk literature’

Ø Discuss the significance of studying folk literature;

Ø Explain the ancient and modern theories related to folk literature;

Folk Literature as a Relevant Historical Artifact

Stories have been part of our existence and identity. These are what we carry with us as we grow
old. These are shared with us from words of mouth and from written works. Stories embody our ideals,
aspirations, and dreams. It brings us to many places we’ve never seen before. Folk literature is a piece
that has been handed down from generations through word of mouth and writings. These are important
cultural artifacts that remind us of our history as people and country. In this module you’ll learn how
folk literature evolved through time. It is important to look back on how it all started and see how it
evolved, so we can truly understand why things happened, and learn from the process on how it
changed.

Folk Literature and Its Historical Background

What is Folk Literature?

· Folk literature includes all the myths, legends, epics, fables, and folktales passed down by word of
mouth through the generations. The authors of traditional literature are usually unknown or
unidentifiable.

· These stories have endured because they are entertaining, they embody the culture’s belief system,
and they contain fundamental human truths by which people have lived for centuries. Knowing the
characters and situations of folk literature is part of being culturally literate.

· Folk literature, regardless of its place of origin, seems clearly to have arisen to meet a variety of
human needs:

1. The need to explain the mysteries of the natural world.

2. The need to articulate our fears and dreams.

3. The need to impose order on the apparent random, even chaotic, nature of life.

4. The need to entertain ourselves and each other.

· Their brevity, immediate action, easily understandable characters, recurring features, fantastic
elements, and happy endings particularly appeal to children between the ages of 3 and 8.

· Folk literature can help children begin to develop a sense of morality. It helps children to sort out
good and evil in the world and to identify with the good.
Historical Background of Folk Literature
Period/Time Events
Classical World -Oral storytelling
500 BCE – 400 CE - Greek and Roman myths and
epics
- Aesop’s fables
Middle Ages -Religious tales / Biblical stories
476 CE – 1400 - Romantic tales / Legends
Renaissance World -The printing press made it
possible to make multiple copies
of books
1400 – 1700 - Rise of Educational books
* Orbis Sensualism Pictus
by John Comenius (1658)
-the 1st children’s picture book
* New England Primer
(1690 -1886) - the most famous
early school book
- Emergence of Chapbooks
(small and cheaply made books
containing fairy tales
18th and early 19th Centuries -John Newbery’s publishing of
children’s books
1700 – 1830
- Rise of Moralistic Tales
Significance
-kept ancient stories alive
- Children and adults shared a
common
-set examples for children, for a
didactic purpose
- created a mixture of realism
and fantasy
-promoted mass education
-the emphasis was on spiritual
and intellectual development;
schooling became important for
a Puritan child's upbringing
- emphasized giving lessons in
proper behavior for boys
- helped to keep interest in
traditional tales alive during the
Puritan Movement
-first successfully promoted
children's literature designed to
entertain children as well as to
teach them
- influenced by Rousseau’s
 -Revival of Folktales
* Tales of Mother Goose by
Charles Perrault in France (1697)
and translated in English (1729)
* Grimms’ Nursery and
Household Tales in Germany
(1812).
* Hans Christian Anderson’s
Fairy Tales in Denmark (1835)
The Victorians: Golden Age -Rise of Modern Fantasy
1830 – 1900 * Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland (1865) by Lewis
Carroll (England)
* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
(1900) by L. Frank Baum (U.S.)
* The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901)
by Beatrix Potter
- Rise of Realistic Stories
* Little Women (1868) by Louisa
May Alcott (U.S)
* Treasure Island (1881) by
Robert Louis Stevenson
(England)
20th Century -Emergence of some of the most
notable fantasy writers of
children's literature
* Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) by A.
A. Milne (England)
- Popularity of the publication of
Picture Storybooks
- Popularity of Fantasy stories
and series books
emphasis on proper moral
development; written mostly by
women.
-first written version of folktales
- inspired a flurry of folktales
collecting throughout Europe
- first modern folktales
-more talented writers wrote
entertaining stories for children
- first children’s masterpiece of
modern fantasy (breaking the
bonds of didacticism)
-first classic U.S. modern fantasy
for children
- early important modern picture
storybook in English
- early family story of great
popularity (girls’ story)
-famous classic adventure stories
(boys’ story)
-early classic personified toy
animal story
- early classic quest adventure
for children
-classis U.S. animal fantasy
- a franker and more open
approach to subjects in
children's books
- the field of children's literature
 * The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe (1950) and sequels by
C. S. Lewis
* Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B.
White
-Rise of New Realism (after
World War II)
has grown worldwide; heroes
came in all colors.
-promoted the writing of great
works of children's literature
- raised the status of children's
literature and promoted the
publishing of children's books

- A variety of world cultures

presented in children's books

- Emergence of awards for

children's books (the earliest one
was Newbery Medal in 1922,
U.S.)

- Study of children's literature

began in the last quarter of the
20th century

Major Forms of Folk Literature

Ø MYTHOLOGY

It is a classic or legendary story that usually focuses on a particular hero or event, and explains mysteries
of nature, existence, or the universe with no true basis in fact. Myths exist in every culture; but the most
well known in Western culture and literature are part of Greek and Roman mythology.

The characters in myths, usually gods, goddesses, warriors, and heroes, are often responsible for the
creation and maintenance of elements of nature, as well as physical, emotional, and practical aspects of
human existence—for example Zeus; the god of the sky and the earth and father of gods and men, and
Aphrodite; the goddess of love and fertility. A culture’s collective myths make up its mythology, a term
that predates the word “myth” by centuries. The terms myth and mythology as we understand them
today arose in the English language in the 18th century.

Importance of Mythology
The importance of myth is immeasurable—in literature, philosophy, history and many other parts of
human life. They have been a huge part of oral, written, and visual story telling for literally thousands of
years; in fact, they have been a part of mankind’s entire history. Humans have always used myths to
explain natural phenomena and life’s mysteries; for instance, Greek and Roman mythology served as
both science and religion in both cultures for centuries. To this day myths have a very large and relevant
place in cultural studies and scholarship, and are represented across studies in literature, religion,
philosophy, and many other disciplines. Part of the allure of myths is that the exact process and purpose
of their development is unclear. For instance, some scholars believe that myths are inaccurate accounts
of real historical events, while others argue that the gods and goddesses were personifications of
objects and things in nature that ancient men worshiped.

Ø FOLKLORE

These are tales people tell like folk stories, fairy tales, “tall tales,” and even urban legends. Folklore is
typically passed down by word of mouth, rather than being written in books (although sometimes
people write down collections of folklore in order to preserve the stories of a particular community). The
key here is that folklore has no author – it just emerges from the culture and is carried forward by
constant retelling.

Importance of Folklores

Folk tales speak to an innate psychological need shared by all human beings. As we encounter the world,
we see pain, loss, and emptiness everywhere. How can we face such a world and not feel despair? Part
of the answer is that we tell stories about gods, heroes, and monsters – when the good guys win, we
gain a psychological boost and learn valuable lessons about courage and perseverance.

Genres of Folk Literature

Introduction

There are various genres of folk literature. This forms the rich variety of folk literatures around
the world. Readers of folk literature in one culture have different interests from those people in
another. One group may enjoy singing folk songs, another in romantic folktales, and the neighboring
groups may be concerned only with legends and traditions. This is the importance of learning the genres
of literature- to address the needs and interests of a variety of readers. This lesson will focus on the
presentation of different genres of folk literature.

Folk literatures have different genres. They are as follows:

1. Myths
· Myths are stories that recount and explain the origins of the world and the phenomena of nature.
The characters are mainly gods and goddesses, with occasional mention of humans, and the setting is
high above earth in the home of the gods.

· Myths often mirror human nature and the essence of our sometimes primitive emotions, instincts,
and desires. Some folklorists believe that myths are the foundation of all other ancient stories.

· The best-known mythologies are of Greek, Roman, and Norse origin.

2. Epics

· Epics are long stories of human adventure and heroism recounted in many episodes, often in
verse. Epics are grounded in mythology, and their characters can be both human and divine. However,
the hero is always human (e.g., “Iliad”, “Odyssey”, “Beowulf” and “The Song of Roland”). The setting is
earthly but not always realistic.

· Because of their length and complexity, epics are more suitable for students in high school or
college.

3. Legends and Tall tales

· Legends are stories based on both real or supposedly real individuals, and their marvelous deeds.
Legendary characters such as King Arthur and Robin Hood are a tantalizing mix of realism and fantasy.

· Tall tales are highly exaggerated accounts of the exploits of persons, both real and imagined, so
they may be considered a subcategory of legends, though with much more recent origin. Tall tales
usually defy logic and are usually without moral lessons.

· Tall tales are usually valued for their humor and exaggeration, whereas legends are more austere
in tone.

4. Fables

· Fables are simple stories that incorporate characters (typically animals) whose actions teach a
moral lesson or universal truth. Often the moral is stated at the end of the story.

· Fables have appealed to both adults and children, yet many fables demand abstract thinking and
their points are often lost on children.
· The use of animals as symbols for human behavior often has made fables safe, yet effective,
political tools.

· The first known collection of fables in the Western world is “Aesop’s fables”.

5. Folktales (Fairy tales)

· Folktales are stories that grew out of the lives and imaginations of the people, or folk. They have
always been children’s favorite type of folk literature.

· Their popularity springs from their imaginative characters, their supernatural elements, and their
focus on action, their simple sense of justice, their happy endings, and the fundamental wisdom they
contain.

Important folktale collections:

· Charles Perrault’s “Tales of Mother Goose” (1697) collected and published in France: first written
version of folktales.

· Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm’s “Nursery and Household Tales” (1812) collected and published in
Germany: helped to popularize folktales (also see Grimm’s tales at nationalgeographic.com and
Animated Grimm Tales)

· Joseph Jacobs’s “English Fairy Tales” (1894) collected and published in England: further helped to
popularize folk literature

· Andrew Lang’s “Fairy Books” (1889-1910) collected and published a series of fairy books containing
folktales from around the world

· Below are the most prevalent kinds of folktales (note that some folktales have characteristics of
two or more folktale categories):

ü Animal tales are perhaps the oldest of all folktales. They are part myth, part fable, and part fairy tales.
They play significant roles in early stories and legends. Talking animals appear in many European
folktales. For example, “The Three Little Pigs” and “Little Red Riding Hood”.

ü Wonder tales (also known as fairy tales) are the best known of the traditional folktales. They are
stories of supernatural wonders typically depicting the conflict between good and evil. Most conclude
with the triumph of virtue and a happy marriage. In fairy tales, the supernatural wonder is derived from
either a magical person (a fairy godmother, a wicked witch), a magical object (a wondrous beanstalk, a
talking mirror, a magic lamp) or an enchantment (a miraculous sleep that lasts until love’s first kiss). For
example, “Cinderella”, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Jack and the
Beanstalk”
ü Cumulative tales are the ones in which successive additions are made to a repetitive plot line. They
are generally very simple in plot and brief, for with each addition, the entire sequence is repeated. For
example, “The Gingerbread Man” and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”.

ü Pourquoi tales (“pourquoi” means “why” in French) seeks to explain natural phenomena. They
provide primitive explanations for the many “why” questions early humans asked. They are found
throughout the world and especially popular in African and Native American folklore. There is a strong
connection between pourquoi tales and myths; however, the setting in pourquoi tales is earthly and
deities play no role in pourquoi tales as they do in myths. For example, “Why the Sun and the Moon Live
in the Sky” (from Southern Nigeria), “Where Stories Come From” (from Zulu), and “Why Mosquitoes
Buzz in People’s Ears” (1976) (see the video at Prairie School Television).

ü Noodlehead tales are light-hearted tales about silly people doing silly things. These tales are popular
because of their pure nonsense and jocularity, and sometimes we enjoy the triumph of the good-
hearted simpleton over the craftier evil characters of the story. For example, “Hans in Luck” by the
Grimm brothers and “The Three Wishes” by Joseph Jacobs.

6. Literary Fairy Tales

· Literary fairy tales are original tales written by specific modern authors that have all the flavor of a
traditional folktale. These tales fall somewhere between traditional literature and fantasy. Sometimes it
is difficult to distinguish between the literary fairy tale and the oral folktale unless we know the origin.

· Literary fairy tales exhibit many of the same features as traditional folktales: conventional settings
in a distant “generic” kingdom, predominantly flat and stereotyped characters, an accepted magical
element, and typically the requisite happy ending.

· Hans Christian Andersen was the most important creator of literary fairy tales and his fairy tales
(1835) has proved one of the most enduring. See Hersholt translation of Andersen’s fairy tales (the most
comprehensive edition of Andersen's fairy tales in English on the internet), Animated Anderson’s Fairy
Tales, and Andersen's Fairy Tales at literaturepage.com.

· A modern variation of the literary fairy tale is a spoof or satire (i.e., a parody of a folktale). Satire
results when writers feel a literary form has been exhausted and that it offers no other serious
possibilities; therefore, they begin to poke fun at it and then give the form a new life.

For example:

James Thurber’s “Many Moons” (1943)

Roald Dahl’s “Revolting Rhymes” (1982)

Eugene Trivizas’s “The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig” (illustrated by Helen Oxenbury) (1997)

Jon Scieszka’s “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” (1996)

Colin & Jacqui Hawkins's "Fairytale News"(2004)

Significance of Studying Folk Literature

There are four functions of folklore by William Bascom (1954) published in his Journal of American
Folklore as follows:

· Folklore lets people escape from repressions imposed upon them by society for example in tall
tales.

· Folklore validates culture, justifying its rituals and institutions to those who perform and observe
them.

· Folklore is a pedagogic device which reinforces morals and values and builds wit for example in
scary stories/moral lessons.

· Folklore is a means of applying social pressure and exercising social control for example the boy
who cried wolf.

Importance of Studying Folk Literatures/Folk tales

1. Folktales can be used to help develop strong reading skills, study other cultures, model positive
character traits, and discover a love of stories.

2. As Margaret Read MacDonald writes, “A folktale is a story that has been passed from person to
person.” Since folktales have been passed down through the oral tradition, they were honed for
listening, so they were easy to remember and share.

3. As a result, folktales make it easier for us to differentiate characters, follow a plotline or recall a
sequence of events. Not surprisingly, working with folktales can also help develop the critical reading
skills of phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension needed to meet the requirements defined in
the Common Core Standards for Reading.

4. They also play an important role in passing along core values or character traits. Folktales were
often employed to share a common history, to reinforce cultural values or highlight important
traditions. As folktales were passed down over generations they modeled behaviors and helped
reinforce expectations about how to live a meaningful life. Over time, folktales subtly incorporated
character traits like caring, resourcefulness, trust or courage into the fabric of the stories.

5. As a result, folktales can demonstrate the importance of making difficult decisions under
challenging circumstances. Engaging in discussions about the consequences of making poorly thought-
out or rash decisions, helps them see the importance of making effective decisions in their lives.

6. Folktales by their nature celebrate diversity. By experiencing stories from different cultures, we
can discover valuable insights about another culture’s values, beliefs, history, practices and customs.
When we learn about diverse cultural traditions, they not only broaden our view of the world, they may
also help develop a greater appreciation of our own family’s heritage.

In short, folktales can be used in a variety of ways to:

• Develop stronger reading skills

• Study other cultures

• Model character traits

• Appreciate other traditions

• Learn about decision making

• Explore new ways of seeing the world

• Discover a love of stories

UNIT 2 : CREATION Myths: How the World Came to Be

Introduction

Where do we come from? Cultures all over the world have tried to figure out this mystery. While
different peoples have varying tales, some elements stay the same. Trying to understand the
unfathomable is a common goal of all people. We create stories as an explanation to fill in the unknown.
For as long as people have been around, they have wondered how the earth, its people, and its animals
came to be.

Before the times of information being accessible from a simple swipe on your phone, the people of
ancient cultures passed down stories - or myths - to explain things like beliefs, cultural traditions, and
history. They often involved magical beings or heroes. Cultures explained this through elaborate stories
called myths, and this Unit covers such creation myths.
Myths of beginnings are often called creation myths. This type of myth tries to answer important
questions about life and the universe. For example: How were people created? Where did the universe
come from? Different cultures answer these questions in stories. Learning about creation myths is the
study of cosmogony (the 'cosmos' is the universe).

Creation myths explain how the universe, the earth, the earth's inhabitants, or different aspects in
nature came to be. Each culture had its own variant of a creation myth, and each explains similar
concepts in very different ways.

Let us take you a walk to the creation myths of four different nations – hence, four different cultures in
this Unit. Two of which are always taken in comparison with each other – Greece and Rome - as the
famous line goes “The Glory that was Greece; the Grandeur that was Rome”. The Greek and Roman
Mythologies have fascinated human beings for centuries, inspiring books, movies, research, and
conversation among those who want to learn more and who want to share the fables of the Gods and
Goddesses. Their stories (myths or mythos, depending on the origin), their triumphs and failures, and
their imminent Immortality have been the influence of many other religions, including Paganism and
Norse Mythology (the third nation’s culture for our study).

The Greeks came first, some 1,000 years before the Romans. Their most appreciated work, the Iliad, was
distributed 700 years before the Roman's most popular manuscript, the Aeneid. The Iliad was based on
at least 300 years of myths and stories, which were gathered from the tales passed down by mortal
observants, which certainly correlates with the Christian Bible. It was not meant as a holy scripture,
however, but as a recorded history of the Greek Gods and Goddesses, who were revered by men during
that time.

Comparatively, Greek and Roman gods were not worshipped, as the Christian God is, but rather used as
a model for how mortal humans should and should not behave. The Greeks were focused primarily on
life on earth, versus the eventuality of the afterlife. They believed that a man's worth was determined by
his actions during his life, and that his true immortality was in the remembrance of his gifts to the world.
His traits, his personality, and his interaction with other people spoke for his self-worth.

Greek Gods and Goddesses were based on human personality traits - such as Love, Honor, Dignity, and
Hatred - and their actions in myths were symbolic of the actions of men. Many myths involved a mortal
or a deity snatching something back from the Underworld, which illustrated their belief that the afterlife
was not of any concern, and that it was the physical world that was important. Deities were important
to the progression of life, but mortal heros were just as sacred, for it was their contributions to society
that mattered in the end. Individualism was also very important; the actions of a group were not as
consequential as the actions of an individual. Men were responsible for their own well-being, and could
not be bothered by the mistakes of the masses.

Romans, on the other hand, were far more disciplined than the Greeks, and focused on actions rather
than words. Whereas the Greeks revered the poet, the Romans held up the warrior as the epitome of
sanctity, and rewarded bravery and risks taken by both mortals and deities. They strongly felt that good
deeds on earth would be well-received in Heaven, and they strove to earn their place among the Gods in
the afterlife. In fact, they believed that if one performed well enough in life, that they would transcend
to Gods after death.

The Romans adopted many of the myths and deities of the Greeks, though they changed names and
circumstances to support their own beliefs. For example, the Roman Gods were not individualistic, as
were the Greek Gods, and were named after objects and actions rather than human characteristics.
Myths were rooted in the brave, heroic acts of the Gods, and rarely displayed the lives of mortals,
because mortal life was not as important as that after death. Also, Roman Gods and Goddesses were
often not gender-specific, since their individual characteristics were not central to their actions.

Thirdly, Norse mythology developed from the myths and legends of northern peoples who spoke
Germanic languages. It shares many features with the mythology of pre-Christian Germanic groups.
When some of these groups spread into England and Scandinavia, they carried their myths with them.
As they converted to Christianity, their traditional beliefs faded. But Christianity did not take hold in
Scandinavia until a later date, and the Norse version of Germanic mythology remained vigorous through
the Viking era, from about a.d. 750 to 1050.

A major source of information about Norse mythology is a book called the Poetic Edda, sometimes
known as the Elder Edda. It consists of mythological and heroic poems, including Voluspa, an overview
of Norse mythology from the creation to the final destructive battle of the world, called Ragnarok. The
unknown author who compiled the Poetic Edda in Iceland around 1270 drew on materials dating from
between 800 and 1100.

Norse mythology is sometimes described as grim, shadowed by long, sunless winters. But the darkness is
laced with gleams of grandeur and sparks of humor. The myths depict a universe in which gods and
giants battle among themselves in a cosmic conflict fated to end in the destruction of the world.

Finally, Philippine Mythology. Philippine mythology is much more important than you think. It gave our
ancestors a sense of direction and helped them explain everything–from the origin of mankind to the
existence of diseases. For them, it was not just a belief in invisible higher beings. Philippine mythology
defined who they were and what they’re supposed to do. The late anthropologist H. Otley Beyer shared
his own observation:

“Among the Christianized peoples of the plains the myths are preserved chiefly as folktales, but in the
mountains their recitation and preservation is a real and living part of the daily religious life of the
people. Very few of these myths are written; the great majority of them are preserved by oral tradition
only.”

There is no one-size-fits-all rule in Philippine mythology. In other words, ancient Filipinos from every
part of the country didn’t stick to a single version of creation story nor did they give uniform names to
their deities. As a result, Philippine mythology became so diverse that studying it now is like opening a
house with many doors and windows.
There we have the simple background on the four mythologies included in this Unit. We shall now study
a creation myth from each nation. Simply remember that since these are very old stories, there may be
several versions.

In this Unit, you are expected to:

ü relate creation myths to the beliefs on the beginnings of the world held by your community;

ü explain the culture of the nation/community through its creation myths;

ü clarify the similarities and differences of the creation myths from select origins;

ü generate creative learning outputs exemplifying values learned from the creation myths plot, theme,
and character development.

The Creation of the World: Greek Mythology

Introduction

Of the many cultural artifacts we have received from the ancient Greeks, it may be argued that it
is their rich and complex mythology—as conveyed via poems, dramas, paintings, and statues—that has
exercised the greatest influence on modern Western culture. The extent of this influence—from
Renaissance art to nineteenth-century psychoanalysis; from classical composers to modern filmmakers
—results in part from the vibrancy of the ancient literary and artistic tradition that has transmitted the
mythology to us and in part, frankly, from the captivating and universal nature of the myths themselves.
Even a basic familiarity with Greek mythology, therefore, significantly enriches one’s appreciation of art,
of literature, of music, and of film, while the myths themselves—if read carefully—provide fascinating
insights into both the individual psyche and the societal concerns of the time. Finally, of course, the
myths are in and of themselves exceptionally entertaining and fascinating because they may speak to
our own dilemmas, impulses, anxieties, and fears.

In this sense, it moves us to deepen our knowledge on the beginning of everything – thus the creation
myth that tells us of where all things started.

Creation Myth

Greek Creation Myth

Primer: According to the Theogony, Chaos, the dark, silent abyss from which all things were created,
first produced Gaia, or Earth. Gaia (also spelled Ge) brought forth Ouranos, or the Heavens. The
offspring of Gaia and Ouranos are divided loosely into two generations of "Titans." The first generation
of Titans were twelve in number: six of whom were male and six female. The second generation of
Titans consisted of the offspring of Hyperion (from the first generation) and included Eos (Dawn), Helios
(Sun), and Selene (Moon); and the offspring of Iapetus (also from the first generation), which included
Atlas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus—among others. These Titans mated with each other and produced
a multitude of gods and goddesses. The Titans (The twelve Titans were Oceanus, Coeus, Crius,
Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Cronus. The Olympians (Zeus,
Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera were the offspring of Cronus and Rhea. The other
Olympians were Athena, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Hermes—all the children of Zeus
(although Aphrodite has two birth myths, one of which makes her the “child” of Ouranos’ castration).
Some of Zeus’ other children are Dionysus, Hercules, Hermes, Helen of Troy, and Persephone.)

The Plot:

In the beginning there was only Chaos, an empty void. But somehow this enormous vacancy gave birth
to Gaea, the earth, to Tartarus, the great region beneath the earth, and to Eros, the shining god of love
and attraction. Chaos also bore Erebus, the darkness of the netherworld, and Night, the darkness over
the earth. Then Erebus slept with Night, who gave birth to Ether, the heavenly light, and to Day, the
earthly light. Later Night alone produced such beings as Doom, Fate, Death, Sleep, Dreams, Nemesis,
and a long list of other atrocities that steal upon men in darkness.

Meanwhile Gaea, without help, gave birth to Uranus, the starry sky, to the Mountains, and to Pontus,
the sterile sea. Uranus then became Gaea's mate and equal, for he covered her on all sides. This
primordial couple, sky and earth, produced the twelve Titans, the three towering wheel-eyed Cyclopes,
and the three terrible Hecatoncheires with fifty heads and a hundred arms apiece.

However, Uranus proved to be a harsh husband and father. Each of the Hecatoncheires hated him, and
he hated them in return. In his anger Uranus pushed them back into Gaea's womb and kept them there.
Gaea writhed in pain at this and plotted revenge upon her mate. She fashioned a flint sickle and called
upon her other children to avenge her. The Titans and Cyclopes recoiled in fear of their father, and only
the last-born Titan, Cronus, was daring enough.

That night when Uranus came to lie without Gaea the crafty Cronus was hiding in ambush. He grabbed
his father's genitals and severed them with his mother's sickle. As the blood fell to earth the Furies, who
punish crimes, the Ash-Tree Nymphs, and the race of Giants were created. Cronus heaved the members
into the sea, and from the foam arose Aphrodite, the beautiful goddess of love, who floated along and
stepped ashore at Cyprus. The mutilated Uranus either withdrew forever from the earth or else he
perished. But before he did so he promised that Cronus and the other Titans would be punished.

After confining the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires to Tartarus, Cronus established his reign. He
married his sister Rhea, and under his lordship the Titans produced many offspring. Yet Cronus could not
allow his own children to survive, for both Gaea and Uranus had prophesied that Cronus would be
supplanted by a son. When Rhea, his wife, gave birth to the gods and goddesses Cronus swallowed
Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon shortly after each was born. Rhea was furious and took
pains to save her sixth child, Zeus, from his father. She bore Zeus in secret and then gave Cronus a stone
wrapped in swaddling bands to swallow instead.
Attended by nymphs, Zeus grew to manhood on Crete. Cronus, meanwhile, was growing old. So Zeus
sought advice on how to defeat him from the Titaness Metis, who prepared an emetic potion. Disguised
as a cupbearer, Zeus gave this potion to Cronus, who vomited up Zeus's brothers and sisters, as well as
the stone Rhea had given him. The gods were alive and unhurt, and together with Zeus they triumphed
over Cronus and bound him in Tartarus. Zeus then set up the stone at Parnassus, a monument to his
victory over the Titan king.

Zeus's triumph, however, was far from secure. The other Titans, with the exception of Prometheus and
Oceanus, rebelled under these upstart gods. For ten years the fighting lasted, a cosmos-shaking battle in
which the elements of nature raged without check. Neither the gods nor the Titans could secure a
decisive victory. But then Zeus went down to Tartarus and released the Cyclopes and the hundred-
handed monsters. The Cyclopes awarded Zeus their weapons of thunder and lightning, and the
Hecatoncheires pelted the Titans with boulders. And at last the Titans were defeated. Zeus imprisoned
them in Tartarus, and he condemned the rebel Atlas to stand forever at the edge of the world and bear
the heavens on his shoulders.

Gaea was enraged at the downfall of her children, the Titans. And through her union with Tartarus she
gave birth to one last monster, Typhoeus, a dragon with a hundred heads that never rested. Terrified,
most of the gods fled. But Zeus was captured and confined. Released by Hermes, Zeus finally destroyed
the dragon by hurling lightning at it again and again, and by burying it under Etna in Sicily.

There was one more attempt to dislodge Zeus and the other Olympians from their mastery of the world.
The Giants, who had sprouted from Uranus' blood, were dissatisfied, so they laid siege to Olympus by
piling mountain upon mountain in an attempt to scale it. It required all the prowess of the gods and the
assistance of the mortal Heracles to subdue and kill the Giants. Having vanquished the Titans, the
dragon Typhoeus, and the Giants, the rule of the Olympians was undisputed.

Sequel to the Creation Myth

Sequel to Greek Creation Myth: The Beginnings — Zeus Era, Prometheus and Man, The Five Ages of
Man and the Flood

The clever Titan Prometheus and his stupid brother Epimetheus were spared imprisonment in Tartarus
because they had kept their neutrality in the war between the Olympians and the Titans. According to
one tradition Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into the clay figure. Once
man was created, however, Prometheus allowed his scatterbrained brother, Epimetheus, to dispense
various qualities to the animals and man. So Epimetheus began by giving the best traits to the animals —
swiftness, courage, cunning, stealth, and the like — and he wound up with nothing to give to man. So
Prometheus took the matter in hand and gave man an upright posture like the gods. And this gift
enabled him to survive.
Prometheus had little love for the Olympians, who had banished his fellow Titans to the depths of
Tartarus. His primary affection was for man. Now man had to make animal sacrifices to the gods, but a
certain portion of the animal was to be given to the gods and a certain portion to man. Zeus had to
decide. So Prometheus made two piles. He wrapped the bones in juicy fat and he hid the meat under
the ugly hide. Zeus chose the bones wrapped in fat, much to his anger.

In retaliation Zeus deprived man of fire. But Prometheus was not to be stopped. He went up to heaven
and lighted his torch at the sun and carried it back to earth. Zeus was livid with rage when he saw that
man had fire. He ordered that Hephaestus create a mortal of stunning beauty, and when Hephaestus
had done so the gods gave this new creature many gifts. But Hermes gave it a deceptive heart and a
lying tongue. This was the first woman, Pandora, and a worse calamity never befell man.

Prometheus had warned his brother Epimetheus about accepting gifts from Zeus. Yet when Epimetheus
saw this radiant creature Pandora he could not resist her. She had brought with her a jar that she was
forbidden to open. But being a woman, her curiosity won out. As she opened the lid a multitude of evils
flew out and scattered over the world to afflict man. Still, there remained in the jar one consolation for
man — Hope. With all the misery Pandora had unleashed hope was the only thing that could keep
mankind going.

For Prometheus, Zeus reserved a special punishment. In addition to anger at the sacrifice trick and the
theft of fire, Zeus knew that Prometheus held the secret of the god who would finally dethrone him. In
defiance Prometheus would not tell the secret. Zeus had Prometheus chained to a rock in the Caucasus,
and every day he sent an eagle to peck out the Titan's liver, which grew back again every night. This
agony was drawn out for ages. There were two conditions on which he could be released from the rock:
first, that an immortal must suffer death for Prometheus, and, second, that a mortal must slay the eagle
and unchain him. And in time the Centaur Chiron did agree to die for him, while Heracles killed the eagle
and unbound him.

According to another story the gods created man, and man existed on earth while the Titan Cronus
ruled. The first race of men lived in complete happiness. During that Golden Age men were free from
pain, toil, and old age. Dying was as easy as falling asleep. They enjoyed the fruits of the earth in plenty.
And once this race had died out these mortals remained as spirits to protect men from evil.

Then the gods created the men of the Silver Age, who were far inferior. These men remained children
for a hundred years under the dominance of their mothers. And when they finally matured they died off
shortly because of their foolishness. In this age men had to work, and the year was divided into seasons
so that men knew cold and heat. Crime and impiety also had their beginnings in this period, so Zeus put
an end to this race.

Next Zeus created the men of the Bronze Age out of ash spears. These men were mighty, tall, and
ferocious, a violent race of warriors who worked in metal and produced a few rudiments of civilization.
In the end these men destroyed themselves with their warfare.
The next period was the Heroic Age, a time of notable heroes and deeds. Heracles and Jason, Theseus,
and the great men of the Trojan War existed then. As a tribute to them Zeus established the Elysian
Fields as a resting place for their spirits after death.

Still not discouraged, Zeus created the men of the Iron Age, the worst race ever to appear on earth and
one destined to become totally depraved. Hard work, trouble, pain, and weariness were the lot of this
group of men, which still exists. At the last the gods will totally abandon this vicious race, leaving it in
utter pain.

At one time Zeus was so thoroughly disgusted with man and his impious, evil ways that he decided to
annihilate the species with a deluge. Prometheus, who was still at large then, warned his son Deucalion
to prepare a chest. When the rains began to fall Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha climbed into the chest,
which was loaded with provisions, and they floated on the ocean that drowned the rest of the world.
After ten days the flood subsided, and the chest came to rest on Mount Parnassus. When they emerged,
Deucalion and Pyrrha offered a sacrifice to Zeus and asked him to restore the human race. The couple
also went to Delphi and prayed to the Titaness of Justice, who told them to cast the bones of their
mother behind them. At first this command mystified them, but Deucalion had an inspiration. His
mother's bones must be the stones that lay upon the earth, for the earth had given birth to mankind. As
Deucalion started casting stones behind him they became men, and as Pyrrha cast stones behind her
they became women. In this manner the human race was reborn.

Sequel to Greek Creation Myth: The Beginnings — Zeus Era, Prometheus and Man, The Five Ages of
Man and the Flood

The clever Titan Prometheus and his stupid brother Epimetheus were spared imprisonment in Tartarus
because they had kept their neutrality in the war between the Olympians and the Titans. According to
one tradition Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into the clay figure. Once
man was created, however, Prometheus allowed his scatterbrained brother, Epimetheus, to dispense
various qualities to the animals and man. So Epimetheus began by giving the best traits to the animals —
swiftness, courage, cunning, stealth, and the like — and he wound up with nothing to give to man. So
Prometheus took the matter in hand and gave man an upright posture like the gods. And this gift
enabled him to survive.

Prometheus had little love for the Olympians, who had banished his fellow Titans to the depths of
Tartarus. His primary affection was for man. Now man had to make animal sacrifices to the gods, but a
certain portion of the animal was to be given to the gods and a certain portion to man. Zeus had to
decide. So Prometheus made two piles. He wrapped the bones in juicy fat and he hid the meat under
the ugly hide. Zeus chose the bones wrapped in fat, much to his anger.
In retaliation Zeus deprived man of fire. But Prometheus was not to be stopped. He went up to heaven
and lighted his torch at the sun and carried it back to earth. Zeus was livid with rage when he saw that
man had fire. He ordered that Hephaestus create a mortal of stunning beauty, and when Hephaestus
had done so the gods gave this new creature many gifts. But Hermes gave it a deceptive heart and a
lying tongue. This was the first woman, Pandora, and a worse calamity never befell man.

Prometheus had warned his brother Epimetheus about accepting gifts from Zeus. Yet when Epimetheus
saw this radiant creature Pandora he could not resist her. She had brought with her a jar that she was
forbidden to open. But being a woman, her curiosity won out. As she opened the lid a multitude of evils
flew out and scattered over the world to afflict man. Still, there remained in the jar one consolation for
man — Hope. With all the misery Pandora had unleashed hope was the only thing that could keep
mankind going.

For Prometheus, Zeus reserved a special punishment. In addition to anger at the sacrifice trick and the
theft of fire, Zeus knew that Prometheus held the secret of the god who would finally dethrone him. In
defiance Prometheus would not tell the secret. Zeus had Prometheus chained to a rock in the Caucasus,
and every day he sent an eagle to peck out the Titan's liver, which grew back again every night. This
agony was drawn out for ages. There were two conditions on which he could be released from the rock:
first, that an immortal must suffer death for Prometheus, and, second, that a mortal must slay the eagle
and unchain him. And in time the Centaur Chiron did agree to die for him, while Heracles killed the eagle
and unbound him.

According to another story the gods created man, and man existed on earth while the Titan Cronus
ruled. The first race of men lived in complete happiness. During that Golden Age men were free from
pain, toil, and old age. Dying was as easy as falling asleep. They enjoyed the fruits of the earth in plenty.
And once this race had died out these mortals remained as spirits to protect men from evil.

Then the gods created the men of the Silver Age, who were far inferior. These men remained children
for a hundred years under the dominance of their mothers. And when they finally matured they died off
shortly because of their foolishness. In this age men had to work, and the year was divided into seasons
so that men knew cold and heat. Crime and impiety also had their beginnings in this period, so Zeus put
an end to this race.

Next Zeus created the men of the Bronze Age out of ash spears. These men were mighty, tall, and
ferocious, a violent race of warriors who worked in metal and produced a few rudiments of civilization.
In the end these men destroyed themselves with their warfare.

The next period was the Heroic Age, a time of notable heroes and deeds. Heracles and Jason, Theseus,
and the great men of the Trojan War existed then. As a tribute to them Zeus established the Elysian
Fields as a resting place for their spirits after death.

Still not discouraged, Zeus created the men of the Iron Age, the worst race ever to appear on earth and
one destined to become totally depraved. Hard work, trouble, pain, and weariness were the lot of this
group of men, which still exists. At the last the gods will totally abandon this vicious race, leaving it in
utter pain.

At one time Zeus was so thoroughly disgusted with man and his impious, evil ways that he decided to
annihilate the species with a deluge. Prometheus, who was still at large then, warned his son Deucalion
to prepare a chest. When the rains began to fall Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha climbed into the chest,
which was loaded with provisions, and they floated on the ocean that drowned the rest of the world.
After ten days the flood subsided, and the chest came to rest on Mount Parnassus. When they emerged,
Deucalion and Pyrrha offered a sacrifice to Zeus and asked him to restore the human race. The couple
also went to Delphi and prayed to the Titaness of Justice, who told them to cast the bones of their
mother behind them. At first this command mystified them, but Deucalion had an inspiration. His
mother's bones must be the stones that lay upon the earth, for the earth had given birth to mankind. As
Deucalion started casting stones behind him they became men, and as Pyrrha cast stones behind her
they became women. In this manner the human race was reborn.

UNIT II (Continuation): The Creation of the World - Roman Mythology

Introduction

Almost every community, country, religion or culture in the world has its sacred stories or a body of
myths which explains their origin as well as that of the world, values, beliefs and operating principles
which are supposed to be respected.

The ancient Romans had a rich mythology and, while much of it was derived from their neighbors and
predecessors (the Greeks) it still defined the rich history of the Roman people as they eventually grew
into an empire. Roman writers such as Ovid and Virgil documented and extended the mythological
heritage of the ancient Mediterranean to gives us such long-lasting and iconic figures as Aeneas, Vesta,
Janus, and the twin founders of Rome itself, Romulus and Remus.

With its contact with Greece, Rome was able to adopt much that defined Greece: art, philosophy,
literature, and drama. Mythology, however, had to be adapted to reflect a Roman set of values.

Related Studies to Roman Myth

Arena (2007) posits that the Roman mythology offers two types of creation myths. However, the most
common myth indicates that before creation of the heavens, the sea and the earth were made and
whatever existed could only be described as lifeless, disorganized and shapeless matter.
The myth further indicates that there was chaos everywhere and massive opposition were witnessed in
instances where cold conflicted with hot, dry with wet, light with heavy and soft with hard. Arena
further states that out that confusion, a higher force, which the Romans refer to as a god appeared and
resolved the conflict (Arena, 2007).

Some of the activities that this god did included separating the heavens from the earth, parting waters
to form dry land, detaching the clouds to obtain clear air and ensuring that everything was organized to
form a balanced union. Flannery (2006) concurs with Arena’s argument and adds in his article Religions
of the ancient world: A Guide that this god resolved the chaotic mass by setting order, putting them into
components and organizing them into a harmonious unit.

In addition, Flannery (2006) continues to observe that this god then shaped the earth into a ball and
later caused the seas to spread in all directions. The earth was then organized into five zones similar to
the organization in heaven which has two regions on the left, two on the right and a central one. This
earth was then hanged in the air amidst clouds, mists and thunder bolts. Flannery adds that the Roman
god assigned purpose and limits to four winds around the earth and formed stars to shine across the sky
during darkness.

Of great importance in the myth was the birth of man. Arena (2007) points out that either god made
him from divine seeds and put him on earth or Prometheus used a clump of earth separated from ether
to make man in the image of gods. Despite the lack of clarity on who created man, it is important to
note from the myth that the man who was created was different from animals in the sense that he
gazed up to the heavens and not towards the ground like other animals.

In her publication, Helmer (2006) indicates that certain people believe that the Roman mythology was
created in 12th BC after the Asia-Greece War. Aeneas who was a popular and very strong soldier of the
Greek army led his team to victory against Asia after which he moved Italy and founded Rome.

He met new gods there and together with his cultural background, formed a mythology that explains the
creation of Rome. Another creation myth Helmer points concerns Remus and Romulus who were two
Greek men who were products of the relationship between Rhea Silvia, a mortal woman and God Mars.

These two men lived with their uncle after losing their parents but this did not last long since their uncle
thought of killing them to assume the power their father possessed. In the conflict, Romulus survived
and escaped to a new land which he named Rome (753 BC) and became its King (Helmer, 2006).

It is important to note that like many other societies in the world today, the Romans had their list of
deities with each performing a role. Some of them included Apollo the god of music, prophecy and sun;
Jupiter, the supreme king; Vulcan, the god of fire and Mithras, the god of light and sun among others.
Lin (2010) argues that in the Roman mythology, there were 21 gods who represented not only the earth,
but those who lived in it.

This was because these gods related to touchable objects like water and untouchable ones like
prosperity, peace, beliefs and feelings. Of all the gods, those with authority over others were Minerva
and Jupiter. They also represented imaginations and did not have a physical appearance. Lin continues
to indicate that it was until the 6th century BC that the Roman gods were given physical appearances
(Lin, 2010).

Since creation, the Romans have worshipped their gods throughout their history at communal and
individual levels. At the individual level, a person or a family offered prayers at home for blessings or
food, while communally, groups of people would congregate for a communal celebration (James, 2004).

Their beliefs for gods were held with respect. For instance, they believed in Vesta, the goddess who
protected the earth and showed honor to her by throwing small pieces of cake to the fire. Other forms
of worship to the god of agriculture for massive harvest include offerings of wine and corn meal at the
graves where family members are buried (James, 2004).

To sum up, it is evident that the Romans have a body of creation myths that explains their origin, values
and the kind of worship they have today.

The Roman gods are important deities among the Romans due to the unique roles each play in life and
on earth. Additionally, the various versions of the myths are almost unanimously agreeing that the gods
created the universe and that it is part of the creation and demands respect and honor from human
beings.

Roman Creation Myth

Primer: Many Roman authors wrote on the myths of Rome. Virgil, on one hand, wrote the Aeneid
during what is known as the Golden Age of the Roman Empire, under the auspices of Rome’s first
emperor, Caesar Augustus. Virgil’s purpose was to write a myth of Rome’s origins that would emphasize
the grandeur and legitimize the success of an empire that had conquered most of the known world. The
Aeneid steadily points toward this already realized cultural pinnacle; Aeneas even justifies his settlement
in Latium in the same manner that the empire justified its settlement in numerous other foreign
territories. Virgil works backward, connecting the political and social situation of his own day with the
inherited tradition of the Greek gods and heroes, to show the former as historically derived from the
latter. Order and good government triumph emphatically over the Italian peoples, whose world prior to
the Trojans’ arrival is characterized as a primitive existence of war, chaos, and emotional irrationality. By
contrast, the empire under Augustus was generally a world of peace, order, and emotional stability.

On the other hand, Ovid, before his exile by Emperor Augustus, wrote at a critical time in Roman history,
politically and culturally. The emperor was hoping to reestablish a connection to the Republic’s old
religion and a reverence for the gods. Ovid penned several works centering on both Roman myth and
religion -- Metamorphoses and Fasti are two of his best-known works. His stories, while mostly Greek,
contained Roman names. In Fasti he portrayed the festivals of the first six months of the old Roman
calendar, the legends of the gods, and the origin of many of their rituals. While early Roman mythology
maintained a deep connection with the city and its rich history, it centered on one specific legend: the
birth of its supposed founders: Romulus and Remus.
The Aeneid & Aeneas: Mythical Background

While the true origin of Rome varies from source to source, historical as well as fictional, one of the
earliest to relate the story (reminiscent of Homer’s Odyssey) was Virgil (Vergil) in his Aeneid, a tale that
related the travels of its hero, the Trojan warrior Aeneas. The Aeneid has been said to exhibit the most
complete expression of Roman mythology. In the story, our hero, with the assistance of his mother, the
goddess Venus (his father was a mortal named Anchises), escaped Troy with his father and a number of
his fellow soldiers before the city completely succumbed to the Greeks. This story and its connection to
the Trojan War gave the Romans a link to the ancient Trojan culture. It should be noted that the story of
the Trojan horse comes from Virgil, though mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. With Venus’s assistance, the
defeated Trojans leave the fallen city and set sail for Italy, where it has been foretold that Aeneas would
found a city. They traveled first to Greece and then, as in Homer’s tale, are blown off course. Jupiter’s
wife Juno constantly interferes with Aeneas throughout the story. They land at the African city of
Carthage where our hero meets the beautiful Queen Dido, and of course, love follows, and he soon
forgets his true purpose.

Ultimately, the god Mercury intervenes and reminds Aeneas of his destiny, causing him and his men to
reluctantly leave Africa and sail away; tragically, Queen Dido commits suicide over the loss of her
beloved by throwing herself on a burning pyre. Upon landing at Cumae, Aeneas consults Sibyl, an oracle,
who leads him into Hades where he not only encounters his fallen enemies and Queen Dido but also
meets his recently deceased father who tells him of the great city his descendants would establish.
Later, after reaching the mouth of the Tiber, the wayward Trojans enter into a war with King Turnus of
the Rutuli (more of Juno’s handiwork). Venus appeals to Vulcan (the Roman version of the Greek
Hephaestus) to make Aeneas new armor and weapons as he had done for Achilles. Turnus was finally
defeated and killed in a duel. A peace is ultimately reached with Aeneas marrying the king’s daughter;
supposedly Jupiter had convinced Juno to end her war with Aeneas.

Outline of the Aeneid

Book 1

The poet introduces the story of Aeneas. He explains Juno's anger with the Trojans, and looks ahead to
the foundation of Rome and the growth of its empire. Aeneas is introduced on his journey from Troy.
He is shipwrecked at Carthage on the North African shore and received by Queen Dido.

1-18: Prologue

19-50: The poet describes JUNO's hostility towards the Trojans and her affection for CARTHAGE.

51-220: Juno bribes a minor god of the winds, Aeolus, to send a storm to wreck the Trojan fleet. The
storm is calmed by NEPTUNE.

221-311: The Trojan survivors land on the African shore and Aeneas consoles his men.
312-430: VENUS appeals to JUPITER on behalf of the Trojans. Jupiter prophesies the future greatness of
Rome, and sends MERCURY to ensure that DIDO and the Carthaginians receive Aeneas and the Trojans
hospitably.

431-584: Aeneas sets out to explore, and meets his mother, Venus, disguised as a huntress. She tells him
the story of how Dido, the queen and founder of Carthage, fled from the Phoenician city of Tyre after
her brother, Pygmalion, murdered her husband, SYCHAEUS. She urges Aeneas to go to the palace of
Dido.

585-697: Aeneas, hidden by a mist, heads for Carthage and watches the building of the city. He sees
stories of the Trojan War represented in the TEMPLE OF JUNO.

698-815: Dido appears. A group of Aeneas' companions - presumed to have been lost in the storm -
present themselves to her and are received with hospitality.

816-917: Aeneas is revealed to Dido, and Dido welcomes him. He sends to the ships for gifts and for his
son, ASCANIUS.

918-970: Venus sends CUPID, disguised as Ascanius, to inflame Dido with love for Aeneas.

971-1053: At a feast in Dido's palace, Aeneas is asked to tell his story.

Book 2

Aeneas tells the story of the Trojan horse, the death of Priam, the fall of Troy, and his own escape with
his father, Anchises, and his son, Iulus.

1-345: Aeneas begins with the story of the TROJAN HORSE . The treacherous Greek, SINON, lies to the
Trojans about the horse and persuades them to bring it into their city. First, he explains his presence by
telling them a false story about the hostility of ULYSSES (the Greek, Odysseus) towards him. Then, he
lies about the purpose of the horse. LAOCOON, the Trojan priest who had urged destruction of the
horse, is killed with his sons by serpents from the sea.

346-70: The Greeks emerge from the horse, their fleet returns, and the attack begins.

371-407: HECTOR'S GHOST appears to Aeneas in a dream and tells him to flee Troy with "her holy things
and household gods."

408-750: The Trojans futilely attempt to resist, and PYRRHUS, the son of Achilleus, brutally kills Priam's
son, POLITES, and Priam himself in the palace.

751-92: Aeneas remembers his father, wife and son, and he heads for his home. On his way, he sees
Helen and is moved to kill her.
792-855: Venus prevents Aeneas from killing Helen, and shows him that the gods are destroying Troy.
She urges him to save his family.

857-1082: After his initial hesitation, Aeneas' father, ANCHISES, is persuaded by omens to leave Troy.
Anchises, Aeneas, his son, Iulus (Ascanius) and his wife, CREUSA, flee. Creusa is lost, and, when Aeneas
returns to Troy to find her, he meets only her ghost who prophesies his future.

Book 3

Aeneas describes his journey from Troy and his unsuccessful efforts to found a new city, as he fails to
understand the oracles, dreams and omens that foretell his new home in Italy.

1-89: Aeneas and his followers leave Troy and land in Thrace where they learn that the Thracian king
had treacherously murdered Priam's son, POLYDORUS, and seized his treasure.

90-253: Leaving Thrace, the Trojans stop at the island of DELOS, site of Apollo's temple. The god
prophesies that they must "seek out their ancient mother". Anchises' interprets the prophecy to mean
the island of CRETE, but their effort to found a city there - a new Pergamum - is thwarted by a plague.
The household gods appear to Aeneas in a dream and explain that he must seek Italy, and Anchises
remembers the ancient prophecies of CASSANDRA.

253- 378: After a storm, the Trojans land on the Strophades, islands in the Ionian sea, but they are
driven away by the HARPIES who warn that they will suffer hunger in Italy. They sail past ITHACA, home
of Ulysses, and hold games at ACTIUM, the later site of AUGUSTUS' naval victory over MARC ANTONY
and CLEOPATRA.

378-659: They land at Buthrotum, a "new Troy" where HELENUS, a son of Priam, and Andromache, the
widow of Hektor, now rule. Helenus received part of this kingdom after Achilleus' son, Pyrrhus, was
killed by Agamemnon's son, ORESTES, in their rivalry over HERMIONE, the daughter of Helen. Helenus
interprets the prophecies that Aeneas has received, and gives him instructions to follow on his
remaining journey and when he arrives in Italy. He advises him to consult the SYBIL, Apollo's prophetess,
at Cumae.

660-893 : They skirt the shores of southern Italy and Sicily, and, in the land of the CYCLOPS, they meet
one of Ulysses' men, ACHAEMENIDES, who was left behind. He tells the story of Ulysses and the Cyclops.

893-931: Aeneas ends his story with the death of his father, Anchises.

Book 4

Wounded and infected by the poison of Cupid's arrow, Dido falls in love with Aeneas, but he abandons
her, when he is called by the gods to follow his destiny. Distraught, Dido commits suicide.
1-118: Dido tells her sister, ANNA, of her love for Aeneas. Anna encourages her love. Dido is shown as
madly in love with Aeneas.

119-228: Juno plans Dido's marriage to Aeneas. A hunt is arranged, a storm comes up, and Dido and
Aeneas are driven to the same cave: "That day was her first day of death and ruin."

229-345: Rumor of their "wedding" reaches IARBAS, one of Dido's rejected suitors, who prays to Jupiter
for help. Jupiter sends MERCURY to remind Aeneas of his duty.

346-95: Mercury brings Jupiter's message to Aeneas and he prepares to leave.

396-545: Dido discovers his plans and rebukes him. Aeneas defends his actions.

546-971: Dido decides upon suicide, and curses the Trojans. Aeneas and the Trojans flee at Mercury's
urging. Dido kills herself.

Book 5

The Trojans land in Sicily to avoid a storm, and, there, Aeneas holds funeral games in honor of the
anniversary of his father's death. Meanwhile, Juno sends IRIS to persuade the Trojan women to burn
the fleet and end their wanderings. Jupiter saves the fleet with a timely rainfall and Nautes suggests
that Aeneas leave behind those who do not want to go on to Italy. Anchises appears to Aeneas in a
dream and convinces him of Nautes' plan. A new Troy is founded in Sicily, and Aeneas sets sail for Italy.
Venus asks Neptune to give Aeneas' ships safe passage to Italy. Only PALINURUS , the helmsman, is lost
at sea.

Book 6

Aeneas and the Trojans arrive in Italy. Accompanied by the Sibyl, Aeneas visits the underworld, meets
with the shade of his father, and sees a pageant of his future descendants: the rulers, generals and
statesmen of Rome.

1-59: The Trojans land on the Italian shore. On his way to the grotto of the SIBYL, Aeneas visits the
TEMPLE OF APOLLO AND DIANA . As he admires the stories of Crete in the reliefs carved by DAEDALUS,
he is interrupted by the arrival of the priestess.

60-216: He enters the Sibyl's cave, and she prophesies his wars in Italy. Then, Aeneas appeals for
permission to descend into the Underworld to see the shade of his father, Anchises. The Sibyl tells him
he must first bury a comrade, MISENUS, and then find the GOLDEN BOUGH.
217-315: The Trojans bury Misenus whose corpse they found on the beach, and Aeneas is led to the
golden bough by doves sent by his mother, Venus.

316-355: Aeneas enters the underworld with the Sibyl, and Virgil invokes the gods of the underworld to
permit him to recount their journey.

356-549: They journey to the Styx river, and, there, they meet Palinurus who cannot cross because he
remains unburied. The Sibyl shows the golden bough to CHARON, the ferryman, and he grants passage
to Aeneas.

550-626: They pass CERBERUS, MINOS the judge, the land of the suicides, and the Fields of Mourning
where Aeneas sees "those whom bitter love consumed with brutal waste." Here, he tries to speak with
Dido, but she doesn't answer.

627-724: Aeneas meets the Greek and Trojan warriors, and he converses with DEIPHOBUS, the last
Trojan husband of Helen, who was brutally mutilated in the sack of Troy.

725-897: Aeneas passes the road to Tartarus where he sees the punishments of the wicked, and he
enters the ELYSIAN FIELDS.

898-1203: Aeneas finds his father, Anchises. Anchises describes the cycle of rebirth, and, then, shows
Aeneas his Roman descendants, ending with the tragic vision of the funeral of MARCELLUS, Augustus'
nephew and son-in-law who died prematurely. Aeneas returns to the earth through the GATE OF IVORY,
the gate of false dreams.

Books 7-8

The last six books of the Aeneid describe Aeneas' arrival in Latium and his wars with the Italians whose
forces are led by the RUTULIAN warrior, TURNUS. In book 7, the aged king LATINUS welcomes Aeneas'
men and proposes that his daughter, LAVINIA, marry Aeneas to unite the two peoples and fulfill a
prophecy. Juno sends a fury, ALLECTO , to inflame Latinus' wife, Queen AMATA, with anger over the
proposed wedding, for she had favored her daughter's marriage to Turnus. Meanwhile, Aeneas' son,
Ascanius, kills a stag kept with the royal herd, and this triggers a battle with the Latins. Both sides
marshall their forces, and king Latinus withdraws into his palace. In book 8, the two sides prepare for
war. Aeneas, seeking allies, visits king EVANDER and his son, PALLAS, at the future site of Rome where
he sees future Roman landmarks and memorials to HERCULES. Evander entrusts his son to him, and
Venus brings Aeneas a set of armor forged by her divine husband, VULCAN. The shield bears scenes of
Roman history around a monumental image of Augustus' naval victory at Actium.

Book 9
Turnus attacks the Trojan camp, while Aeneas is visiting Evander. Two Trojan warriors, NISUS and
EURYALUS, undertake a daring mission by night to cross the Latin lines and get a message to Aeneas, but
they are caught and brutally slain.

Book 10

Jupiter holds a council of the gods at which Venus and Juno plead the causes of the Trojans and Latins
respectively. Jupiter decides to leave the battle's outcome to fortune. As Aeneas sails down the Tiber
with his new Tuscan allies, he is met by nymphs - the transformed Trojan fleet - who warn him of the
Latin attack on the Trojan camp. Aeneas' forces land and join the battle. Evander's son, Pallas, fights
bravely, but he is outmatched by Turnus and killed, as Jupiter and Hercules look on from the heavens.
Aeneas rages on the battlefield seeking revenge. Juno rescues Turnus, but Aeneas wounds the Tuscan
tyrant, MEZENTIUS, and kills his son, LAUSUS. Mezentius, enraged, confronts Aeneas and is killed.

Book 11

Aeneas mourns for Pallas and sends his body back to his father, Evander. The Latins send envoys to the
Trojan camp, and Aeneas offers them peace. King Latinus calls a council of the Latins. They learn that
the veteran Greek warrior, Diomedes, has rejected their plea for help against Aeneas. Latinus proposes
that they grant the Trojans land to settle, and DRANCES urges him to marry his daughter to Aeneas. This
enrages Turnus, and he offers to fight a duel with Aeneas. Meanwhile, the Trojans have begun to march
on the city. Latinus abandons the council in despair, and Turnus rallies the troops to face the Trojans.
CAMILLA, the virgin leader of the Volscians, leads the fight against the Trojans and is slain.

Book 12

Despite the protests of king Latinus and queen Amata, Turnus challenges Aeneas. Juno incites
JUTURNA, Turnus' divine sister, to intervene to break the truce by persuading the Latins to attack the
Trojans. The battle breaks out and Aeneas is wounded. After his wound is healed by his mother, Venus,
he returns to battle and leads the Trojans in an attack upon the Latins' city. Turnus confronts Aeneas,
but, when his sword is shattered, he flees. Meanwhile, Jupiter wins Juno's acceptance of the Trojan
victory, and he promises that they will merge with the Latins and lose the name of Trojans. Juturna is
forced to abandon her brother, and Turnus is left to face Aeneas. Aeneas wounds him, and kills him in a
rage when he sees that he is wearing the belt he stripped from Pallas.

Romulus & Remus: The Descendants

Aeneas’s descendants became the founders of the city of his destiny: Rome. According to the legend,
Romulus and Remus were the sons of the war god Mars and Rhea Silvia, daughter of the true king of
Alba Longa, Numitor. In a coup, Amulius overthrew his brother and, to safeguard his claim to the throne,
forced Rhea to join the Vestal Virgins. One day, Mars spied the young Rhea in the sacred woods and
raped her. She bore two sons who, by order of King Amulius, were thrown in the Tiber. A recent flood
caused them to drift ashore at Ficus Ruminalis. They were rescued by a she-wolf, the sacred animal of
Mars (the wolf was supposedly aided by a woodpecker, another sacred animal of Mars). Later, the boys
were adopted by a local herdsman named Faustulus and his wife Acca Larentia.

Years pass and the two future founders of the city become leaders in their community, with Remus
ultimately landing in the king’s dungeon. Romulus rescued his brother, and with the assistance of
Numitor, deposed Amulius. Of course, by this time the boys had learned of their true identity. Together
they founded a city; however, in a dispute over the naming rights to the city, Remus is killed in a fit of
jealousy, and the city becomes Rome. In one version of the dispute, the boys agreed to watch for omens
in a flight of birds. Romulus won the naming rights and Remus was killed (Romulus was supposedly
favored by the gods). Romulus would rule Rome for forty years.

UNIT II (Continuation): The Story of the Beginning of Things - Norse Mythology

Introduction
What do you know of Norsemen? Their mythology?

You can learn a lot about a people from their creation myth. What was important to them? What was
forbidden? Who were their friends, their enemies? What was mysterious to them – what needed
explaining? In fact, if earlier we had learned that the Greeks have their names much associated with
ideas such as love, death, marriage, and the like, and the Romans’ names are attributed to the names of
the planet such as Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, for the Norsemen, we owe the names of several days of our
week: Tuesday after Tyr, Wednesday after Odin (Woden), Thursday after Thor, and Friday after Frey.

When speaking of Norse mythology, we are reminded of the people from the northernmost part of
Europe, Scandinavia: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. Their myths depict a universe in which
gods and giants battle among themselves in a cosmic (large or universal in scale; having to do with the
universe) conflict fated to end in the destruction of the world.

In particular, the Norse creation myth not only describes the creation of the world the Vikings would
have seen every day, but also ones they did not: whole other worlds populated by gods, trolls, dwarves,
and spirits. These worlds were separate from their own, but not so distant that what happened in
Jotunheim or Asgard – the worlds of the giants and gods – couldn't somehow be sensed on Middle-
Earth, the world of humans. Events in these other worlds – like the sound from the wheels of Thor's
chariot or the sweat shaken from a supernatural chariot horse's mane – could explain natural events like
the roll of thunder or the morning dew.

The Norse creation myth also reflects another fact of Viking life, this one all-too-human: violence. For a
people whose prosperity depended upon success in battle, what could be more natural than for creation
to begin with destruction? From murder and bloodshed comes beauty and order. Now, that is
somewhat a very interesting myth to begin with.

Primer and Key Terms to Remember

Primer: Teutonic religion extended through Germany, Scandinavia, and England in the Dark Ages,
and as Christianity supplanted it the old gods and rites were destroyed and forgotten. Much of our
knowledge of this religion stems from The Elder Edda and The Younger Edda, which were compiled in
Iceland during the Middle Ages. The Eddas project a stern and gloomy view of the cosmos and of man's
role in it.

The world was created when Odin and his brothers slew the primeval Frost-Giant Ymir, and it will come
to an end when the Giants rise against Odin and his comrades and kill them in battle. Certain doom
awaits the gods and men alike, but in the face of that doom the one noble activity is war, and to die
courageously fighting was the only way to enter Valhalla, the warrior's paradise. Love in the Norse tales
was often accompanied by murderous passions, and treachery was commonplace. The world here is a
hard, cold, bitter place in which to live.
Despite the starkness of this picture the Norsemen took intense pleasure from such things as friendship,
drinking and eating, making love, outwitting strangers, avenging wrongs, and fighting bravely. They were
a fierce, hard-headed race, and their myths take no pains to conceal it.

We will examine the creation and destruction of the universe as seen through the Norse lens to give a
more vivid and detailed version of how the Norsemen saw the world and what they valued.

Key Terms for Reference

Muspell

The first world to exist was Muspell, a place of light and heat whose flames are so hot that those who
are not native to that land cannot endure it.

Surt sits at Muspell's border, guarding the land with a flaming sword. At the end of the world he will
vanquish all the gods and burn the whole world with fire.

Ginnungagap and Niflheim

Beyond Muspell lay the great and yawning void named Ginnungagap, and beyond Ginnungagap lay the
dark, cold realm of Niflheim.

Ice, frost, wind, rain and heavy cold emanated from Niflheim, meeting in Ginnungagap the soft air, heat,
light, and soft air from Muspell.

Ymir

Where heat and cold met appeared thawing drops, and this running fluid grew into a giant frost ogre
named Ymir.

Frost ogres

Ymir slept, falling into a sweat. Under his left arm there grew a man and a woman. And one of his legs
begot a son with the other. This was the beginning of the frost ogres.

Audhumla

Thawing frost then became a cow called Audhumla. Four rivers of milk ran from her teats, and she fed
Ymir.

Buri, Bor, and Bestla

The cow licked salty ice blocks. After one day of licking, she freed a man's hair from the ice. After two
days, his head appeared. On the third day the whole man was there. His name was Buri, and he was tall,
strong, and handsome.

Buri begot a son named Bor, and Bor married Bestla, the daughter of a giant.

Odin, Vili, and Vé

Bor and Bestla had three sons: Odin was the first, Vili the second, and Vé the third.

It is believed that Odin, in association with his brothers, is the ruler of heaven and earth. He is the
greatest and most famous of all men.

The death of Ymir

Odin, Vili, and Vé killed the giant Ymir.

When Ymir fell, there issued from his wounds such a flood of blood, that all the frost ogres were
drowned, except for the giant Bergelmir who escaped with his wife by climbing onto a lur [a hollowed-
out tree trunk that could serve either as a boat or a coffin]. From them spring the families of frost ogres.

Earth, trees, and mountains

The sons of Bor then carried Ymir to the middle of Ginnungagap and made the world from him. From his
blood they made the sea and the lakes; from his flesh the earth; from his hair the trees; and from his
bones the mountains. They made rocks and pebbles from his teeth and jaws and those bones that were
broken.

Dwarfs

Maggots appeared in Ymir's flesh and came to life. By the decree of the gods they acquired human
understanding and the appearance of men, although they lived in the earth and in rocks.

Sky, clouds, and stars

From Ymir's skull the sons of Bor made the sky and set it over the earth with its four sides. Under each
corner they put a dwarf, whose names are East, West, North, and South.

The sons of Bor flung Ymir's brains into the air, and they became the clouds.

Then they took the sparks and burning embers that were flying about after they had been blown out of
Muspell, and placed them in the midst of Ginnungagap to give light to heaven above and earth beneath.
To the stars they gave appointed places and paths.

The earth was surrounded by a deep sea. The sons of Bor gave lands near the sea to the families of
giants for their settlements.

Midgard
To protect themselves from the hostile giants, the sons of Bor built for themselves an inland stonghold,
using Ymir's eyebrows. This stonghold they named Midgard.

Ask and Embla

While walking along the sea shore the sons of Bor found two trees, and from them they created a man
and a woman.

Odin gave the man and the woman spirit and life. Vili gave them understanding and the power of
movement. Vé gave them clothing and names. The man was named Ask [Ash] and the woman Embla
[Elm?]. From Ask and Embla have sprung the races of men who lived in Midgard.

Asgard

In the middle of the world the sons of Bor built for themselves a stronghold named Asgard, called Troy
by later generations. The gods and their kindred lived in Asgard, and many memorable events have
happened there.

In Asgard was a great hall named Hlidskjálf. Odin sat there on a high seat. From there he could look out
over the whole world and see what everyone was doing. He understood everything that he saw.

Odin, Frigg, and the Æsir

Odin married Frigg, the daughter of Fjörgvin. From this family has come all the kindred that inhabited
ancient Asgard and those kingdoms that belonged to it. Members of this family are called the Æsir, and
they are all divinities. This must be the reason why Odin is called All-Father. He is the father of all the
gods and men and of everything that he and his power created.

Thor

The earth was Odin's daughter and his wife as well. By her he had his first son, Thor. Might and strength
were Thor's characteristics. By these he dominates every living creature.

Bifröst

As all informed people know, the gods built a bridge from earth to heaven called Bifröst. Some call it the
rainbow. It has three colors and is very strong, made with more skill and cunning than other structures.
But strong as it is, it will break when the sons of Muspell ride out over it. The gods are not to blame that
this structure will then break. Bifröst is a good bridge, but there is nothing in this world that can be
relied on when the sons of Muspell are on the warpath.

Yggdrasil

The chief sanctuary of the gods is by the ash tree Yggdrasil. There they hold their daily court. Yggdrasil is
the best and greatest of all trees. Its branches spread out over the whole world and reach up over
heaven.
Norse Creation Myth

Creation and Catastrophe

At first there was only a great void. But to the North of this void there formed a region of mist and ice,
while to the South grew a region of fire. Niflheim was the name of the North, and Muspellsheim of the
South; and the heat from the latter melted some of the ice of the former, which shaped Ymir, the Frost-
Giant with a human form. From Ymir's sweat came the race of Giants, and as the glacial ice melted
further a huge cow was created to feed the Giants. This cow in turn was fed by salt contained in the ice.
One day it licked the ice and hair emerged, on the next day a head, and on the third day Bur emerged,
fully formed. Bur had a son, Buri, who had three sons — Odin, Vili, and Ve. These three were a new race,
not Giants but gods. They banded together and murdered Ymir. Most of the other Giants drowned in
Ymir's blood, which created a great sea. From Ymir's body the three gods made solid land, the earth, and
from Ymir's skull they made the vault of the heavens. Odin and his brothers then created the race of
dwarves from the maggots in Ymir's body. Other gods joined these three, and together they erected
Asgard and all its halls to be their own home.

Having established their supremacy, the gods made the first mortals, shaping a man from an ash tree
and a woman from a vine. The gods bestowed breath, energy, a soul, reason, warmth, and freshness on
this first couple. And from their male descendants Odin chose only the bravest to live in Asgard after
they died, for these warriors would aid him in the final showdown with the forces of evil.

The cosmos was supported by a tremendous ash tree, Yggdrasil. One of its roots extended to Niflheim,
which was the netherworid; another to Jötunheim, the dwelling place of Giants; another to Midgard, the
home of man; and one to Asgard, the home of the gods. In its upper branches lived a squirrel and an
eagle, while at its rootage lived the serpent Nidhögg, which gnawed away, until at the end of time the
whole structure would collapse. In the meantime the Norns, or Fates, watered the tree to keep it from
dying.

Odin knew the power of the gods was not eternal, for he and his comrades would die when the Giants
and demons rose against them. The last fight would take place at Vigrid, a field one hundred miles in
length and breadth. Odin would be swallowed by Fenrir the wolf, but his son would avenge him. Thor
and the Midgard Serpent would destroy each other; so would Loki and Heimdall; and Tyr would slay
Garm, the fierce dog of Niflheim, and be clawed to death in turn. The stars and all heavenly bodies
would plummet from the sky as the earth sank beneath the sea. The twilight of the gods would become
night, and the universe would exist no more.

Yet there still existed a power, the Nameless One, that would give birth to a new world beyond the edge
of time.

A Summary of How the World was Made (Norse Myth)

§ Odin and his brothers, Vili and Vé, create Middle-Earth (the world of humans) from the body of a
giant.

§ The three brothers kill a giant named Ymir.

§ They create the world from his body, using the different body parts to make different things:

§ From his flesh and some of his bones, they make the land and rocky mountains.

§ They use his blood to make the sea and other bodies of water.

§ Ymir's teeth and some of his bones become gravel and boulders.

§ The three brothers place Ymir's skullcap above the earth and place a dwarf at each of the earth's four
corners. These dwarves are named North, South, East, and West.

§ They use Ymir's eyebrows to create a protective fortress around the earth, in order to prevent the
giants from ever entering it. They call this place Midgard, or Middle-Earth.

§ From Ymir's brain, they make the clouds.

§ They make a place for the sparks that are shooting out of Muspelheim, the primordial fire-world that
they have now separated from the earth. These sparks become the stars, sun, and moon.

§ The dark and beautiful daughter of a giant, Night, has a son with one of the Aesir gods, a bright and
radiant boy named Day. The gods give Night and Day chariots and horses and place them in the sky,
ordering them to ride around it. The sweat dripping off the mane of Night's horse causes the dew each
morning.

§ Day is so bright and hot that the gods must attach bellows (blowers) to his horse's legs to keep them
from burning up.

§ A witch that lives to the East of Middle-Earth gives birth to two giant sons in the shape of wolves. The
wolf-giant Skoll chases the sun as his brother Hati chases the moon. These brothers keep the sun and
moon racing around the sky, creating the cycle of day and night.

§ From the maggots growing in the dead body of Ymir, Odin and his brothers create the race of the
dwarves. Dwarves live in caves beneath the earth and supply the gods with iron, silver, and gold. Odin
and his brothers create other races: the light-elves, who live far above the earth in Alfheim; sprites and
spirits, who populate the forest groves and streams; and animals and fish.

The Beginning of Things

A Norse myth written down by Abbie Farwell Brown (originally published in 1902)
Part 1

1 The oldest stories of every race of people tell about the Beginning of Things. But the various folk

2 who first told them were so very different, the tales are so very old, and have changed so greatly

3 in the telling from one generation to another, that there are almost as many accounts of the way

4 in which the world began as there are nations upon the earth. So it is not strange that the people

5 of the North have a legend of the Beginning quite different from that of the Southern, Eastern,

6 and Western folk.

7 This book is made of the stories told by the Northern folk,—the people who live in the land of

8 the midnight sun, where summer is green and pleasant, but winter is a terrible time of cold and

9 gloom; where rocky mountains tower like huge giants, over whose heads the thunder rolls and

10 crashes, and under whose feet are mines of precious metals. Therefore, you will find the tales full

11 of giants and dwarfs,—spirits of the cold mountains and dark caverns.

12 You will find the hero to be Thor, with his thunderbolt hammer, who dwells in the happy heaven

13 of Asgard, where All-Father Odin is king, and where Balder the beautiful makes springtime with

14 his smile. In the north countries, winter, cold, and frost are very real and terrible enemies; while

15 spring, sunshine, and warmth are near and dear friends. So the story of the Beginning of Things

16 is a story of cold and heat, of the wicked giants who loved the cold, and of the good Æsir, who

17 basked in pleasant warmth.

Part 2

1 In the very beginning 1 of things, the stories say, there were two worlds, one of burning heat and

2 one of icy cold. The cold world was in the north, and from it flowed Elivâgar, a river of

3 poisonous water which hardened into ice and piled up into great mountains, filling the space

4 which had no bottom. The other world in the south was on fire with bright flame, a place of heat
5 most terrible. And in those days through all space there was nothing beside these two worlds of

6 heat and cold.

7 But then began a fierce combat. Heat and cold met and strove to destroy each other, as they
have

8 tried to do ever since. Flaming sparks from the hot world fell upon the ice river which flowed

9 from the place of cold. And though the bright sparks were quenched, in dying they wrought

10 mischief, as they do to-day; for they melted the ice, which dripped and dripped, like tears from

11 the suffering world of cold. And then, wonderful to say, these chilly drops became alive; became

12 a huge, breathing mass, a Frost-Giant with a wicked heart of ice. And he was the ancestor of all

13 the giants who came afterwards, a bad and cruel race.

14 At that time there was no earth nor sea nor heaven, nothing but the icy abyss without bottom,

15 whence Ymir the giant had sprung. And there he lived, nourished by the milk of a cow which the

16 heat had formed. Now the cow had nothing for her food but the snow and ice of Elivâgar, and

17 that was cold victuals indeed! One day she was licking the icy rocks, which tasted salty to her,

18 when Ymir noticed that the mass was taking a strange shape. The more the cow licked it, the

19 plainer became the outline of the shape. And when evening came Ymir saw thrusting itself

20 through the icy rock a head of hair. The next day the cow went on with her meal, and at night

21 time a man's head appeared above the rock. On the third day the cow licked away the ice until

22 forth stepped a man, tall and powerful and handsome. This was no evil giant, for he was good;

23 and, strangely, though he came from the ice his heart was warm. He was the ancestor of the kind

24 Æsir; for All-Father Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve, the first of the gods, were his grandsons,

25 and as soon as they were born they became the enemies of the race of giants.

Part 3 This story begins after All-Father Odin and his brothers, the first of the gods, were born and
became enemies of the race of giants.

1 Now after a few giant years,—ages and ages of time 1 as we reckon it,—there was a great battle,
2 for Odin and his brothers wished to destroy all the evil in the world and to leave only good. They

3 attacked the wicked giant Ymir, first of all his race, and after hard fighting slew him. Ymir was

4 so huge that when he died a mighty river of blood flowed from the wounds which Odin had

5 given him; a stream so large that it flooded all space, and the frost-giants, his children and

6 grandchildren, were drowned, except one who escaped with his wife in a chest. and but for the

7 saving of these two, that would have been the end of the race of giants.

8 All-Father and his brothers now had work to do. Painfully they dragged the great bulk of Ymir

9 into the bottomless space of ice, and from it they built the earth, the sea, and the heavens. Not
an

10 atom of his body went to waste. His blood made the great ocean, the rivers, lakes, and springs.

11 His mighty bones became mountains. His teeth and broken bones made sand and pebbles. From

12 his skull they fashioned the arching heaven, which they set up over the earth and sea. His brain

13 became the heavy clouds. His hair sprouted into trees, grass, plants, and flowers. And last of all,

14 the Æsir set his bristling eyebrows as a high fence around the earth, to keep the giants away from

15 the race of men whom they had planned to create for this pleasant globe.

16 So the earth was made. And next the gods brought light for the heavens. They caught the sparks

17 and cinders blown from the world of heat, and set them here and there, above and below, as sun

18 and moon and stars. To each they gave its name and told what its duties were to be, and how it

19 must perform them, day after day, and year after year, and century after century, till the ending

20 of all things; so that the children of men might reckon time without mistake.

Part 4 This story begins after the earth and heavens were madefrom the body of the giant, Ymir, by
the god Odin and his brothers.

1 Sôl and Mâni, who dr 1 ove the bright chariots of the sun and moon across the sky, were a fair
2 sister and brother whose father named them Sun and Moon because they were so beautiful. So

3 Odin gave them each a pair of swift, bright horses to drive, and set them in the sky forever. Once

4 upon a time,—but that was many, many years later,—Mâni, the Man in the Moon, stole two

5 children from the earth. Hiuki and Bil were going to a well to draw a pail of water. The little boy

6 and girl carried a pole and a bucket across their shoulders, and looked so pretty that Mâni thrust

7 down a long arm and snatched them up to his moon. And there they are to this day, as you can

8 see on any moonlight night,—two little black shadows on the moon's bright face, the boy and the

9 girl, with the bucket between them.

10 The gods also made Day and Night. Day was fair, bright, and beautiful, for he was of the warm

11 hearted Æsir race. But Night was dark and gloomy, because she was one of the cold giant-folk.

12 Day and Night had each a chariot drawn by a swift horse, and each in turn drove about the world

13 in a twenty-four hours' journey. Night rode first behind her dark horse, Hrîmfaxi, who scattered

14 dew from his bit upon the sleeping earth. After her came Day with his beautiful horse, Glad,

15 whose shining mane shot rays of light through the sky.

16 All these wonders the kind gods wrought that they might make a pleasant world for men to call

17 their home. And now the gods, or Æsir as they were called, must choose a place for their own

18 dwelling, for there were many of them, a glorious family. Outside of everything, beyond the

19 great ocean which surrounded the world, was Jotunheim, the cold country where the giants
lived.

20 The green earth was made for men. The gods therefore decided to build their city above men in

21 the heavens, where they could watch the doings of their favorites and protect them from the

22 wicked giants. Asgard was to be their city, and from Asgard to Midgard, the home of men,

23 stretched a wonderful bridge, a bridge of many colors. For it was the rainbow that we know and

24 love. Up and down the rainbow bridge the Æsir could travel to the earth, and thus keep
close to
25 the doings of men.

Part 5 This story begins after the earth and heavens were made from the body of the giant, Ymir, by
the god Odin and his brothers.

1 Next, from the remnants of Ymir's body the 1 gods made the race of little dwarfs, a wise folk and

2 skillful, but in nature more like the giants than like the good Æsir; for they were spiteful and

3 often wicked, and they loved the dark and the cold better than light and warmth. They lived deep

4 down below the ground in caves and rocky dens, and it was their business to dig the precious

5 metals and glittering gems that were hidden in the rocks, and to make wonderful things from the

6 treasures of the under-world. Pouf! pouf! went their little bellows. Tink-tank! went their little

7 hammers on their little anvils all day and all night. Sometimes they were friendly to the giants,

8 and sometimes they did kindly deeds for the Æsir. But always after men came upon the earth

9 they hated these new folk who eagerly sought for the gold and the jewels which the dwarfs kept

10 hidden in the ground. The dwarfs lost no chance of doing evil to the race of men.

11 Now the gods were ready for the making of men. They longed to have a race of creatures whom

12 they could love and protect and bless with all kinds of pleasures. So Odin, with his brothers

13 Hoenir and Loki, crossed the rainbow bridge and came down to the earth. They were walking

14 along the seashore when they found two trees, an ash and an elm. These would do as well as

15 anything for their purpose. Odin took the two trees and warmly breathed upon them; and lo!
they

16 were alive, a man and a woman. Hoenir then gently touched their foreheads, and they became

17 wise. Lastly Loki softly stroked their faces; their skin grew pink with ruddy color, and they
18 received the gifts of speech, hearing, and sight. Ask and Embla were their names, and the ash

19 and the elm became the father and mother of the whole human race whose dwelling was

20 Midgard, under the eyes of the Æsir who had made them.

21 This is the story of the Beginning of Things.

Elaboration of the Norse Creation Myth

The Norse worldview as we can best distill from the various sources boils down to the following general
idea. There were four phases: the process in which the world - and everything in it - was created; a
dynamic phase in which time is started; the destruction of the world in the Ragnarök; and the arising of
a new world from the sea.

The Origin of the Cosmos

Before there was soil, or sky, or any green thing, there was only the gaping abyss of Ginnungagap. This
chaos of perfect silence and darkness lay between the homeland of elemental fire, Muspelheim, and the
homeland of elemental ice, Niflheim.

Frost from Niflheim and billowing flames from Muspelheim crept toward each other until they met in
Ginnungagap. Amid the hissing and sputtering, the fire melted the ice, and the drops formed themselves
into Ymir (“Screamer”[1]), the first of the godlike but destructive giants. Ymir was a hermaphrodite and
could reproduce asexually; when he slept, more giants leapt forth from his legs and from the sweat of
his armpits.

As the frost continued to melt, a cow, Audhumla (“Abundance of Humming”[2]), emerged from it. She
nourished Ymir with her milk, and she, in turn, was nourished by salt-licks in the ice. Her licks slowly
uncovered Buri (“Progenitor”[3]), the first of the Aesir tribe of gods. Buri had a son named Bor
(“Son”[4]), who married Bestla (perhaps “Wife”[5]), the daughter of the giant Bolthorn (“Baleful
Thorn”[6]). The half-god, half-giant children of Bor and Bestla were Odin, who became the chief of the
Aesir gods, and his two brothers, Vili and Ve.

Odin and his brothers slew Ymir and set about constructing the world from his corpse. They fashioned
the oceans from his blood, the soil from his skin and muscles, vegetation from his hair, clouds from his
brains, and the sky from his skull. Four dwarves, corresponding to the four cardinal points, held Ymir’s
skull aloft above the earth.

The gods eventually formed the first man and woman, Ask and Embla, from two tree trunks, and built a
fence around their dwelling-place, Midgard, to protect them from the giants.
Order from Chaos

Thematically, Ymir is the personification of the chaos before creation, which is also depicted as the
impersonal void of Ginnungagap. Both Ymir and Ginnungagap are ways of talking about limitless
potential that is not actualized, that has not yet become the particular things that we find in the world
around us. This is why the Vikings described it as a void (as have countless other peoples; consider the
“darkness upon the face of the deep” of the first chapter of Genesis, for example). It is no-thing-ness.
But it nevertheless contains the basic stuff out of which the gods can make true things – in this case, the
primal matter is Ymir’s body, which the gods tear apart to craft the elements.

It is extremely fitting for Ymir to be the progenitor of the giants, for this is the general role the giants
occupy in Norse myth. They are the forces of formless chaos, who are always threatening to corrupt and
ultimately overturn the gods’ created order (and at Ragnarok, they succeed). But the giants are more
than just forces of destruction. In the words of medievalist Margaret Clunies Ross:

Characteristically […] the gods covet important natural resources which the giants own, then steal them
and turn them to their own advantage by utilising them to create culture, that is, they put the giants’
raw materials to work for themselves. These raw materials are of diverse kinds and include intellectual
capital such as the ability to brew ale as well as the cauldron in which it is made, and abstractions made
concrete like the mead of poetry and the runes of wisdom.

Not only does Ymir fit this pattern; mythologically speaking, his death and dismemberment is the
paradigmatic model for this pattern. This also explains why Ymir is depicted as a hermaphrodite who can
reproduce on his own asexually. Differentiation, including sexual differentiation, didn’t exist yet. The
gods had to create that as part of their task of giving differentiated forms to what had previously been
formless and undifferentiated. Various other creation myths from other peoples have used a
hermaphroditic being to illustrate this same concept,[12] so we can be confident that this is also what
the Norse meant here – despite the superficial counterexample of Audhumla and her udder. (After all,
Norse mythology was never an airtight system.)

Ymir’s name provides an additional – and rather poetic – instantiation of this role as the personification
of primordial chaos. Recall that Ymir’s name means “Screamer” (from the Old Norse verb ymja, “to
scream”[13]). The scream, the wordless voice, is the raw material from which words are made. By taking
formless matter – represented by Ymir’s body – and giving it form, the gods were, metaphorically
speaking, making words out of a scream.

The metaphor is completed by the description of the act of creation in the Old Norse poem Völuspá.
There, the verb used for the action by which the gods create the world is yppa, which has a range of
meanings: “lift, raise, bring up, come into being, proclaim, reveal.” The primary sense in which yppa
should be understood here is “to come into being,” but note the additional shade of “to proclaim.”
Given the poetic symmetry with Ymir’s name, this is surely not coincidental. The gods proclaim the
world into being as they sculpt it out of the Screamer’s corpse.
The Centrality of Conflict

The Vikings, like the other ancient Germanic peoples, were and are notorious for their eagerness for
battle. It should come as little surprise, therefore, that conflict is such a central theme in their creation
myth – and that conflict is itself a generative force.

Ymir is born from the strife between fire and ice – and we can surmise that that particular opposition
would have had a special poignancy for people living what was more or less a subsistence lifestyle in the
cold lands of Scandinavia and the North Atlantic.

In order for the gods to fashion the world, they must first slay Ymir. This is the first intentional taking of
a life in the universe, and it’s performed by the gods themselves. It is not presented as a crime or a sin,
as in the Biblical myth of Cain and Abel. Rather, it is a good and even sacred task. This isn’t to say that
the Norse valorized killing as such; clearly, they distinguished between lawful and appropriate killing and
unlawful and inappropriate killing. But they embraced what they saw as the necessity of having a
warlike approach to life, for the sake of accomplishing great deeds that brought honor and renown to
one’s name.

Of course, gods forming the world from the corpse of a being of chaos is a fairly common element in
myth. But the precise set of meanings contained in such an act varies from culture to culture. Surely this
glorification of honorable aggression, and its status as the defining act that makes the world what it is,
were central components of the meaning the Vikings found in their particular myth.

Both Giants and Gods Define the World

The Norse saw their gods as the “pillars” and “vital forces” that held the cosmos together. When the
gods created the world, they imparted both order and sanctity to it. And since the Norse gods are
frequently portrayed intervening in the world’s affairs, their gifts to the world weren’t thought to end
with creation. Their defining role in the cosmos was thought to continue as long as the cosmos itself
continued – that is, until Ragnarok.

And yet, since the world was formed from the corpse of a giant, it would seem that the world is what it
is largely due to the influence of the giants as well. Aspects of Ymir – his might, his uncouthness, his
tendency toward entropy, the ambivalence of his character – remained present in the world, even after
the gods had shaped it in accordance with a different set of traits and aims. The giants, too, were
thought to intervene in the world; the slaying of their ancestor by no means vanquished them.
In the Norse view, the world is a battleground between the gods and the giants, whose power is more or
less evenly matched. Mankind is in the middle, torn between the opposing claims of holiness, order, and
goodness on the one hand, and profaneness, chaos, and wickedness on the other. This tension is
ceaseless because it’s been a feature of the world itself since its very beginning. The strife will only be
alleviated by Ragnarok, when the world will be destroyed altogether, and nothing will remain but the
stillness and darkness of a new Ginnungagap.

UNIT II (Continuation): Myths of Creation - Philippine Mythology

Introduction

Imagine yourself living in ancient Philippines. No Christianity, Islam, or any of the modern-day religions.
Everything you need to survive is literally in front of you–food, clothes, a roof over your head, you name
it. But while things around you seem to be in perfect order, a tidal wave of confusion starts forming in
your mind.

You are now questioning your very own existence. Questions you never knew you needed to answer are
flooding your brain: Why is the sky blue? Where did we come from? Who controls everything? But with
no religion to rely on, how can you possibly make sense of everything?
The answer, according to our ancestors, is Philippine mythology.

Beliefs as to the origin of the earth, and of the men, animals, plants, and various topographical features
found in it, seem to survive with greater persistence than any other trait of primitive culture. These
beliefs lie at the base of nearly all religions, and the myths in which the beliefs are preserved are the
foundation of literature. The preservation and study of origin myths is, therefore, of much importance in
the reconstruction of the history of mankind.

This said, Philippine mythology surfaces from different forms: some of the myths are sung or chanted
only, while others are repeated in the form of stories. In nearly every case, the repeating of the myths
forms an important part of the religious ceremonies of the Filipinos. Philippine mythology is much more
important than you think. It gave our ancestors a sense of direction and helped them explain
everything–from the origin of mankind to the existence of diseases. Bathala (creation god; [top]), a
diwata (goddess/fairy, guardian of nature; [bottom]) and the Sarimanok (center) of Philippine mythology
and folklore. For them, it was not just a belief in invisible higher beings. Philippine mythology defined
who they were and what they’re supposed to do.

There iss no one-size-fits-all rule in Philippine mythology. In other words, ancient Filipinos from every
part of the country did not confine themselves to a single version of creation story nor did they give
uniform names to their deities- resulting to a diverse Philippine mythology as we now know.

What Exactly is Philippine Mythology?

Philippine mythology is a collection of stories and superstitions about magical beings, also known as
deities whom our ancestors believed controlled everything. It is part of the folklore, which covers all
kinds of traditional knowledge embedded in our society: arts, folk literature, customs, beliefs, and
games, among others.

If you are going to examine the folklore family tree (see the chart below), you’ll see the folk literature
branching out into three groups: folk speech (which includes the bugtong or riddles and salawikain or
proverbs), folk songs, and the folk narratives. Folk narratives are all about stories. They may be told in
prose, verse, or both. They are further divided into three sub-categories: the folktales or kuwentong
bayan, legends or alamat, and myths.

The folktales are pure fiction, something that you use to entertain bored kids. The legends and myths,
meanwhile, are assumed to be true by the storyteller. It’s the timeline that sets them apart. While
legends happened in a much more recent time period, myths are believed to have taken place in the
“remote past,” meaning a period when the world as we know it today wasn’t fully formed yet.

According to the late Damiana L. Eugenio, the Mother of Philippine Folklore, myths “account for the
origin of the world, of mankind, of death, or for characteristics of birds, animals, geographical features,
and the phenomena of nature.” Falling under this sub-category are the stories or adventures of deities,
defined as supernatural beings with human characteristics.

These deities are either good or bad, and each of them has a specific function. Renowned anthropologist
F. Landa Jocano, author of Outline of Philippine Mythology, explained it further:

“Some of these deities are always near; others are inhabitants of far-off realms of the Skyworld who
take interest in human affairs only when they are invoked during proper ceremonies which compel them
to come down to earth.”

Creation Myth 1: Ancient account of the Creation

Creation Myth 1: How the World Was Made (This is the ancient Filipino account of the creation)

Thousands of years ago there was no land nor sun nor moon nor stars, and the world was only a great
sea of water, above which stretched the sky. The water was the kingdom of the god Maguayan, and the
sky was ruled by the great god Captan.

Maguayan had a daughter called Lidagat, the sea, and Captan had a son known as Lihangin, the wind.
The gods agreed to the marriage of their children, so the sea became the bride of the wind.

Three sons and a daughter were born to them. The sons were called Licalibutan, Liadlao, and Libulan;
and the daughter received the name of Lisuga.

Licalibutan had a body of rock and was strong and brave; Liadlao was formed of gold and was always
happy; Libulan was made of copper and was weak and timid; and the beautiful Lisuga had a body of
pure silver and was sweet and gentle. Their parents were very fond of them, and nothing was wanting to
make them happy.

After a time Lihangin died and left the control of the winds to his eldest son Licalibutan. The faithful wife
Lidagat soon followed her husband, and the children, now grown up, were left without father or mother.
However, their grandfathers, Captan and Maguayan, took care of them and guarded them from all evil.

After a time, Licalibutan, proud of his power over the winds, resolved to gain more power, and asked his
brothers to join him in an attack on Captan in the sky above. At first they refused; but when Licalibutan
became angry with them, the amiable Liadlao, not wishing to offend his brother, agreed to help. Then
together they induced the timid Libulan to join in the plan.
When all was ready the three brothers rushed at the sky, but they could not beat down the gates of
steel that guarded the entrance. Then Licalibutan let loose the strongest winds and blew the bars in
every direction. The brothers rushed into the opening, but were met by the angry god Captan. So
terrible did he look that they turned and ran in terror; but Captan, furious at the destruction of his gates,
sent three bolts of lightning after them.

The first struck the copper Libulan and melted him into a ball. The second struck the golden Liadlao, and
he too was melted. The third bolt struck Licalibutan, and his rocky body broke into many pieces and fell
into the sea. So huge was he that parts of his body stuck out above the water and became what is
known as land.

In the meantime the gentle Lisuga had missed her brothers and started to look for them. She went
toward the sky, but as she approached the broken gates, Captan, blind with anger, struck her too with
lightning, and her silver body broke into thousands of pieces.

Captan then came down from the sky and tore the sea apart, calling on Maguayan to come to him and
accusing him of ordering the attack on the sky. Soon Maguayan appeared and answered that he knew
nothing of the plot as he had been asleep far down in the sea.

After a time he succeeded in calming the angry Captan. Together they wept at the loss of their
grandchildren, especially the gentle and beautiful Lisuga; but with all their power they could not restore
the dead to life. However, they gave to each body a beautiful light that will shine forever.

And so it was that golden Liadlao became the sun, and copper Libulan the moon, while the thousands of
pieces of silver Lisuga shine as the stars of heaven. To wicked Licalibutan the gods gave no light, but
resolved to make his body support a new race of people. So Captan gave Maguayan a seed, and he
planted it on the land, which, as you will remember, was part of Licalibutan's huge body.

Soon a bamboo tree grew up, and from the hollow of one of its branches a man and a woman came out.
The man's name was Sicalac, and the woman was called Sicabay. They were the parents of the human
race. Their first child was a son whom they called Libo; afterwards they had a daughter who was known
as Saman. Pandaguan was a younger son and he had a son called Arion.

Pandaguan was very clever and invented a trap to catch fish. The very first thing he caught was a huge
shark. When he brought it to land, it looked so great and fierce that he thought it was surely a god, and
he at once ordered his people to worship it. Soon all gathered around and began to sing and pray to the
shark. Suddenly the sky and sea opened, and the gods came out and ordered Pandaguan to throw the
shark back into the sea and to worship none but them.

All were afraid except Pandaguan. He grew very bold and answered that the shark was as big as the
gods, and that since he had been able to overpower it he would also be able to conquer the gods. Then
Captan, hearing this, struck Pandaguan with a small thunderbolt, for he did not wish to kill him but
merely to teach him a lesson. Then he and Maguayan decided to punish these people by scattering them
over the earth, so they carried some to one land and some to another. Many children were afterwards
born, and thus the earth became inhabited in all parts.

Pandaguan did not die. After lying on the ground for thirty days he regained his strength, but his body
was blackened from the lightning, and all his descendants ever since that day have been black.

His first son, Arion, was taken north, but as he had been born before his father's punishment he did not
lose his color, and all his people therefore are white.

Libo and Saman were carried south, where the hot sun scorched their bodies and caused all their
descendants to be of a brown color.

A son of Saman and a daughter of Sicalac were carried east, where the land at first was so lacking in
food that they were compelled to eat clay. On this account their children and their children's children
have always been yellow in color.

And so the world came to be made and peopled. The sun and moon shine in the sky, and the beautiful
stars light up the night. All over the land, on the body of the envious Licalibutan, the children of' Sicalac
and Sicabay have grown great in numbers. May they live forever in peace and brotherly love!

Creation Myths: Igorot, Bukidnon, Bagobo Versions

Creation Myth 2: The Creation (Igorot Version)

In the beginning there were no people on the earth.

Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down from the sky and cut many reeds. He divided these into pairs
which he placed in different parts of the world, and then he said to them, "You must speak."

Immediately the reeds became people, and in each place was a man and a woman who could talk, but
the language of each couple differed from that of the others.

Then Lumawig commanded each man and woman to marry, which they did. By and by there were many
children, all speaking the same language as their parents. These, in turn, married and had many children.
In this way there came to be many people on the earth.

Now Lumawig saw that there were several things which the people on the earth needed to use, so he
set to work to supply them. He created salt, and told the inhabitants of one place to boil it down and sell
it to their neighbors. But these people could not understand the directions of the Great Spirit, and the
next time he visited them, they had not touched the salt.

Then he took it away from them and gave it to the people of a place called Mayinit. These did as he
directed, and because of this he told them that they should always be owners of the salt, and that the
other peoples must buy of them.

Then Lumawig went to the people of Bontoc and told them to get clay and make pots. They got the clay,
but they did not understand the molding, and the jars were not well shaped. Because of their failure,
Lumawig told them that they would always have to buy their jars, and he removed the pottery to
Samoki. When he told the people there what to do, they did just as he said, and their jars were well
shaped and beautiful. Then the Great Spirit saw that they were fit owners of the pottery, and he told
them that they should always make many jars to sell.

In this way Lumawig taught the people and brought to them all the things which they now have.

Creation Myth 3: How the Moon and the Stars Came to Be (Bukidnon, Mindanao Version)

One day in the times when the sky was close to the ground a spinster went out to pound rice. Before she
began her work, she took off the beads from around her neck and the comb from her hair, and hung
them on the sky, which at that time looked like coral rock.

Then she began working, and each time that she raised her pestle into the air it struck the sky. For some
time she pounded the rice, and then she raised the pestle so high that it struck the sky very hard.

Immediately the sky began to rise, and it went up so far that she lost her ornaments. Never did they
come down, for the comb became the moon and the beads are the stars that are scattered about.

Creation Myth 4: Origin (Bagobo, Mindanao Version)

In the beginning there lived one man and one woman, Toglai and Toglibon. Their first children were a
boy and a girl. When they were old enough, the boy and the girl went far away across the waters
seeking a good place to live in. Nothing more was heard of them until their children, the Spaniards and
Americans, came back. After the first boy and girl left, other children were born to the couple; but they
all remained at Cibolan on Mount Apo with their parents, until Toglai and Toglibon died and became
spirits. Soon after that there came a great drought which lasted for three years. All the waters dried up,
so that there were no rivers, and no plants could live.

"Surely," said the people, "Manama is punishing us, and we must go elsewhere to find food and a place
to dwell in."
So they started out. Two went in the direction of the sunset, carrying with them stones from Cibolan
River. After a long journey they reached a place where were broad fields of cogon grass and an
abundance of water, and there they made their home. Their children still live in that place and are called
Magindanau, because of the stones which the couple carried when they left Cibolan.

Two children of Toglai and Toglibon went to the south, seeking a home, and they carried with them
women's baskets (baraan). When they found a good spot, they settled down. Their descendants, still
dwelling at that place, are called Baraan or Bilaan, because of the women's baskets.

So two by two the children of the first couple left the land of their birth. In the place where each settled
a new people developed, and thus it came about that all the tribes in the world received their names
from things that the people carried out of Cibolan, or from the places where they settled.

All the children left Mount Apo save two (a boy and a girl), whom hunger and thirst had made too weak
to travel. One day when they were about to die the boy crawled out to the field to see if there was one
living thing, and to his surprise he found a stalk of sugarcane growing lustily. He eagerly cut it, and
enough water came out to refresh him and his sister until the rains came. Because of this, their children
are called Bagobo.

Creation Myths: Bilaan and Mandaya Versions

Creation Myth 5: The Story of the Creation (Bilaan, Mindanao Version 1)

In the very beginning there lived a being so large that he cannot be compared with any known thing. His
name was Melu, and when he sat on the clouds, which were his home, he occupied all the space above.
His teeth were pure gold, and because he was very cleanly and continually rubbed himself with his
hands, his skin became pure white. The dead skin which he rubbed off his body was placed on one side
in a pile, and by and by this pile became so large that he was annoyed and set himself to consider what
he could do with it.

Finally, Melu decided to make the earth; so he worked very hard in putting the dead skin into shape, and
when it was finished he was so pleased with it that he determined to make two beings like himself,
though smaller, to live on it.

Taking the remnants of the material left after making the earth he fashioned two men, but just as they
were all finished except their noses, Tau Tana from below the earth appeared and wanted to help him.

Melu did not wish any assistance, and a great argument ensued. Tau Tana finally won his point and
made the noses which he placed on the people upside down. When all was finished, Melu and Tau Tana
whipped the forms until they moved. Then Melu went to his home above the clouds, and Tau Tana
returned to his place below the earth.

All went well until one day a great rain came, and the people on the earth nearly drowned from the
water which ran off their heads into their noses. Melu, from his place on the clouds, saw their danger,
and he came quickly to earth and saved their lives by turning their noses the other side up.
The people were very grateful to him, and promised to do anything he should ask of them. Before he left
for the sky, they told him that they were very unhappy living on the great earth all alone, so he told
them to save all the hair from their heads and the dry skin from their bodies and the next time he came
he would make them some companions. And in this way there came to be a great many people on the
earth.

Creation Myth 6: In the Beginning (Bilaan, Mindanao Version 2)

In the beginning there were four beings (Melu, Fiuweigh, Diwata, and Saweigh), and they lived on an
island no larger than a hat. On this island there were no trees or grass or any other living thing besides
these four people and one bird (Buswit). One day they sent this bird out across the waters to see what
he could find, and when he returned he brought some earth, a piece of rattan, and some fruit.

Melu, the greatest of the four, took the soil and shaped it and beat it with a paddle in the same manner
in which a woman shapes pots of clay, and when he finished he had made the earth. Then he planted
the seeds from the fruit, and they grew until there was much rattan and many trees bearing fruit.

The four beings watched the growth for a long time and were well pleased with the work, but finally
Melu said, "Of what use is this earth and all the rattan and fruit if there are no people?"

And the others replied, "Let us make some people out of wax."

So they took some wax and worked long, fashioning it into forms, but when they brought them to the
fire the wax melted, and they saw that men could not be made in that way.

Next they decided to try to use dirt in making people, and Melu and one of his companions began
working on that. All went well till they were ready to make the noses. The companion, who was working
on that part, put them on upside down. Melu told him that the people would drown if he left them that
way, but he refused to change them.

When his back was turned, however, Melu seized the noses, one by one, and turned them as they now
are. But he was in such a hurry that he pressed his finger at the root,

Creation Myth 7: The Children of the Limokon (Mandaya, Mindanao Version)

In the very early days before there were any people on the earth, the limokon (a kind of dove) were very
powerful and could talk like men though they looked like birds. One limokon laid two eggs, one at the
mouth of the Mayo River and one farther up its course. After some time, these eggs hatched, and the
one at the mouth of the river became a man, while the other became a woman.

The man lived alone on the bank of the river for a long time, but he was very lonely and wished many
times for a companion. One day when he was crossing the river something was swept against his legs
with such force that it nearly caused him to drown. On examining it, he found that it was a hair, and he
determined to go up the river and find whence it came. He traveled up the stream, looking on both
banks, until finally he found the woman, and he was very happy to think that at last he could have a
companion.

They were married and had many children, who are the Mandaya still living along the Mayo River.

Creation Myths: Tagalog and Mt. Province Versions

Creation Myth 8: The Creation Story (Tagalog Version)

When the world first began there was no land, but only the sea and the sky, and between them was a
kite (a bird something like a hawk). One day the bird which had nowhere to light grew tired of flying
about, so she stirred up the sea until it threw its waters against the sky. The sky, in order to restrain the
sea, showered upon it many islands until it could no longer rise, but ran back and forth. Then the sky
ordered the kite to light on one of the islands to build her nest, and to leave the sea and the sky in
peace.

Now at this time the land breeze and the sea breeze were married, and they had a child which was a
bamboo. One day when this bamboo was floating about on the water, it struck the feet of the kite which
was on the beach. The bird, angry that anything should strike it, pecked at the bamboo, and out of one
section came a man and from the other a woman.

Then the earthquake called on all the birds and fish to see what should be done with these two, and it
was decided that they should marry. Many children were born to the couple, and from them came all
the different races of people.

After a while the parents grew very tired of having so many idle and useless children around, and they
wished to be rid of them, but they knew of no place to send them to. Time went on and the children
became so numerous that the parents enjoyed no peace. One day, in desperation, the father seized a
stick and began beating them on all sides.

This so frightened the children that they fled in different directions, seeking hidden rooms in the house
-- some concealed themselves in the walls, some ran outside, while others hid in the fireplace, and
several fled to the sea.
Now it happened that those who went into the hidden rooms of the house later became the chiefs of
the islands; and those who concealed themselves in the walls became slaves. Those who ran outside
were free men; and those who hid in the fireplace became negroes; while those who fled to the sea
were gone many years, and when their children came back they were the white people.

Creation Myth 9: The Origin of the Stars and the Explanation of Sunset and Sunrise (Mt. Province
Version)

It is said that in the olden time the Sun and the Moon were married. They led a peaceful, harmonious
life. Two children were the issue of their wedlock. One day the Moon had to attend to one of the
household duties that fall to the lot of a woman, some say to get water, others say to get the daily
supply of food from the fields. Before departing, she crooned the children to sleep and told her husband
to watch them but not to approach lest by the heat that radiated from his body he might harm them.
She then started upon her errand. The Sun, who never before had been allowed to touch his bairns,
arose and approached their sleeping place. He gazed upon them fondly, and, bending down, kissed
them, but the intense heat that issued from his countenance melted them like wax. Upon perceiving this
he wept and quietly betook himself to the adjoining forest in great fear of his wife.

The Moon returned duly, and after depositing her burden in the house turned to where the children
slept but found only their dried, inanimate forms. She broke out into a loud wail, and in the wildness of
her grief called upon her husband. But he gave no answer. Finally softened by the loud long plaints, he
returned to his house. At the sight of him the wild cries of grief and of despair and of rebuke redoubled
themselves until finally the husband, unable to soothe the wife, became angry and called her his chattel.
At first she feared his anger and quieted her sobs, but, finally breaking out into one long wail, she seized
the burnt forms of her babes, and in the depth of her anguish and her rage threw them to the ground in
different directions. Then the husband became angry again, and, seizing some taro leaves that his wife
had brought from the fields, cast them in her face and went his way. Upon his return he could not find
his wife, and so it is to this day that the Sun follows the Moon in an eternal cycle of night and day. And
so it is, too, that stars stand scattered in the sable firmament, for they, too, accompany her in her hasty
flight. Ever and anon a shooting star breaks across her path, but that is only a messenger from her
husband to call her back. She, however, heeds it not, but speeds on her way in never-ending flight with
the marks of the taro leaves still upon her face and her starry train accompanying her to the dawn and
on to the sunset in one eternal flight.