For most Americans "the best-known story of creation is that reported in the biblical book of Genesis" (Powell). While most have heard of the Greek Gods, such as Zeus and Aphrodite, most do not know of the creation story behind them. Hesiod's Theogony is the Greek account of the creation of the universe. When Genesis and Theogony are examined closely, there appear to be certain parallels between the two. For instance, in both, the earth is created from nothing, and is created by an immortal and powerful God or God's. Significant differences also exist between these creation myths, which greatly outweigh their similarities. It is the role the deity or deities have in the creation of earth and their relationship with the humans they create that sets these two texts apart from each other. In order to fully understand that role however, one must first understand the culture from which each creation myth emerged.

Genesis and Theogony came from very different cultures. The book of Genesis is the Hebrew account of creation, and constitutes the first book of the Pentateuch of the Bible. This creation account is not only the most well known by Westerners, but also the most accepted, predomin

so... "Let the earth bring forth living creatures

sorrows, but ruins our hearts' good sense, breaking

Tartarus, windswept and dark, deep in the caverns

Adam is also punished for eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge, that Eve had given him.

broad- bosomed, unshakable base of things, then

Perhaps the most important difference between these two texts is that the Hebrew account of creation differs from that of Hesiod's "in it's notion of a single transcendent God." This God has no rivals, and stands before and beyond creation. In Genesis, God exists outside of the world as he creates it, creating the earth purely by his will and authority. In Theogony however, the God's who were created by Chaos create the earth. These God's gave creation personal names and attributes, Nyx is night and Hemera is Day, Erebus, Darkness and Aether, Radiance. The Hebrew account on the other hand, gave no personal names and attributes to its creations. In Genesis, night and day are simply created by God's word with no deity associated with them.

place, and let the dry land appear." And it was

the immortals, arose, who frees us all from our

conceived by uniting with Erebus, gloomy and somber.

Chaos came Erebus, darkness, and Nyx, night, mother

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Approximate Word count = 1537
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)