In ancient times, humanity was developed by civilizations. These were separate nationalities, which were formed under the influence of certain factors and had their own culture, technology and were distinguished by a certain personality. Due to the fact that they were not technically developed like modern mankind, ancient people were largely dependent on the vagaries of nature. Then lightnings, rain, earthquakes and other natural phenomena seemed to be a manifestation of divine powers. These forces, as it seemed then, could determine the fate and personal qualities of a person. And 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 higher powers, about man, the biography of great heroes and gods in verbal form. In a way, they reflected the then level of human knowledge. These legends were recorded and handed down from generation to generation, thanks to which we can learn today how our ancestors thought. That is, then mythology was a form of social consciousness, as well as one of the ways to understand natural and social reality, which reflected the views of man at a certain stage of development.
Myths about the origin of man and the world
Among the many questions that worried humanity in those distant times, the problem of the appearance of the world and man in it was especially relevant. Because of their curiosity, people tried to explain and understand how they appeared, who created them. It is then that a separate myth about the origin of people appears.
Due to the fact that humanity, as has already been said, developed in large separate groups, the legends of each nationality were unique in some way, since they reflected not only the worldview of the people at that time, but they were also an imprint of cultural, social development, and also carried information about the land where the people lived. In this sense, myths have some historical value, as they allow you to build some logical judgments about this or that people. In addition, they were a bridge between the past and the future, the connection of generations, passing on the knowledge that had been accumulated in the stories from the old to the new kind, 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 that are due to the characteristics of life and development of a particular civilization. All myths about the origin of man are called anthropogonic. This word comes from the Greek "anthropos", which means - man. Such a concept as the myth of the origin of people exists absolutely in all ancient peoples. The only difference is their perception of the world.
For comparison, we can consider individual myths about the origin of man and the world of two great nationalities, which significantly influenced the development of mankind in its time. These are the civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient China.
Chinese Creation
The Chinese represented our Universe in the form of a huge egg, which was filled with a certain matter - Chaos. From this Chaos the first ancestor of all mankind was born - Pangu. With the help of his ax, he broke an egg in which he was born. When he broke the egg, Chaos broke out and began to change. The sky (Yin) was formed - which is associated with a bright beginning, and the Earth (Yang) is a dark beginning. So in the beliefs of the Chinese, a world was formed. After that, Pangu put his hands on the sky, and kicked the ground and began to grow. It grew continuously until the sky separated from the earth and became the way we see it today. Pangu, when he grew up, broke up into many parts, which became the foundation of our world. His body became mountains and plains, his flesh became earth, his breath became air and wind, his blood became water, and his skin became vegetation.
Chinese mythology
According to the Chinese myth of the origin of man, 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 humanity was the great female spirit - Nuiva. The ancient Chinese revered 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 moon disk (Yin symbol) and a measuring square in her hand.
Nuiva began to sculpt human figures from clay, which 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 passed it through the liquid clay, and then shook it. Where lumps of wet clay fell, people appeared. But still they were not as good as those that were molded by hand. Thus, in the myths of China, the existence of the nobility, which Nuiva blindfolded with their own hands, and the people of the lower classes, created with the help of the rope, was substantiated. The goddess gave her creations the opportunity to reproduce on her own, and also introduced the concept of marriage, which was strictly observed in ancient China. Therefore, you can also consider Nuiva the patroness of the marriage.
This is the Chinese myth of the origin of man. As you can see, it reflects not only traditional Chinese beliefs, but also some features and rules that guided the ancient Chinese in their lives.
Greek mythology about the appearance of man
The Greek myth of the origin of man narrates 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 were angry with Prometheus and decided to destroy the human race. However, Prometheus saved his children by stealing fire from Olympus and bringing it to a man in an empty stalk of reed. For this, Zeus imprisoned Prometheus in fetters in the Caucasus, where the eagle was supposed to peck his liver.
In general, in Greek mythology, any myth about the origin of people does not provide specific information about the appearance of mankind, focusing more on subsequent events. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the Greeks considered man insignificant against the backdrop of omnipotent gods, thus emphasizing their significance for the whole people. Indeed, almost all Greek legends are directly or indirectly connected with the gods who direct and help heroes from the human race, such as Odysseus or Jason.
Features of mythology
What features does mythological thinking have?
As you can see above, the origin of man is interpreted and described by myths and legends in completely different ways. You need to understand that the need for them arose at an early stage of human development. They arose from the human need to explain the origin of man, nature, the structure of the world. Of course, the method of explanation used by mythology is quite primitive, it differs significantly from the interpretation of the world order that science supports. In myths, everything is quite concrete and separate, they have no abstract concepts. Man, society and nature merge together. The main type of mythological thinking is figurative. Each person, hero or god necessarily has the following concept or phenomenon. This kind of thinking denies any logical reasoning based on faith, not knowledge. It is not able to generate questions that are not creative.
In addition, mythology also has specific literary devices that emphasize the significance of certain events. These are hyperbolas that exaggerate, for example, strength or other important characteristics of heroes (Pangu, who could raise the sky), metaphors that attribute certain characteristics to things or creatures that do not actually possess them.
Common features and impact on world culture
In general, one can trace some regularity in exactly how the myths of different peoples explain the origin of man. In almost all cases, there is a certain divine essence that breathes life into lifeless matter, creating and shaping a person in this way. This influence of ancient pagan beliefs can be traced in later religions, for example, in Christianity, where God creates man in his own image and likeness. However, if it is not entirely clear how Adam appeared, then God creates Eve 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
The ancient Turkic myth of the origin of man as the progenitor 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 over the water, which always existed, and looked for land, but did not find it. She laid the egg directly in 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 ducked to the bottom. She brought out a piece of land in her beak. Then the god Tengri saw her suffering and sent Umai three fish of iron. She laid the earth on the back of one of the fish, and it began to grow until all the earth's land was formed. After which the goddess laid 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? One can see a general resemblance to the legends of ancient Greece and China already known to us. A certain divine power creates people, namely from an egg, which is very similar to the Chinese legend about Pangu. Thus, it is clear that initially people associated the creation of themselves by analogy with living beings, which they could observe. There is also an incredible reverence for the maternal principle, women as lifespans.
Myths about the origin of man for children
What can a child learn from these legends? What new does he learn by reading the myths of peoples about the origin of man?
First of all, this will allow him to get acquainted with the culture and life of the people that existed in prehistoric times. Since a figurative type of thinking is characteristic of a myth, a child will quite easily perceive it and will be able to absorb the necessary information. For children, these are the same 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 their thinking, learn to benefit from reading and draw conclusions.
The myth of the origin of people will give the child an answer to the exciting question - where did I come from? Of course, the answer will be wrong, but the children take everything on faith, and therefore it will satisfy the interest of the child. By reading the Greek myth above about the origin of man, the child will also be able to understand why fire is so important to humanity and how it was opened. This is useful in the subsequent education of the child in primary school.
Variety and benefits for the child
Indeed, if we take examples of myths about the origin of man (and not only them) from Greek mythology, we 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 deal with all this, otherwise he will simply get confused in the events, their causes. It is necessary to explain to the child why God loves or does not love this or that hero, why he helps him. Thus, the child will learn to build logical chains and compare the facts, drawing certain conclusions from them.
Therefore, it is worthwhile to teach a child to read myths from an early age. They will serve as wonderful fairy tales and help to develop reading skills, logical and figurative thinking, and the formation of thoughts.