Confusing Creation Stories
There are Greek creation stories -- about the creation of the first supernatural (non-)entities like Chaos or Eros, the later creation of the gods, the development of agriculture, a flood story, and much more. There is even a creation of man story, written by Hesiod. Hesiod was an epic poet whose reputation was second only to Homer in ancient Greece. Hesiod's creation of man story shares an unfortunate similarity with the Biblical version of the creation of mankind, where Eve was created at the same time as Adam in the first version:
Version 1: Genesis 1.27 King Jamesand in the second version, from the rib and later:
27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Version 2: Genesis 2.21-23Like the contradictory stories of Genesis, the Hesiodic story of the creation of man, the story of the 5 Ages, leaves the reader/listener wondering what happened.
21: And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22: And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23: And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man....
Also see Jewish Legends - Creation
Genealogy Shows Man's Relationship to God(s)
Genealogy is central to the ancient Greek mythology handbooks -- as it is to the Bible. All the major Greek heroes can trace their ancestry to at least one god (usually Zeus). City-states (poleis - singular: polis) had their own patron god or goddess. We have several stories explaining the relationships of the patron gods and heroes to their citizens, and of how the inhabitants are descendants of the patron or another god. Whether or not the Greeks actually believed their myths, they wrote in terms that show pride in this divine association.The stories one polis told about its divine connection might or might not contradict the stories of another polis about its connection with the same god. Sometimes what looks like an effort to smooth out one set of inconsistencies seems to have created others. It might serve those of us coming to the Greek stories from a Judaeo-Christian tradition to remember that there are plenty of apparent inconsistencies in the Bible, too.
Reference: [url formerly www.rpgclassics.com/quotes/iliad.shtml] Interesting Quotations from the Iliad
