The Genesis vs Ovid’s Metamorphoses Creation Stories

The Genesis vs Ovid’s Metamorphoses Creation Stories

Introduction

The origin of human beings has been explored based on various perspectives developed from people’s beliefs. Creation myths can be interpreted by focusing on different views of the divine power that created the earth and how the divine being relates to humanity. The most widely accepted creation myth is the Genesis story, which suggests that creation began with the existence of God before the earth, sky, and human beings were created (Danly et al., 2003). Some people questioned this argument, which led to the rise of another story, Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Ovid’s story is founded on the idea that gods continually transform their shapes and selves and human beings’ shapes. Ovid focuses on bringing out the theme of power based on the depiction of divine beings by Roman poets who consider divine creatures as capricious, vengeful, and wrathful creatures who constantly use their power against half and weaker mortals.

The Genesis vs. Ovid’s Metamorphoses Creation Stories

The story of Genesis portrays the divine as powerful and independent. God works alone to create the earth, sky, and human beings. He also orders things to come into existence, as indicated in the statement, “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light….And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water….And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear…. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.” (Zondervan Publishing, 1978). Genesis also portrays God as an orderly divine being. He creates everything in order from the first day to the sixth day and rests on the seventh day. He also has a plan that includes ordering the existence of the physical world and using his hands to create human beings from dust before breathing life into the human beings to support their existence. The relationship between God and humanity in the Genesis creation story is mutually beneficial. God creates human beings to keep him company and enjoy his other creations as long as they follow his commands. Later in the book of Genesis, the mutually beneficial relationship is broken when Adam and Eve fail to follow God’s commands, and they are kicked out of the Garden of Eden and forced to work to sustain themselves.

Ovid’s Metamorphoses portrays the divine power as vengeful. Ovid tells how the divine power destroys humanity with a flood. He states that Jupiter wanted to destroy evil humans by deciding to wipe them “beneath the waves and to send down rain from every quarter of the sky” (Ovid, 2008). Ovid also portrays the divine as reasonable because despite sending a flood to destroy the wicked humankind, one family is spared to continue humankind’s existence. Ovid’s Metamorphoses also portrays divine power as evolving to achieve a better self. Ovid suggests that the relationship between humanity and the divine is mutually beneficial. He argues that humanity respects gods and gives them prayers and offerings in return for protection from destruction and help in times of need.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, creation myths can be interpreted by focusing on different views of the divine power that created the earth and how the divine being relates to humanity. The Genesis and Ovid’s Metamorphoses stories agree that the relationship between the divine and humankind is supported by the benefit each gets from the other. However, the divine has more power over humankind and takes drastic measures to punish humankind when they violate their commands. The main difference between the two stories is that in Genesis, the divine power is focused on improving humankind by providing them with what they need, including creating a woman to offer companionship. In contrast, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the divine power is focused on self-improvement.

References

Danly, R. L., Lawall, S. N., Mack, M., & Douglas, K. (2003). The Norton anthology of world literature. W. W. Norton.

Ovid. (2008). Metamorphoses. Oxford University Press.

Zondervan Publishing. (1978). The Holy Bible: New international version containing the Old Testament and the New Testament. Zondervan.

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The Genesis vs Ovid’s Metamorphoses Creation Stories

The major writing assignment for this week is to compose a 600-word paper that compares and contrasts Genesis and Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Creation stories and myths provide insight into a culture’s values and beliefs. Both Genesis and Ovid’s Metamorphoses offer a portrayal of the divine (gods and goddesses). Compare and contrast the way in which these two works portray the divine and their relationship with humanity. Make sure to include specific examples and quotations from each literary work to support your argument.