Olivia Strittmatter - Myth and Ecology

 Blog Post 3 - Outside Readings 2

Week 3

        This blog is going to be about the readings/research that I did in order to write my explanatory essay on a creation myth and how it connects to the surrounding ecology. For my paper I wrote about the creation myth from the pagan Greek pantheon. I’m going to quickly summarize the myth, but there are much longer, more in depth versions on the internet. I added a link to a good short reading on the myth at the bottom on this blog.

The myth starts by talking about how in the beginning there was nothing but Chaos. From Chaos came Gaia, Tartarus, and Eros. Then Chaos created Erebus and Nyx. From Nyx came Aether and Hemera, and then thirteen other children. Gaia created three Cyclopes, three Hundred-Handed Hecatoncheires, and the twelve Titans. From the Titans came the Gods.

I didn’t translate the names of the deities in this blog, but they are available online if you are interested. The choices in the language of their names reflects their strong connection to the environment that surrounded the Greeks. Since this myth is a creation myth that starts at the beginning of time, there isn’t the aspects of the environment like rivers and mountains, but there is the fundamental aspects of the environment and human existence.

The first aspect that connects to the environment is Gaia, she represents the Earth and everything that is good about it. There is also Uranus, who represents the sky, and with him there’s Nyx and Hemera who represent night and day because the Earth and the environment need periods of both light and dark in order for the ecosystems to function. 

I felt that connecting Nyx, the goddess of night, with her children, who all represent unpleasant aspects of human existence is a major telling in that the Greeks didn’t feel entirely safe at night. They were weary of the unknown and the fear that comes with the darkness, and they associated negative feelings with it such as doom, death, pain, strife, revenge, and others.


https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/The_Creation/the_creation.html


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forest Bathing

  Homosapians had evolved in nature but had subsequently simultaneously diverged away from nature as modernization took place. Although the effects of evolution and urbanization have driven the species from its origin, natural spaces are still where humans are most comfortable. It has been scientifically proven that when humans spend time in nature, the brain behaves differently. It affects emotions and thoughts, which has a direct impact on immunity and healing powers. These inherent healing qualities natural systems provide are directly correlated to our neurological development and human biological ties to primates due to evolution. In the past several decades there have been many scientific studies that demonstrate the mechanisms behind the healing effects of nature immersion. Countries such as South Korea and Japan have funded extensive research for comprehending the beneficial contributions forest environments have on human mental, spiritual, and physical health. In order ...
Read more

Sabrina Ho--cities

     Many chapters in The Ecology of Eden  focused on this interplay between Mountain and Tower, and finding Arcadia in the middle of it all. A common theme in our class discussed the multiple ways we attempt to imitate true nature and wilderness in our cities' parks and backyards, but these attempts can never truly capture the boundless wilderness we may be seeking. A large part of our discussion is if it were ever possible to recreate true nature in city bounds, and--most interestingly--if that is the true intention for these parks and gardens.      Spending most of my life close to a fairly large city, as well as spending many school breaks visiting even larger cities, I found this to be really interesting. Especially in our capitalist society, it is not uncommon for someone to equate the increase in industrialization and urbanization of our land as an indication of progress and improved economy. But when city-roamers decide to take a break from the...
Read more

Danielle Hawkins- Mnt. of Spices

 After reading Hinds Feet, I picked up the sequel to read. The second book is also an allegory in that Much-Afraid who becomes Grace and Glory sees the gloom and disappear that her family is stuck in. She takes refuge with the shepherd and gets his help to show her family the fruit of the spirit which tenders their hearts to the shepherds care and they come into his service.  Before each chapter the shepherd takes Grace and Glory to 8 different mountains where the landscape was different and so beautiful on each one. As a reminder of this book and the impact it made on me, I recently got a tattoo of a lily to help remind me of the important things I learned. This book was interesting in how it had a more personal account with each individual character. It showed how each fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, forgiveness, self-control, gentleness, faithfulness, and goodness plays out and how it impacts each individual. This book would fit beautifully within the realm...
Read more