Human creation in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Genesis
When was the universe created? How was life created on earth? Who was the creator of all things and if it was only one creator then how could he manage to create life in a perfectly order? These are some of the main question that human has tried to answer for centuries maybe since the begging of life in earth. Many stories, some just being told and some written down have tried to come up with a reasonable explanation but only two of them have survived the test of criticism and most of all …time. Most famous one are The Biblical account in Genesis, written around 1500 B.C and the story of creation of human and universe in Metamorphoses, written by Ovid’s’ between 8 and 17 A.D. Many similarities and also many differences can be found between them while holding their own esteem in the academic world.
Even though the books are well respected in the literary world, when we try to put them side by side, many significant differences can be found.
“God, a spirit hovering over an empty, watery void, creates the world by speaking into the darkness and calling into being light, sky, land, vegetation, and living creatures over the course of six days. Each day, he pauses to pronounce his works “good” (1:4).” This is a paragraph from Genesis that illustrate the way how God created the universe.
Whereas the following paragraph is the part where Ovid’s explains how the universe was created.
“A creator separated earth from heaven, sea from land, and lighter air from heavier air. He then made beings to inhabit these new spaces: Gods and stars filled the heavens, fish the seas, beasts the land, and birds the air. Man was created to rule the world. Four ages followed.”
So after comparing these paragraphs we can say that if the Bibles’ purpose is to points out, with “facts”, that responsible for the existence of the world today is the God of Hebrews, Ovid’s purpose is different. He is trying to explain the...