Taoist And Greek Myths Similarities
People of every culture have some myth or story that explains how the world, themselves, and everything else was created. Each culture has a unique story that reflects the culture itself and holds some significance to the people of the culture. Greek mythology is a widely known form of Greek culture that has its own creation story that shares similarities and differences with other creation stories. The Chinese Taoist creation story is not as well known as Greek mythology, but it still shares some commonalities and dissimilarities with other culture’s creation stories. Greek mythology and Taoist creation have a few similarities and differences within their creation stories that reflect their own individual culture and show parallels between
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One similarity between the two myths is the very beginning of the creation. In the Pangu creation story there was an egg full of mass in which Pangu formed. Similarly in Hesiod’s Theogony of Greek Mythology there was Chaos and from Chaos, which was just darkness and space, and then Gaia and Eros came (Buxton, 2004, p. 44). These beginnings are similar in the fact that in both myths something, Pangu, Gaia, and Eros, came from almost nothing. Another similarity is the fact that in both myths, everything is created from something or someone. In the Pangu myth, everything is created out of Pangu’s body, like his blood becomes rivers and his breath becomes the wind (Lutz, 2015, para. 5). In Greek Mythology, Gaia is earth, Eros is sexual love, Erebos was a dark realm, and there was Night and Day (Buxton, 2004, p. 44-45). These are similar in the fact that from the creator, different concepts, features, and beings are formed. There are also several differences in these two myths. One difference is the fact that Greek Mythology is a widely known cultural myth, whereas Pangu’s myth is not widely known or accepted. One difference within the myths is the fact that in the Pangu myth, Pangu is the sole creator of everything. In Greek Mythology, Gaia comes from Chaos and both Gaia and Chaos, along with the other beings created create other beings and concepts. The main difference between the two myths are there significance to their cultures. Greek mythology is very significant in the culture it is derived from, and it holds morals and stories that show people how to live their lives. On the other hand, Pangu’s myth is not as significant in Chinese Taoist culture. As mentioned before, very few people believe that this myth is the true creation story of the universe. Both Greek
One similarity between the two myths is the very beginning of the creation. In the Pangu creation story there was an egg full of mass in which Pangu formed. Similarly in Hesiod’s Theogony of Greek Mythology there was Chaos and from Chaos, which was just darkness and space, and then Gaia and Eros came (Buxton, 2004, p. 44). These beginnings are similar in the fact that in both myths something, Pangu, Gaia, and Eros, came from almost nothing. Another similarity is the fact that in both myths, everything is created from something or someone. In the Pangu myth, everything is created out of Pangu’s body, like his blood becomes rivers and his breath becomes the wind (Lutz, 2015, para. 5). In Greek Mythology, Gaia is earth, Eros is sexual love, Erebos was a dark realm, and there was Night and Day (Buxton, 2004, p. 44-45). These are similar in the fact that from the creator, different concepts, features, and beings are formed. There are also several differences in these two myths. One difference is the fact that Greek Mythology is a widely known cultural myth, whereas Pangu’s myth is not widely known or accepted. One difference within the myths is the fact that in the Pangu myth, Pangu is the sole creator of everything. In Greek Mythology, Gaia comes from Chaos and both Gaia and Chaos, along with the other beings created create other beings and concepts. The main difference between the two myths are there significance to their cultures. Greek mythology is very significant in the culture it is derived from, and it holds morals and stories that show people how to live their lives. On the other hand, Pangu’s myth is not as significant in Chinese Taoist culture. As mentioned before, very few people believe that this myth is the true creation story of the universe. Both Greek