The Story of How the World Began: An Anthropological Analysis of Creation Mythology

Abstract

This paper addresses the theme of the creation myth in a selection of cultural groups. Cultures around the world have developed their own mythologies each with their own pantheon of gods, goddesses, and heroes. Each culture also has a set of creation myths to explain such things as how the Earth was made and how humans came to exist. Reasons behind why these creation myths were developed will be discussed as well as a comparison of the myths themselves. Although the cultures are spread throughout the world and mythologies developed at different times, there are certain similarities between creation myths. Each myth will be compared and contrasted with other creation myths to assess the meaning and significance to the culture they evolved from. The cultural groups that will be examined are the First Nations Peoples, Aztecs, Incans, Yoruba, Norse, Babylonians, Japanese, and Polynesians.