A myth is a story that reflects a culture’s values, hopes, and purpose. A creation myth is a culture’s story about man’s origin on earth and how good and evil came to exist. Those are two types of myths that are demonstrated in “Genesis” and “The World on the Turtle’s Back.”
The creation myth, “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” is what the Iroquois believe had happened, and the myth, “Genesis,” is what Christians and Jews believe had happened. By exploring plots, symbols, and the philosophy of each story, we will find some major differences, and similarities. Even though some ideas are hard to believe and fully understand, it is how a particular culture views how the world came to be. In the two myths, some ideas are very close and believable while others are drastically different and might contradict what was said earlier in the story. When you compare and contrast the ideas of the two myths, you can learn a lot about each culture and their beliefs. It is important that the two myths have differences and similarities because that proves that different cultures have different beliefs and ideas of how creation started.
When comparing the two myths, there are a few similarities that are prominent. Animals played an essential role, either good or evil. In “Genesis,” the serpent convinced Eve that if she ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, she would be equal to god. In “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” the animals helped the women create a new world. The birds broke her fall when she was falling through the sky, the turtle provided a place for her to stay, and the muskrat dove to the bottom of the ocean floor and got a piece of dirt so the land could start to grow. In both myths, some type of God or gods created the people. Both myths had siblings who happened to be brothers. One brother was evil and the other brother was good. In “Genesis,” Cain is the evil brother and Able is the good brother. One day Able got jealous over Cain because God liked his present better then Abel’s, so they got into a fight and Able killed his brother Cain. In “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” the brothers were twins. The right-handed twin was good and the left-handed twin was evil. Throughout their whole lives, they were competing to see who was the better twin. Their grandmother favored the left-handed twin, and the right-handed twin was jealous. One day they had a duel, and the right-handed twin won and killed his brother. Then he killed his grandmother because she was upset that her favorite twin, the left-handed one, was killed. Ironically, in both stories, the good twin or brother killed the evil twin or brother. Likewise for each story, there was a world above. In “Genesis,” God lived in the world above, and in “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” the women lived in the world above, but fell through the clouds.
In contrast, the two myths have many differences that are evident. The myth “Genesis,” was very logical and made sense. We could follow the story easily, and see how each event took place. Evil was unwanted and was considered a bad thing.
There was only one God who created everything, including the earth, people, and animals. The role of the serpent was evil, and convinced Eve to do something she was not allowed to do. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, they felt guilty of their actions and showed personal responsibility. Also, in “Genesis,” Adam and Eve played God when they ate the fruit. Other trees had fruit, but they chose to eat the fruit from the tree they were not allowed to have.
In contrast to “Genesis,” the myth “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” was partially different. The myth contradicted itself when it said, “In the beginning there was nothing.” There had to be something because the women and the man lived in an above world where there were trees, and below where there was earth. The myth was inconsistent, and sometimes was very unclear. Evil was welcomed and wanted in this myth, a huge difference when compared to “Genesis.” Evil was good, and helped keep a balance of nature. There were many gods, unlike “Genesis” where there was only one. The Iroquois believed that there was already an earth, and the women made the land. Also, the animals were good and helpful to the women and saved her life. When the woman wanted to take part of the bark, it was for a good reason. She wanted to make medicine, where on the other hand, Adam and Eve wanted to eat the fruit to be equal to God. The women and man do not feel badly when they take the bark, either.
As you may already know, there are many different myths, stories, ideas, and beliefs on how the world came to be. No one knows what really happened, but many people believe in myths and accept them. Some people believe that one God created everything, while others believe that multiple gods created everything, and some may believe that people created everything. We can compare and contrast different myths and choose what we think really happened. Also, by exploring the philosophy’s, plots, and symbols for each myth, we can infer and learn about cultures and religious groups and their distinct cultures.