| |
Comment on this article
Inside the Blue Book
Moving
Heaven and Earth
September/October
2003
by Jennifer L. Holley
RLST
S-108
"Cosmogonic
Myths"
Faculty: Hugh Flick
Lecturer in Religious Studies
When
teaching "Cosmogonic Myths," Hugh Flick likes to shake
up his syllabus with a mix of creation stories both familiar and new. Most
students have some knowledge of Genesis and of Hesiod's Theogony, in which the Greek
gods Gaia and Chaos are born, and then give birth themselves to
a variety of beings. But Flick also introduces the Babylonian
tale Enumma Elish, in which a battle
between two characters, Marduk and Tiamat, results in Tiamat's
body being split to form the earth and the heavens. In the Maya Popol Vuh, several
gods attempt to create humans, and finally get it right -- on
the fourth try -- using maize as the building material.
| |
Creation
stories stem from the question "Where
did we come from?"
|
All
stories stem from the same question: "Where did we come from?"
Every culture comes up with its own answer. Beyond exploring the
stories themselves, the class learns different ways to interpret
them. Flick says, "The class is not about any particular
religious tradition as much as it is about the way we as humans
make meaning."
He
tries to show not only that major traditions vary, but
also that even a single myth can be laden with many meanings.
On the first day of class, he shows videos of two Brazilian Yanomamo
shamans telling the same creation myth. The Myth of Naro, as Flick explains, regards the origin of harmful magic and killing,
and is about a Yanomamo ancestor (Naro) who kills his brother
out of envy over his brother's wives. Although the plot is essentially
the same in each shaman's story, many details differ. "It's
clearly the same story, but the telling is quite different," Flick says.
The
topic of creation myths is mostly new for everyone in class. But
by the end of the term, each student is an expert on a particular
myth: one course requirement is to choose a story or body of stories
not covered in the class, present it to the class, and apply some
interpretative tools to it. Flick has heard Japanese, Scandinavian,
Chinese, Yoruba, and Native American narratives, among others.
The assignment is not just for the students' benefit. Flick says
he learns something new every time.  |
|
