創世神話創世神話

• “Creation” 「創世」• 中外的創世神話，都是同一主題︰• 宇宙是如何生成？• 宇宙是怎樣發展？• Reminder ︰• 原始人在開天闢地神話裡述說的宇宙，實際上是他們居住一隅的環境，但是， 在他們的心中，那就是無限的茫茫宇宙。

• 原始人對事物生成原因的理解，都離不開圖騰崇拜的觀念，不同的圖騰崇拜觀念，便產生不同的宇宙生成原因。

• 鍾敬文《馬王堆漢墓帛畫的神話意義》︰

• 「關於世界創造的神話，有五個類型，如宇宙製造說、宇宙發展說、宇宙變成說、宇宙胎生說、及宇宙孵化說等。」《鍾敬文民間文學論文集》，頁 123 。

• 宇宙製造說的主要特點是︰有一位造物主隨著自己的意願把宇宙萬物製造出來。

• 宇宙發展說的主要特點是：宇宙有一個發展的小起點，從這一點逐漸發展而成的大宇宙。

• 宇宙胎生說的主要特點是︰宇宙由某一生物生出來。

• 宇宙變成說的主要特點是︰宇宙是由一位神或妖魔的軀體變成，而宇宙包括日、月的運行，是這位神成魔的生理現象。

• 例如︰中國盤古神話︰「盤古垂死化身，氣成風雲，聲為雷霆，左眼為日，右眼為月，四肢五體為四極五岳，血液為江河，筋為地里，肌肉為田土，皮毛為草木，齒骨為金石，精髓為珠玉，汗流為雨澤，……」《五運曆年紀》卷三

• 宇宙孵化說的主要特點是︰宇宙最初是一隻蛋，蛋破後，天地萬物誕生。

• 中國及希臘神話都有這一類的創世神話︰

• 中國 「盤古初開」• 「天地渾沌如雞子，盤古生其中。萬八千歲，天地開闢，陽清為天，陰濁為地，盤古在其中，……天日高一丈，地日厚一丈，盤古日長一丈，如此萬八千歲，天數極高，地數極深，盤古極長，……故天去地九萬里。」《三五曆記》卷十 ( 《藝文類聚》卷一引《三五曆記》 )

• 希臘 Hesiod, Theogony • 赫西奧德《神話》• 首先出現 “ chaos” ( 混沌 ) 【空間】 (void) ，在黑暗的混沌中，產生了地母該亞 ( Mother Earth = Gaea) ，冥土之神Tartarus ( 塔耳塔洛斯 )和愛神 Eros (厄洛斯 )

• Etymologically (字源學 )• “chaos” is related to our word “gap” = the

separation of two things to make a gap in the • middle

• 以上五種類型，相信是出於原始人類的一些生活經驗︰

• 宇宙製造說 —— 是人類會製造工具之後，以此來類比宇宙的形成。

• 宇宙發展說的聯想根據 —— 人類對當時自然界的反應，推論︰小溪流到大河再流出大海 (即由一小點發展至一大宇宙 ) 。

• (4) 胎生說與孵生說的聯想根據可分兩方面︰

– 與圖騰崇拜有關；– 與動物生殖現象有關。

• (5) 宇宙變成說 —— 可能是原始人看到動物與人類的屍體腐爛之後，屍體生了虫蛆，……於是便有此推論、觀念。

• 中國和希臘創世神話的思維結構比較

• 希臘神話較強調「感情」作用• “eros” ( 愛 ) ︰柔綠的草、飛鳴的鳥、青翠的樹林、游泳的魚及奔走的獸。及家族之內鬨是希臘民族的特有氣質。

• 相對地 (relatively) ，中國創世神話較重“數理”與倫理結合︰

• 《淮南子‧精神篇》對混沌初開的情景是這樣闡述的︰

• 「古未有天地之時，唯象無形，窈窈冥冥，有二神混合，經天營地，於是乃別為陰陽，離為八極。」

• 這段神話，包含了《易經》所說︰「無極生太極，太極生兩儀，兩儀生四象，四象生八卦」；也包含了道家 ( 《道德經》 ) 的「道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬物」

• 伏羲創八卦，亦有著數理的學問，而八卦又象徵著八種自然現象：

• 乾為天，坤為地，震為雷，艮為山，離為火與太陽，坎為水與月亮，兌為澤，巽為風等……。

• Comparative Myths of Creation (compiled/edited by Fred Cheung)

• The Greek Creation Myth:• Chaos was first to appear, then Gaea,

earth, the broad-bosomed, unshakable base of things, then Tartarus, windswept and dark, deep in caverns of broad-wayed earth. And Eros, the fairest of all the immortals, arose, who frees us all from our sorrows, but ruins our hearts’ good sense, breaking the wisest intentions of gods and mortals alike. From Chaos came Erebus, darkness, and Nyx, night, mother of Aether, radiance, and Hemera, day; these Nyx conceived by uniting with Erebus, gloomy and sober. (Hesiod, Theogony, 116-125.)[ Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth. 3rd ed., New York: Prentice-Hall, 2001, pp. 72-73.]

• The Chinese Creation Myth:• Chaos was like a hen’s egg. The

parts of the egg separated into the Yin and Yang, the male and female essences of all living things. The lighter parts rose to the top, becoming sky and heaven, while the heavier parts sank to become the earth and sea. Out of this egg also came the giant Pangu. Pangu grew at the rate of ten feet per day for eighteen thousand years until his height spanned the distance between earth and heaven. Then Pangu died. Upon his death, his body decomposed and his stomach formed the central mountains; his eyes the sun and the moon; his tears, rivers; his breath, the wind; and his bones, metals and stones. His semen became pearls, and his bone marrow, jade. [J. F. Bierlein, Parallel Myths. New York: Ballatine Wellspring, 1994, pp.53-54.]

• The Biblical Creation Story:• In the beginning, when God created the heaven

and the earth, the earth was a formless and unbounded mass, with darkness covering its fluid chaos, and with a wind from God sweeping over it. God said, “Let there be light!” and there was light. God saw the goodness of the light and separated it from the darkness; the light he called “ day” and the darkness “night.” Thus evening and morning came into being, a complete day. Then God said, “Let there be a partition in the middle of the watery chaos, spreading out to separate the waters.” So it came about, and the partition divided the waters below it from those above; God called the partition “sky.” The evening came and the morning, making up the second day. (Genesis 1.1-8)[ Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth. 3rd ed., New York: Prenctice-Hall, 2001, p. 102.]

• The Babylonian Enuma Elish:• The best example of Mesopotamian creation myth

is the Babylonian poem Enuma Elish. The poem opens with the gods of the primordial waters, male Apsu, fresh water, and female Tiamat, salt water, mingled together in an indeterminate mass:

• When on high heaven was not yet named,• Nor was the hard ground below called by name –-• There was nothing but primordial Apsu, the

begetter,• And Mother Tiamat, she who gave birth to

everything.• The waters of Tiamat and Apsu were mingled

together as a single body.• No one had woven a reed hut. There was no

marsh land.• It was a time before the gods had come into being,

• Or were called by name, or their destines determined ---

• This was when the gods took form within them [i.e., the waters of Apsu & Tiamat. To name is to create, for the essence of a creature resides in the word that designates it ].

• Lahmu and Lahamu [= “Mr. & Mrs. Mud” the primordial slime] were brought forth, called by their names

• Before they had grown.• Anshar and Kishar [= Heaven and Earth, Up &

Down, to judge from the roots] took form, greater than the others.

• They made the days long, added on years [time passed].

• Anu was their heir, rival to his own fathers.• [Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth. 3rd ed., New

York: Prentice-Hall, 2001, p. 95.]•

• The Hittite Kingship in Heaven and the Song of Ullikummi• Other Eastern myths important to the later classical tradition come from the mighty

Indo-European Hittites, who ruled the central Anatolian plain in the Late Bronze Age. Their powerful capital was near modern Ankara, and their art and culture were strong well into the 8th century B.C. in what is today southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. Only small portions of a poem called Kingship in Heaven survived, but the myth has clear relevance to the Greek cosmogony:

• In earlier years, Alalush was king in heaven.• Alalush sits there on his throne.• And strong Anush [=Anu], first of the gods, is his servant.• He bows to him at his feet.• He always gives him great cups to drink into his hand.• For nine years of rule, Alalush was king in heaven.• After nine years, Anush made war against Alalush.• He defeated Alulush who fled under the dark earth, but Anush sat on the throne.• Anush is there on his throne and strong Kumarbi always gives him food to eat and he

always bows at his feet and always gives him great cups into his hand.

• For nine years Anush ruled as king in heaven.• In the ninth year, Anush made war with Kumarbi.• The eyes of Kumarbi he could not defeat.• He slipped from Kumarbi’s hand and fled.• Anush the eagle flew in the sky and Kumarbi

closed in behind him, grabbed his feet and pulled him down from the sky.

• Kumarbi bit off Anush’s genitals.• His sperm went into Kumarbi’s stomach.• He swallowed Anush’s sperm and was happy

and he laughed.

• And Anush turned back to him and began to speak to Kumarbi:

• “You are really pleased about your stomach. It swallowed my sperm. You should not rejoiced! I have placed a burden in your middle. First, I have made you pregnant with the storm god; second with the river Aranzakh [The Tigris]; third, with the heavy Tasmishu [an attendant of the storm god]. And I placed the burden, the terrible gods into your middle! You will perish, hitting your head on the mountain Tashshu!”

• When Anush finished speaking, he disappeared. • Then Kumarbi went high into the heavens.

• Another Hittite tale, the Song of Ullikummi, tells us more about the celestial kingship and Kumarbi’s struggle for ascendancy. Kumarbi planned destruction for the storm god Teshub, who seems to be Kumarbi’s own son. Kumarbi “took wisdom unto his mind,” rose from his chair, took a staff, put a sandals on his feet, and set ouot to a place called Cool Pond. There Kumarbi had intercourse with a huge rock, ….. The rock became pregnant and gave birth to a stone child. The child was placed on Kumarbi’s knees and Kumarbi named him Ullikummi (=”Destroyer of Kumiya,” the city of Teshub).

• [Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth. 3rd ed., New York: Prentice-Hall, 2001, pp. 99-101.]

• Observations: The Succession Myth in Hesiod and the Near East:

• In both Enuma Elish (Babylonian Myth) and Hesiod’s Theogony (Greek), the first generation of gods is made up of primal pairs: Apsu, the male sweet waters, and Tiamat, the female salt waters, and Uranus and Gaea. The fathers Apsu and Uranus hate the first children, who are begotten within the mother. In an initial round of conflict the clever son Ea and Cronus overthrow their fathers. In a second round of conflict, gods of the third generation --- Marduk and the storm god Zeus --- revolt against an earlier divine generation. Terrible monsters are overcome: Tiamat and her army in Enuma Elish, and the Titans, Typhoeus, and the Giants, all children of Gaea, in the Greek story. The storm god is then made king. Mesopotamian and Greek myths alike report a cosmic history that begins with mighty powers of nature and ends in the organization of the universe as a monarchic, patriarchal state. Both mythical traditions make use of the motifs of succession and dragon combat.

• Similarities between the Hittite and Greek myths are equally striking:• Hittite’s Kingship in Heaven Hesiod’s Theogony• Alalush Chaos• ! !• Anush (=Sumerian Anu, “Sky”) Uranus (“Sky”)• Castrated by his son castrated by his

son• ! !• Kumarbi Cronus• ! !• Teshub (storm god) Zeus

(storm god)

• According to Kingship in Heaven, first a primordial god (Alalush) was ruler, then the sky god (Anush) ruled, then another god (Kumarbi), and then, probably, the storm god (Teshub). The same sequence of generations appears in Hesiod: First, came Chaos (=Alalush?), then Uranus/Sky (=Anush), then Cronus (=Kumarbi), then the storm god Zeus (=Teshub). Both Anu and Uranus were castrated by their sons, and gods were born from the severed organs. As long as heaven and earth are locked in sexual embrace, forming a solid whole, there is no space within which the created world can appear. Castration was a real practice imposed on enemies taken in war, but in logic of the myth castration is separation, and separation is creation. Both Kumarbi and Cronus have children within themselves. The children of each, Teshub and Zeus, both storm gods, overcome their fathers to win victory in heaven.

• According to the Hittite Song of Ullikummi, the Hittite storm god Teshub must defend his reign against a dragon of chaos, Ullikummi, just as Zeus takes on the formidable Typhoeus. The Hittite Aya/Ea uses the weapon by which heaven and earth were separated to cut the enormous Ullikummi, born from a rock, away from Ubeluri, the giant who holds up the world; Zeus too uses a special weapon against Typhoeus, the same sickle by which Cronus castrated Uranus. [Powell, Classical Myth, pp. 101-104]