Myth and Creation Narratives: Characteristics, Origins, and Meanings

Explore the diverse characteristics and themes present in mythological narratives, from oral traditions to authoritative accounts. Delve into anthropogony, autochthony, and the significance of axis mundi in various cultural creation myths. Uncover the origins and meanings behind emergence myths, etiological myths, and regeneration myths that shape our understanding of human existence and the world.

• Mythology
• Creation Narratives
• Anthropogony
• Origin Stories
• Cultural Traditions

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1. 233S17 FINAL REVIEW

2. CUMULATIVE MATERIAL

3. Characteristics of Myth Narrative Oral Traditional Anonymous Multiform Homeostatic Authoritative True

4. anthropogony : autochthony : axis mundi : emergence myth : etiological myth : regeneration myth :

5. anthropogony : myth of human creation autochthony : axis mundi : emergence myth : etiological myth : regeneration myth :

6. anthropogony : myth of human creation autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth axis mundi : emergence myth : etiological myth : regeneration myth :

7. anthropogony : myth of human creation autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth axis mundi : world axis; spatial, temporal, ritual center of world emergence myth : etiological myth : regeneration myth :

8. anthropogony : myth of human creation autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth axis mundi : world axis; spatial, temporal, ritual center of world emergence myth : claim that ancestors emerge from trees, caves, mountains etc. etiological myth : regeneration myth :

9. anthropogony : myth of human creation autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth axis mundi : world axis; spatial, temporal, ritual center of world emergence myth : claim that ancestors emerge from trees, caves, mountains etc. etiological myth : myth that accounts for natural feature or cultural practice regeneration myth :

10. anthropogony : myth of human creation autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth axis mundi : world axis; spatial, temporal, ritual center of world emergence myth : claim that ancestors emerge from trees, caves, mountains etc. etiological myth : myth that accounts for natural feature or cultural practice regeneration myth : myth that represents life as circular (not linear) process

11. Myth, Legend, Folktale SACRED MYTH LEGEND FOLKTALE WORLD inflexible somewhat flexible, generally hostile rigid laws, fateful determinism, some room for human choice acquiescence and endurance irrelevant: moral character NOT = quality of experience highly flexible chance and luck; in the extreme, fairytale wish- fulfillment optimism and opportunism relevant: moral character = quality of experience CAUSALITY hard determinism STANCE absolute resignation MORALITY irrelevant: good = divine will

12. Cosmogonic Types TYPE created world evolved world NATURE DEITY MYTH Genesis Enuma Elish

13. Cosmogonic Types TYPE created world evolved world NATURE inert matter dynamic matter DEITY MYTH Genesis Enuma Elish

14. Cosmogonic Types TYPE created world evolved world NATURE inert matter dynamic matter DEITY transcendent immanent MYTH Genesis Enuma Elish

15. Cosmogonic Pattern 1. Primal Unity 2. 3. Proliferation of Beings 4. 5. Plot (Regret) 6. 7. Resolution 8. Stability

16. Cosmogonic Pattern 1. Primal Unity 2. Separation 3. Proliferation of Beings 4. 5. Plot (Regret) 6. 7. Resolution 8. Stability

17. Cosmogonic Pattern 1. Primal Unity 2. Separation 3. Proliferation of Beings 4. Destabilization 5. Plot (Regret) 6. 7. Resolution 8. Stability

18. Cosmogonic Pattern 1. Primal Unity 2. Separation 3. Proliferation of Beings 4. Destabilization 5. Plot (Regret) 6. Confrontation 7. Resolution 8. Stability

19. Combat Myth VICTOR male youngest offspring anthropomorph alliance of gods form/structure/organization civilization ENEMY female oldest parent theriomorph alliance of monsters raw matter nature

20. Hero Pattern BIRTH Mixed Status Signs of Election Separation Education Call Sidekick Journey Exploits Encounters Failure Reconciliation Death CHILDHOOD DEPARTURE RETURN / DEATH MEMORIALIZATION Myth & Ritual

21. Regeneration Pattern 1. Descent 2. Failure/Limitation 3. Ascent Repeat 1-3

22. MESOAMERICAN MATERIAL

23. TIME PERIODS CULTURES Olmec Earliest Mesoamerican high civilization: monumental sculptures, jaguar shamans, ball game, human sacrifice ________________ Early Mesoamerican civilization : astronomical observatories Popol Vuh ________________ City "Where Gods Were Made"; pan- Mesoamerican shrine 2000-100 BCE FORMATIVE _________ __ Zapotec Mayan _________ __ Teotihuaca n Aztec 100 BCE 900 CE CLASSIC 900-1519 CE POSTCLASSIC Leyenda de los Soles 1521... POST- CONQUEST Cort s and defeat of Motecuhzoma II

24. Mesoamerican Themes astronomical observation pyramidal architecture shamanistic animal cults oppositional structures ball game blood-letting and human sacrifice agricultural symbolism (maize) regeneration

25. Emergence Myths Chicomoztoc : Mesoamerican Cave of Origins Tree of Origin : example of axis mundi

26. Aztec Cosmogony: Leyenda de los Soles Primal Duality Ometeotl : God of Duality Creation of 4 Tezcatlipocas Creation of Suns 1-4 Xipe Totec, Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli OR Mictlantecuhtli (Death) each destroyed by excess of own power cooperation between Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl sacrifice of caiman (Cipactli) blood-letting by gods to feed earth Quetzalcoatl and spirit-double nahualli retrieve bones Creation of 5thworld Descent into Mictlan contains maize Quetzalcoatl fails to retrieve it Nanahuatzin (Lame God) splits mountain with lightning servants of Tlaloc (Rain God) steal maize human beings made from ground maize + divine blood at Tamoanchan Quetzalcoatl elopes with Mayahuel to Tamoanchan star-demons (tzitzimime) murder Mayahuel maguey grows from corpse; sap used to make pulque Tecuciztecatl (Rich God) and Nanahuatzin (Poor God) compete at Teotihuacan Nanahuatzin sacrifices himself to become Sun; Tecuciztecatl Moon Quetzalcoatl sacrifices other gods and himself to feed and move Sun and Mountain of Sustenance Creation of pulque Creation of 5thSun

27. Mayan Cosmogony: Popol Vuh STAGES DETAILS Plumed Serpent + Heart of Sky earth created by power of word animals animals assigned habitats and habits (failure) humans 1 mud creature (failure) humans 2 wood people (failure) humans 3 maize people

28. Quetzalcoatl (Plumed Serpent) quetzal serpent rain and wind (Quetzalcoatl + Ehecatl [Wind God]) daytime (Day Sun) creator and culture-bringer (bones, maize, maguey) nahualli dog (Xolotl) as Topiltzin-Quetzalcoatl, priest of Tula, corrupted by Titlacauan(-Tezcatlipoca) with pulque Topiltzin disappears; Motecuhzoma suspects Cort s may be return of god

29. Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror) original (Black) created god cooperates with Quetzalcoatl to create world associations: night (Night Sun), earth, death, jaguar (nahualli), obsidian (divination), smoke, mirrors (divination), magic, drunkenness, sexual debauchery (lameness, fire, lightning), war, kingship Tezcatlipoca (as Titlacauan) corrupts Quetzalcoatl-Topiltzin with pulque, causing fall of city of Tula

30. Huitzilopochtli and Aztec Migration Migration as external motivation : fated, destined, divinely supported. Migration charts genealogical, physical, topographical ancestry. Migration establishes itinerary of significant places, sacralizing space. Migration establishes political history of relations, legitimizing wars and alliances. Route of migration provides map for ritual reenactment.

31. Huitzilopochtli and Aztec Migration Aztecs leave Aztlan led by bodiless Huitzilopochtli Coatlicue (Snake Skirt Woman) impregnated by feather Huitzilopochtli born and attacked by 400 step-brothers and Coyolxauhqui (She Whose Face is Adorned with Bells) death of Coyolxauhqui ~ defeat of moon by sun sculptured slab of dismembered Coyolxauhqui at Templo Mayor Aztecs foundTenochtitlan (1345) where eagle perches in cactus

32. Sacrificial Themes compensation/justic e debt-payment nourishment order shed blood of Cipactli blood sacrificed by gods for humans blood feeds earth, Sun, Moon blood sacrifice prevents destruction by tzitzimime (star demons) blood feeds dead, irrigates earth, ensures growth Social functions of sacrifice group identity and cohesion ritualized entertainment: sacrifice as theatre participation in maintenance of universe state terrorism regeneration

33. Festival of Flayed Men 20-day festival celebrated before spring planting season festival in honor of Xipe Totec captives in xochiyaoyotl (flower war) dressed as ixiptla (god-impersonators) ixiptla treated like gods, sacrificed, hearts put in cuauhxicalli (bowl), skulls in tzompantli (skull-rack) skin of ixiptla flayed and worn by Eagle Warriors, flesh cooked and eaten skins shed on last day of festival, buried in fields to promote fertility

34. Eagle Warrior Cihuatateo

35. Eagle Warrior Cihuatateo participates in xochiyaoyotl mock combat with ixiptla distributes meat of victims wears flayed pelt of victims after death, lifts sun into sky

36. Eagle Warrior Cihuatateo participates in xochiyaoyotl childbirth mock combat with ixiptla children distributes meat of victims night wears flayed pelt of victims after death, lifts sun into sky souls of women dead in causes mental illness, theft of drags sun down from sky each

37. Xipe Totec (Our Lord the Flayed One) outer/inner dry/ green, wet husk/maize seed/flower skin/heart human/god dead/living death/regeneration

38. Summary of Popol Vuh 1 Cosmogony; creation of animals and first two (mud, wood) humans. Descent into Xibalba of Hun Hunahpu (1 Hunter) and Vucub Hunahpu (7 Hunter); their defeat. Hun Hunahpu impregnates Xquic. Birth of Hero Twins Hunahpu (Hunter) and Xbalanque (Jaguar Deer). Hero Twins defeat Vucub Caquix, the False Sun. Descent of Twins into Xibalba; their victory. Creation of maize people. 2 3 4

39. First Generation Hun Hunahpu (1 Hunter) & Vucub Hunahpu (7 Hunter) Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu descend into Xibalba to play ball. Hun and Vucub fail in Xibalba: cannot keep cigars lit Head of Hun Hunahpu put in calabash tree. Head impregnates Xquic (Little Blood). Xquic ascends to Upperworld, twins in her womb.

40. Second Generation Hunahpu (Hunter) & Xbalanque (Jaguar Deer) Twins descend into Xibalba to play ball. On the way, Twins defeat Vucub Caquix , the False Sun. Twins succeed in Xibalba: use fireflies to keep cigars lit Twins overcome trials in House of Knives, Cold House, Jaguar House, Fire House Hunahpu decapitated in Bat House; head replaced by gourd. Xibalbans use head of Hunahpu in ball game. Twins substitute gourd for head, and win game. Twins sacrifice themselves in fire. Twins reappear as entertainers, perform resurrection shows. Twins trick Lords of Xibalba into participating; they are sacrificed. Twins rescue Hun Hunahpu, who becomes God of Maize. Twins rise from Xibalba to become Sun and Moon.

41. Substitutions in Popol Vuh head of Hunahpu skull gourd ball head Sun

42. Ball Game ball game mimics passage of Sun through underworld ball game ensures that Sun survives passage through underworld identification of Sun with human being : ball game helps turn linear trajectory of human life into cyclical pattern, as in astronomy and agriculture

43. Hero Narratives MESOAMERICA CELTIC IRELAND MESOPOTAMIA Hero Twins/Quetzalcoatl divine defeat of Xibalbans C Chulainn avatar of Lugh defeat by Lugaid mac con Roi Hero Myth + transmigration geis beheading competition life/death cyclic Gilgamesh 2/3 divine defeat by death Hero Myth + Regeneration Myth defeat through trickery (folktale) embrace of death as complement to life separate Hero and Regeneration Myths linear terminality of life (legend) resistance to death