What parts of the Greek creation story are like the Jewish story of creation?

Answer 1

A:

There are very few similarities between the Greek creation stories and either of the creation stories in Genesis. There may be some more similarities to the fragments of a creation story in the Psalms and the Book of Job, but this last one more closely resembles Mesopotomian creation stories.

Just as Judaism actually has more than one creation myth, so does the ancient Greek religion. Although not the primary Greek creation story, the Pelasgian creation myth bears some resemblance to the first creation myth in Genesis 1:1-2:4a, in which there was a primal chaos (Genesis 1:2) and a wind (sometimes translated as 'Spirit' as this is the same word in Hebrew) moved across the face of the waters, then God divided the waters of the sky from the waters below. This Greek myth says that in the beginning, Euynome, the Goddess of All Things, rose naked from Chaos, but found nothing substantial for her feet to rest upon and therefore divided the seas from the sky, dancing lonely upon its waves. She danced towards the south, and the wind set in motion behind her seemed something new and apart with which to begin a work of creation.

There are also several Greek flood myths. Deucalion's Flood has a lot in common with Noah's Flood. This Flood was caused by Zeus' anger against the impious sons of Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus. Zeus in disgust let loose a great flood on the earth, meaning to wipe out the whole race of man; but Deucalion, King of Pythia, warned by his father Prometheus the Titan, built an ark, victualled it, and went aboard with his wife Pyrrha. Then the South Wind blew, the rain fell, and the rivers roared down to the sea which, rising with astonishing speed, washed away every city of the coast and plain, until the entire world was flooded, but a few mountain peaks, and all mortal creatures seemed to have been 1ost, except Deucalion and Pyrrha. The ark floated about for nine days until the waters subsided, and it came to rest on Mount Parnassus.

Source: Greek Myths, by Robert Graves