CLT 3378 04 Ancient Mythology Final Exam Study Guide Rig Veda Vedic Rig Veda Oldest literary work of India Composed sometime between 1700 1100 BCE Written in early Sanskrit Originally oral for many centuries but then written down Rig praise veda knowledge 1028 hymns to gods spread throughout 10 books Earliest of the four Vedas Later became a sacred text for Hindus compare to Israelite scriptures being sacred to both Jews and Christians still holy to modern peoples The hymns in the Rig Veda are enigmatic confusing in nature They are intended to make the reader think and are full of internal contradictions Indo European language Dialect in which the Rig Veda is written in Composers of the Rig Veda People that lived in modern day India Sanskrit Vedic People Agni Fire Binatural Agni is both a thing and a god Agni represents various representations of fire o Natural he is fire itself as well as the heat present in lightning and the sun o Domestic hearth he represents the fire at the center of the home o Ritual he is the fire used in sacrifices o o Funereal he is the fire that is used to cremate the dead Poetry he serves as the spark the light the inspiration for poets Soma Deified sacred drink Binatural Soma is both a thing and a god Hallucinogenic drink The ingredients to make Soma came from an unknown plant that grows high in the mountains Drank by both gods and people that are close to gods i e priests Gives poets vision to produce better poetry Reinforces the immortality of the gods and gives them strength Mind altering effects including the experience of fear and exultation Indra King of the gods compare to Zeus Marduk God of thunder and war therefore he is a storm god Connected to both rain and fertility Avid drinker of soma mother s womb kills father Vritra Dragon serpent Hold back waters no freshwater in the world With the help of thunderbolts Indra is able to kill Vritra From Vritra s body rivers are created Tiamat Considered to be a poet all by himself as well as a model for all poets Indra is kept in his mother s womb to protect him from his father Indra bursts out the side of his Likely the father of Indra unclear in the Rig Veda but assumed to be Vritra based on later hymns Sea monster that represents salt water in the Enuma Elish Killed by Marduk the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow out of her eyes Marduk vs Tiamat and Indra vs Vritra both represent a battle between a storm god and a dragon or serpent Sarama Indra s dog Told by Indra to seek out stolen cattle Sarama travels beyond the river Rasa to reach the Panis resists the bribes of the Panis Panis Demons that live beyond the river Rasa Steal the cattle of Angirases a family of priests Try unsuccessfully to bribe Sarama into joining their group River Rasa The Panis live beyond this river The river Rasa encircles heaven earth the worlds of both the gods and the humans Can be compared to the Greek Okeanos body of water that surrounds Earth Golden Embryo Unknown creator god Referred to as Hiranyagarbha Arises from primordial waters creates the waters at the same time o Internal contradiction Is said to separate the earth and sky before creating the earth and sky Another name for the Golden Embryo however more of a title than a name o Another internal contradiction Hiranyagarbha Gold hirany Womb seed embryo egg garbha Prajapati Unknown creator god is given this name Prajapati is a known Vedic creator god This is seen as a possible later addition to the Rig Veda whomever wrote this in likely wanted to put a face to the unknown creator god Purusha Cosmic giant primeval man Dismembered by creator god Purusha s body is used to create the universe The earth sky gods humans animals are formed out of the body of Purusha First Sacrifice o o Purusha as an object of sacrifice he is killed Purusha is also the recipient of his own sacrifice o Another internal contradiction Aditi Female creative force Gives birth to earth which then bears holds up the sky Bears 8 gods but rejects Martanda Thought to be the mother of Indra but unclear Daksha Male creative force Aditi gives birth to Daksha while Daksha gives birth to Aditi o Internal Contradiction Martanda The sun Found in water yet also born from Aditi o Internal contradiction moon at sunset Aditi rejects Martanda Yama Martanda is seen as defective in the eyes of Aditi the sun dies every night replaced with the King of the dead First mortal to reach death realm in heaven however he is not the first person to die Serves a path maker for humans helping them find their way to the death realm Has a four eyed dog that guards the path to the death realm helps humans pass rather than keep After a person dies their body is cremated a fire burns for 3 days soma is offered to the mourners this ceremony is supposed to help the deceased soul pass successfully into the death Chinese Creation and Flood Chinese Culture that wrote these creation flood myths Consists of a series of dynasties chronological periods Sources influenced by philosophical views i e Confucianism Taoism them out Three Days of Soma realm Chinese The Chinese myths develop here but we only have later retellings of the originals Shang or Yin Dynasty 1766 1123 BCE Earliest historical period Chou Dynasty 1123 221 BCE Consists of various other subdynasties o Western Chou o Eastern Chou o Spring and Autumn Era o Warring States Era A majority of our Chinese myths come from this period o The Questions of Heaven comes from the Warring States period Han Dynasty 206 BCE 220 CE Ancient China reaches the height of its cultural power during this time Questions of Heaven Part of the larger work Ch u Tz u 186 poetic verses 4th century BCE Chou Dynasty Warring States Era to be specific Earliest comprehensive collection of Chinese myths Poses questions about creation Questions of Heaven is within this work Ch u Tz u Songs of Ch u Ch u Yuan Author of Ch u Tz u First named Chinese poet Ch u Hun Tun State in Chou Dynasty Referred to as 3 different things o Empty space dark wet o o Images no forms dark misty Shapeless chaos Can be compared to the Greek Homer we are not sure if Ch u Yuan actually existed Supposed high ranking official in Ch u court First element in creation of comos first thing that exists at the beginning of creation Originally meant empty space but later thought of as confusion disorder Can be thought of as a primordial soup dumplings of scattered things dumplings not yet put together to form a whole Yin Yang Heavy Feminine Becomes
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