Samantha Lee Lemmerman
Mr. Wade King
Egyptian versus Grecian Creation Stories
There are not very many differences between the creation stories of the Grecians and the Egyptians. Both go in the same route one starting with nothing one starting with something. Once one god is created they both end up in the same ending point, with humans, plants, and animals.
When the Earth was created, well let's start that over. The Grecians believed that there was nothing before the bird Nyx, the one with the black wings, hatched a golden egg that held inside it Eros, the god of love. It is said that the egg then split in half, the upper part became air, the lower part Earth. The god of love named the two halves Uranus, the upper half, and Gaia, the lower portion. His next step was to make them fall in love, thus pulling them together into a single planet. In the Egyptian creation story, there was water. The water was called Nu or Nun to some. Out of Nu came Ra the god of the sun. Giving light to the universe, Ra created the air god Shu and the goddess of moisture Tefnut, Shu's wife.
Both the Egyptian and Grecian people had the same idea of a new generation after the prior generations had been given enough time. Shu and Tefnut gave birth to Nut, the sky goddess, and Geb, the earth god. It is said that the creator, Ra, rests at this point and lets his younger generations take control. In the Grecian story Uranus and Gaia multiplied and their multiplications multiplied.
In both stories, this is where things get a little complicated. Gaia and Uranus's children begin to worry about their children's power over them. Kronus fears his children may over throw him. To stop this he swallows his infant children before they become too strong to defeat him. This works well until Rhea, his spouse, steals away their youngest child, Zeus, and gives Kronus a rock in baby's clothes. She teaches Zeus a way to defeat his father and he does. Kronus spews out his swallowed children and he is banished to the lower parts of Taurtus. Back in Egypt, Geb and Nut marry against the wishes of Ra. He orders their father to separate them. As Nut is with child, Ra declares she shall not bare her child any month of any year. However Toth, the god of learning, gambles with the moon to add five extra days to the calendar, ending up with three hundred sixty-five days on the calendar. In those five days Nut gives birth to: Osiris, Horus the Elder, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys.
Both stories have told us how planet earth arrived, the first beings, but what about the rest of the shebang? In Greece, Zeus and his siblings populated Gaia with humans and Uranus with stars. Earth still lacked plants and humans. This is how Prometheus and Epimetheus came into being. Zeus ordered them to go to Earth and make animals. And to each animal a gift. Prometheus set to work on the humans in the image of the gods and goddesses while Epimetheus was set to work on the animals. In Egyptian culture the story continues on the fifth, sixth, and seventh days of creation Khnum modeled animals, plants, and people on his potter's wheel. It is said he was sent to work continuously creating humans and plants and animals. In the Esna Temple the walls hold a detailed description of how Khnum created humans. It is said that he ordered the bloodstream to cover the bones. And the skin to cover the blood streams.
In Grecian and Egyptian creation stories there are many differences and similarities. Both begin different, but end in a about the same place with humans and plants and life in abundance.