After reading the Hebrew creation myth I recognized how the world was made from chaos and found organization. I also read this in Greek mythology “The World Begins”. I also interpreted chaos as creation allowing for organization to take place in the creation myth of Norse mythology. I found that these countries are many miles apart but hold a very distinct and common connection. I read Lemmings interpretation “Creation Myths of the World” and the module four lecture. The idea or theory that chaos brought forth creation which created organization made sense to me.
In all mythologies we have read there was nothingness and it created something or someone to be with. In the Greek myths “…Chaos was emptiness and Gaia the Earth sprang to life without parents.” In the Hebrew creation myth a god comes forward and creates a world from nothing. In the Norse it is a little different but very similar. There is a North region of ice and a South region of fire with Black Surt waiting for Ragnarok. The heat from the south warms the ice from the north and the middle country a frost giant is made. In all of these myths there is nothing (chaos) and a being comes from nowhere and some form of procreation allows for the generation of the world.
What I did notice in all of these creation myths is that plant life seemed to arrive first and then the Titans, nymphs and other beings come. I wonder why that is?
Hum 115: World Mythology 
I also identified with the chaos into order theme. What is interesting to me is the different ways that ancient civilizations imagined the beginning of the world. It takes a pretty wild imagination to come up with some of these stories! A cow licking a man out of an ice block, people popping out of armpits, women coming from rib bones etc.
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I wonder if plant life happened first because it was easier to create. Maybe it was an accident. And how did they know to eat the plant life and the animals? Maybe God commanded it. But the gods stories are fascinating and almost comical to me. Ouranos had his junk cut off and his blood fell on the place all because he stuffed Gaia to full she was in pain. The kids and his siblings got back at him to save Gaia. It’s almost like you want to believe the stories because anything could happen but then you think it’s impossible. I tend to believe it just because it’s fun and interesting.
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I think the plant – human progression might be a scenario to justify humans as the pinnacle of creation. When we look at Native American myths next week, we’ll see several that have nature created after humans as a way to teach them how to interact harmoniously with nature. I’m glad you picked up on that pattern.
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I found that chaos followed by organization was a common theme but it also makes sense in a lot of circumstances. Think of any war or unrest that typically ends well but only after chaos has ensued.
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I like your observation about plant life. What is interesting about this is that, scientifically speaking, plants and fungi did precede land animals. They changed the climate enough for life on land to be possible.
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It seems like maybe the plant life was created first because it was a prerequisite to human life being able to succeed. If humans came before plants, wouldn’t that have changed the way we survived, or would we have survived? Its like moving into a new house before it’s built. It doesn’t seem like that would work out too well.
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