The myth of the origin of people. Myths of the World

In ancient times, mankind developed civilizations. They were isolated nationalities, which were formed under the influence of certain factors and had their own culture, technique and were distinguished by a certain individuality. Due to the fact that they were not technically advanced as modern mankind, ancient people largely depended on the vagaries of nature. Then lightning, rain, earthquakes and other natural phenomena seemed a manifestation of the divine forces. These forces, as it seemed at the time, could determine the destiny and personal qualities of a person. So the very first mythology was born.

What is a myth?

According to the modern cultural definition, this is a narrative that reproduces the beliefs of ancient people about the structure of the world, about the higher forces, about man, the life of the great heroes and gods in verbal form. In a certain way, they reflected the then level of knowledge of man. These legends were recorded and transmitted from generation to generation, thanks to which we can today learn how our ancestors thought. That is, then mythology was a form of social consciousness, as well as one of the ways of understanding the natural and social reality that reflected the views of a person at a certain stage of development.

Myths about the origin of man and the world

Among the many issues that worried humanity in those early days, the problem of the emergence of peace and man in it was especially urgent. Due to their curiosity, people tried to explain and understand how they appeared, who created them. That's when a separate myth about the origin of people appears.

Due to the fact that mankind, as already mentioned, developed in large separate groups, the legends of each nationality were in some way unique, as they reflected not only the people's world outlook at that time, but also were the imprint of cultural and social development, and also carried information About the land where the people lived. In this sense, myths have some historical value, since they allow us to construct some logical judgments about this or that people. In addition, they were a bridge between the past and the future, the connection of generations, conveying the knowledge that was accumulated in the stories from the old race to the new, thus teaching it.

Anthropogonic myths

Regardless of civilization, all ancient people had their own ideas about how a person appeared in this world. They have some common features, but they also have significant differences, which are due to the peculiarities of life and development of a particular civilization. All the myths about the origin of man are called anthropogonic. This word comes from the Greek "anthropos", which means - a person. Such a notion as the myth of the origin of people exists absolutely among all ancient peoples. The difference is only in their perception of the world.

For comparison, we can consider separately the myths about the origin of man and the world of two great nationalities, which had a significant impact on the development of mankind in its time. These are the civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient China.

Chinese view of the creation of the world

The Chinese represented our Universe in the form of a huge egg, which was filled with a certain matter - Chaos. From this Chaos was born the pioneer of all mankind - Pangu. He with the help of his ax smashed the egg in which he was born. When he broke the egg, Chaos broke out and began to change. The sky (Yin) was formed - that associates with the light beginning, and the Earth (Yan) - the dark beginning. So in the beliefs of the Chinese the world was formed. After that, Pangu stuck his arms in the sky, and kicked into the ground and began to grow. It grew continuously until the sky separated from the earth and it became the same as we see it today. Pangu, when he grew up, broke up into many parts, which became the basis of our world. His body became mountains and plains, flesh - earth, breathing - air and wind, blood - water, and skin - vegetation.

Chinese Mythology

As the Chinese myth of the origin of man says, a world was formed that was inhabited by animals, fish and birds, but people still did not exist. The Chinese believed that the creator of mankind was the great female spirit - Nyuva. The ancient Chinese honored her as the organizer of the world, she was portrayed as a woman with a human body, the legs of a bird and the tail of a snake, which holds a lunar disk (Yin symbol) and a measuring square in her hand.

Nyuva began to mold out of clay human figures that came to life and turned into people. She worked a lot of time and realized that her strength was not enough to create people who could populate the whole earth. Then Nyuva took the rope and let it through the liquid clay, and then shook it. There, where the clumps of wet clay fell, people appeared. But still they were not as good as those that were hand-stitched. So in the myths of China, the existence of the nobility, which Nyuva blinded with her own hands, and the people of the lower classes, created with the help of a rope, was justified. The goddess gave her creations the opportunity to reproduce independently, and also introduced the concept of marriage, which in ancient China was observed very strictly. Therefore, we can also consider Nyuva patroness of the marriage.

This is the Chinese myth of the origin of man. As you can see, it reflects not only the traditional Chinese beliefs, but also some features and rules that guided the ancient Chinese people in their lives.

Greek mythology about the appearance of man

The Greek myth of the origin of man tells how the titan Prometheus created people from clay. But the first people were very defenseless and could not do anything. For this act the Greek gods became angry with Prometheus and planned to destroy the human race. However, Prometheus saved his children by stealing from Olympus fire and bringing it to a man in an empty cane stalk. For this Zeus imprisoned Prometheus in chains in the Caucasus, where the eagle had to peck his liver.

In general, in Greek mythology, any myth about the origin of people does not give concrete information about the emergence of mankind, more concentrating on subsequent events. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the Greeks considered the person insignificant against the background of the almighty gods, thus emphasizing their importance for the whole people. Indeed, virtually all Greek legends are directly or indirectly associated with the gods who direct heroes from the human race, such as Odysseus or Jason, and help them.

Features of mythology

What are the features of mythological thinking?

As can be seen above, myths and legends treat people's origins and describe them in completely different ways. It must be understood that the need for them arose at an early stage in the development of mankind. They arose from the need of man to explain the origin of man, nature, the device of the world. Of course, the way of explanation used by mythology is primitive enough, it differs significantly from the treatment of the world order that science supports. In myths everything is quite specific and apart, they do not have abstract concepts. Man, society and nature merge together. The main type of mythological thinking is figurative. Every person, hero or god has necessarily the following concept or phenomenon. This kind of thinking denies any logical reasoning based on faith, not knowledge. It can not generate questions that are not creative.

In addition, mythology also has specific literary techniques that allow one to emphasize the significance of certain events. These are hyperboles that exaggerate, for example, strength or other important characteristics of heroes (Pangu who could lift the sky), metaphors that attribute certain characteristics to things or beings that they actually do not possess.

Common features and influence on world culture

In general, it is possible to trace a certain pattern in how the myths of different peoples explain the origin of man. Practically in all variants there is a certain divine essence, which breathes life into a lifeless matter, creating and thus forming a person. This influence of ancient pagan beliefs can be traced in later religions, for example, in Christianity, where God creates man in his image and likeness. However, if it is not completely clear how Adam appeared, then Eve God creates from the rib, which only confirms this influence of ancient legends. This influence of mythology can be traced in almost any culture that existed later.

Ancient Turkic mythology about how a man appeared

Ancient Turkic myth about the origin of man as the ancestor of the human race, as well as the creator of the earth, calls the goddess Umai. She flew in the form of a white swan above the water, which always existed, and she searched the earth, but did not find it. She took the egg directly into the water, but the egg immediately drowned. Then the goddess decided to make a nest on the water, but the feathers from which she made it were fragile, and the waves broke the nest. The goddess held her breath and dived to the very bottom. She carried out a piece of land in her beak. Then the god Tengri saw her suffering and sent Umai three fishes from iron. She laid the ground on the back of one of the fish, and she began to grow until all of the earth's land was formed. Then the goddess has taken down an egg from which the whole human race, birds, animals, trees and everything else appeared.

What can be determined by reading this Turkic myth about the origin of man? There is a general similarity with the legends of Ancient Greece and China already known to us. A certain divine power creates people, namely from the egg, which is very similar to the Chinese legend about Pangu. Thus, it is clear that initially people associated creation of themselves by analogy with living beings that they could observe. There is also an incredible veneration of the mother's beginning, women as the continuer of life.

Myths about the origin of man for children

What can a child learn from these legends? What does he learn by reading the myths of peoples about the origin of man?

First of all, it will allow him to get acquainted with the culture and life of the people that existed in prehistoric times. Since the myth is characterized by a figurative type of thinking, the child will easily perceive it and be able to absorb the necessary information. For children, these are the same fairy tales, and, like fairy tales, they are filled with the same morality and information. When reading, their child will learn to develop the processes of his thinking, learn how to take advantage of reading and draw conclusions.

The myth of the origin of people will give the child the answer to an exciting question - where did I come from? Of course, the answer will be wrong, but children take everything for granted, and therefore it will satisfy the child's interest. Reading the above Greek myth about the origin of man, the child will also be able to understand why fire is so important for mankind and how it was discovered. This is useful in the subsequent education of the child in primary school.

Diversity and benefit for the child

Indeed, if you take examples of myths about the origin of man (and not only them) from Greek mythology, you can see that the colorfulness of the characters and their number are very large and interesting not only for young readers, but even for adults. However, you need to help the child with all this to understand, otherwise it will just get confused in the events, their causes. It is necessary to explain to the child why God loves or does not like this or that hero, why he helps him. Thus, the child will learn to build logical chains and compare the facts, making certain conclusions from them.

Therefore, it is worthwhile to teach the child to read myths from an early age. They will serve as wonderful fairy tales and help develop the skills of reading, logical and imaginative thinking, and the formation of thoughts.