English
American Literature (B4)
September 4, 2013
Compare and Contrast Essay The Greek myth “The Creation” and the Onondaga myth “The Earth on the Turtle’s Back” both describe the beliefs of how the Earth was created. The Greek myth has a better character development than the Onondaga myth.
The two stories have obvious differences in the beginning of their myths. “The Creation” myth begins with the description of a chaotic scenario, mixed with emptiness, silence, and endless darkness. This ceases when Love was born, and brought order and for a moment calmed Night and Erebus. “In the beginning there was only chaos.” On the other hand, the Onondaga myth starts off with a more positive note to their story. The story has included description such as “before this Earth existed, there was only water,” and “it stretched as far as one could see.”
In the mythologies themselves, there are differences created. In “The Earth on the Turtle’s Back” myth, there is a contrast between the Skyland and Water Life, which later in the myth brings these two together. When the Woman falls from the Sky, all the animals and birds try and go with determination to save the Woman to bring her back to Earth, as she wouldn’t be able to survive in the Water Life. “’She is not like us,’ said one of the animals. ‘Look, she doesn’t have webbed feet. I don’t think she can live in the water.’” Similarly, there is an obvious difference in “The Creation” with Zeus versus Typhoeus. Zeus, after being courageous and winning his peoples’ trust and victory, had to confront Gaea’s last offspring, Typhoeus, who was a fearsome monster. Zeus ended up killing his rival by striking lightning bolts at him. Not many direct similarities are shown by these passages, but the sight of juxtaposition in the two myths give a similar point.
In the end of both myths, there is one character that accomplishes something amazing that helps the end come smoothly. In the Greek myth, Zeus kills Typhoneus, who has been
September 4, 2013
Compare and Contrast Essay The Greek myth “The Creation” and the Onondaga myth “The Earth on the Turtle’s Back” both describe the beliefs of how the Earth was created. The Greek myth has a better character development than the Onondaga myth.
The two stories have obvious differences in the beginning of their myths. “The Creation” myth begins with the description of a chaotic scenario, mixed with emptiness, silence, and endless darkness. This ceases when Love was born, and brought order and for a moment calmed Night and Erebus. “In the beginning there was only chaos.” On the other hand, the Onondaga myth starts off with a more positive note to their story. The story has included description such as “before this Earth existed, there was only water,” and “it stretched as far as one could see.”
In the mythologies themselves, there are differences created. In “The Earth on the Turtle’s Back” myth, there is a contrast between the Skyland and Water Life, which later in the myth brings these two together. When the Woman falls from the Sky, all the animals and birds try and go with determination to save the Woman to bring her back to Earth, as she wouldn’t be able to survive in the Water Life. “’She is not like us,’ said one of the animals. ‘Look, she doesn’t have webbed feet. I don’t think she can live in the water.’” Similarly, there is an obvious difference in “The Creation” with Zeus versus Typhoeus. Zeus, after being courageous and winning his peoples’ trust and victory, had to confront Gaea’s last offspring, Typhoeus, who was a fearsome monster. Zeus ended up killing his rival by striking lightning bolts at him. Not many direct similarities are shown by these passages, but the sight of juxtaposition in the two myths give a similar point.
In the end of both myths, there is one character that accomplishes something amazing that helps the end come smoothly. In the Greek myth, Zeus kills Typhoneus, who has been