Freud suggested that myths are the early dreams of man. I found this an interesting observation because, since the dawn of mankind we have used myths to explain the world and everything in it, and that is kind of what dreams do. So if dreams explain things than myths are very big dreams that connect to each other like a web. Usually dreams are based of what you see when you are awake. That is exactly what man did in the early days, because they had no science to explain things that happened around them. So man based his theories of observation. Remarkably lots of myths of various races and civilizations are similar to other myths despite the civilizations being being separated by huge distances and numerous geographical obstacles.
Themes of fire, people being made from natural materials and an explanation of natural phenomena, are common in a lot of myths. These are only some of the things that bind the myths together like super-glue.
Fire played a big role in the Nordic and Greek creation myth. In the Greek myth a titan called Prometheus was instructed by Zeus, the king of the gods, to fill the world with life. Prometheus and his brother made animals and humans. However humans led horrible lives due to the absence of fire. Prometheus pitied the humans, so he asked Zeus to give them fire. Zeus refused, so Prometheus decided to steal it from him. Prometheus then gave to the humans and instructed them on how to use it. Prometheus was punished severely for his crime by Zeus. In the Nordic myth, Odin needed something to keep his world warm and alive, so he went to the realm of fire. There he collected a huge ball of flame and brought it to the world. When he arrived, he flung the flaming ball into the sky where it turned into the sun.
People made from from natural materials, such as mud, clay, trees, and twigs are also common. This theme can be recognised in the Greek, Incan, Nordic, and Chinese creation myths. In the Greek myth the giant Prometheus, was ordered by Zeus, the king of the gods, to make people and animals from clay. In the Incan myth, the sun god needed someone to honor his greatness, adore him, and of course make sacrifices to him. So he made the first people from twigs. In the Nordic myth Odin wanted something to inhabit the world he had created. Then Odin found two trees standing next to each other. Those he turned into the first man and the first women. In the Chinese myth mankind came from the fleas that lived on the creator god, Phan Ku.
Explanations of natural phenomena, such as wind, rain, and winter, are also common. Both the Greek and the Chinese creation myths explain natural phenomena. In the Greek myth, Persephone, the daughter of the goddess of the harvest, Demeter, was kidnapped, by Hades, the god of the underworld, to be his bride. Zeus did not appreciate this so he set of for the underworld. Hades knew that Zeus was coming and that he lose Persephone, unless he thought of a way to trick Zeus. So Hades offered Persephone some pomegranate seeds. Ignorantly, she accepted and ate a few. After Persephone was rescued she was forced to spend a few months in the underworld, because she ate some of the food there. During that time Demeter was so depressed that she didn't care about the land, and so the plants died, and winter came to be. In the Chinese myth wind was the breath of the creator god, Phan Ku, and thunder was the sound of his voice.
Despite having been declared complete nonsense by science, myths continue to remembered. For they are "the roots that clutch" T.S Eliot.
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It is better to embed a quote like this: Freud suggested that, "Myths...." and this is an interesting observation, because....(and then you give your interpretation on the quote and link it with your paragraph). Then the quote smoothly slides into what you are writing about, rather than going off like a bomb in the paper. Your sequencing of ideas was good. I needed you to expand on the evidence in more detail, rather than just list the myths that featured these elements. Transition sentences that link the ideas in each paragraph also add to fluency. Take a look at the URL for the sculpture - shorten it? Pleasing start - we will work on this some more.
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