The Nature of Myth: Powell, Ch. 1, Leeming, Introduction

• Powell: go to his web site: click here (http://cw.prenhall.com/powell/chapter1/deluxe.html)
• Leeming: what functions do myths serve in their societies?

• Powell: go to his web site: click here (http://cw.prenhall.com/powell/chapter4/deluxe.html)
• Leeming:
• basic questions (not applicable to all the creation myths):
• Who are the original beings and what is the primary matter in the account?
• How or by what mechanism does creation occur?
• Who is the creator and what is the nature of the world that was created?
• How are the other deities created?
• What questions does the story answer and on what occasions is the story told or retold?
• specific questions regarding deities:
• Egyptian: Who are Re, Shu, Tefnut, and the Eye, and what role do they play in the myth?
• Indian (Veda): Who is the One and what role did it(?) play in the myth?
• Indian (Upanishad):  Who is the Soul (Atman), Man, Wife and what role do they play in the myth?
• Hopi: Who are Tawa and Spider Woman and what role do they play in the myth?
• Bantu: Who are Bumba, the three sons of Bumba, and Tsetse and what role do they play in the myth?
• Mesopotamian: Who are Apsu, Tiamat, Mummu, Ea, and Marduk and what role do they play in the myth?
• Mayan (pp. 60-1) Who are Heart of the Sea, the Plumed Serpent, Heart of the Sky and Hurricane and what role do they play in the myth?
• Greek: go to Powell's web site: click here (http://cw.prenhall.com/powell/chapter4/deluxe.html)

• Creation Accounts:
• Powell: Prometheus, Sumerian, Prometheus: Protector of Mortals, Five Ages of Man, Pandora, Aristophanes
• Leeming: Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hebrew, Indian (Upanishad), Hopi, Bantu, Mayan (60-62)
• Powell: go to his web site: click here (http://cw.prenhall.com/powell/chapter5/deluxe.html)
• Leeming:
• basic questions (not applicable to all the creation (of mortals) myths):
• Who is the creator of humans?
• How or by what mechanism does creation occur?
• Why are humans created (i.e. what role/purpose do they play in creation)?
• What questions does the story answer?

Flood Stories

• Flood Accounts:
• Powell: Sumerian (Ziusudra), Sumerian (Atrahasis), Greek
• Leeming: Hebrew, Chinese, Indian (Manu), Greek, Mayan
• Powell: go to his web site: click here (http://cw.prenhall.com/powell/chapter5/deluxe.html)
• Leeming:
• basic questions (not applicable to all flood stories):
• Who creates the flood?
• Why did this deity (or deities) create the flood?
• Who is saved, how and why?
• How is the earth repopulated?
• What questions does the story answer?

Theories of Myth Interpretation

Powell, Chapter 22: go to his web site: click here (http://cw.prenhall.com/powell/chapter22/deluxe.html)

1. Short Essay Question: (150-200 words long) Examine a non-Greek creation myth via one of the following Greek theories of myth interpretation (Theagenes', Plato's, or Euhemerus'). In your essay also make sure to state succintly but accurately what the theory is.

2. Long Essay Questions: (300-400 words long)

• Apply Malinowski's charter theory of myth to the myths of two of the following cultures (Hebrew, Greek, Mesopotamian (includes Sumerian myths), Mayan, and Indian) which involve the creation of the universe, the creation of mortals, and the flood. In your essay be sure to state succintly but accurately what the theory is, then apply it to the myths in question.

• Leeming in his introduction to his section on "The Flood" states "The flood myth, like the original creation myth, is what Mircea Eliade calls a 'festival' of productive chaos, a 'restoration of primordial chaos, and the repetition of the cosmogonic act' (The Myth of the Eternal Return, pp. 57-59)." Examine this idea with regard to at least 2 of the creation myths and 2 of the flood myths we have studied.