Cosmogony In Human Culture

Since the beginning of time, there has been a need for cosmogonies. Humans have desired to know how they came to be in order to feel purposeful and useful rather than random and unneeded. The cosmogonies fulfill a need by giving purpose and reason to every aspect of life. But human culture has never been completely unified with one cosmogony. Each ethnic culture has their own theories about the universe because of their circumstances that can relate place and the lack of mobility cultures faced in early civilizations. Regardless of mobilization, most cosmogonies have the same themes and truths about human nature, which validates how humans are alike around the world. Humans face issues about family, power, and morality regardless of culture …show more content…
For instance in the Orphic Theogony, Zeus represents a higher god, or central power. Even though the myths include various gods there seems to be a sense that there is always a central power. As if “out of the One all things” are affected (pdf). This idea of oneness implies a different cultural take on the gods, than in the Enuma Elish. Zeus is said to be the one that became “the beginning and middle and the end of all things” thus making him the most powerful and influential god to the universe (pdf). The thought of a singular god as the center, emphasizes humans need to look up to a specific person (like a king or dictator) instead of feeling powerless towards various beings (like a group of gods or rulers). In some ways, the oneness leads critics to believe that humans as well as gods had a desire to be ruled by someone. Yet, the Enuma Elish has a direct contrast to this thought by having multiple gods control multiple aspects of life. Even though Marduk is a powerful god, it is obvious that he is not the most important or even the most feared god at first. The Enuma Elish emphasizes that society needs multiple rulers in order to thrive in a healthy way, even if one becomes king or queen, they still need others to help them rule. For example, even though Marduk declares that humans are to be made, Ea is the one that helps create them, thus giving him power that Marduk doesn’t specifically have. These two …show more content…
Yet, within both the Orphic Theogony and Enuma Elish there is a common impression that in order for there to be life, there must be some type of death. While they both differ in how the death happens, both cosmogonies hint at the idea of the circle of life—death becomes life and life becomes death. This idea places life as sacred or divine. Humans have within them the beauty and grace of life but also the malevolent, darkness of death or sacrifice. For in the Orphic Theogony, the ashes of the Titans and the pure god, Dionysus, form together to create life that is malevolent “but also partly pure and divine” (pdf). The balance of moral and immoral within humans, in the Orphic Theogony, reflects how humans are within the Enuma Elish. As Marduk instructs they use the “ one who is hostile” to create humans. Qingu, though divine in some ways, is thought of as cruel amongst the gods thus in the creation of humans some of his hostile behaviors become a part of the human makeup. The symmetry of morality in humans within all cosmogonies shows the human need and desire to understand their positive and negative