Simularity and Differences to Metamorphoses and Genesis

Similarities and Differences in Creation Myths Many early pieces of writing, especially myths of different cultures, seem to concentrate on similar themes even though they come from different regions and societies. Early creation myths demonstrate this even more intensely, especially Genesis, the Christian creation myth and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a representation of the Roman creation myths, which were derived from the Greek myths. The similarities and differences between these two pieces of writing are intriguing.

In both of these works the themes are often very close or related, and the small differences that occur illustrate the difference in situation of these two peoples. For instance, the theme of the golden age is prevalent in both, but the end of the golden age differs: in the Metamorphoses, the head god Jove was responsible for the end, but in Genesis it is mankind’s mistake that ends their happiness. Perhaps this difference came about because of the difference in climates. Another common theme is that of a great flood, which in both myths was sent by the head god to destroy his creation. The bringing of sorrow by women is common in both pieces. In Ovid’s metamorphoses, Jove sends Pandora down to earth so she could release unhappiness into the world, which she succeeds in doing. In Genesis it is Eve who brings the forbidden fruit to Adam, who coincidently takes a bite, which brings about the end of his happiness. However in both stories it is obvious that the men are to blame for their sorrow because it was their choices that released sadness into the world - Adam knew that God would be angered if he ate the fruit, but did it anyways. The men in the Metamorphises were warned that Pandora was trouble, but accepted her anyway. If men had not done this in both cases, they would not have lost the golden age. 

The strong similarities are interesting because they show some uniformity of culture between the two people, who lived thousands of miles away and...