Myths

the maori creation myth

How did Maori people explain the following:

• the appearance of the sky and the earth
• the appearance of daylight
• the appearance of stars
• the birth of oceans and rivers
• the appearance of natural disasters
• the birth of rain

1. Do you know any similar myths about creation?
2. What other creation myths do you know?
3. What kind of story do you think a myth is?
4. What do you think are the differences between a myth, a folktale and a fairytale?
5. Does the country you live in have special myths of its own?

Agree or disagree?

1. A myth is a story that is not factual.
2. A myth is a story about princes, princesses and witches.
3. A myth is an adventure story about a real person.
4. A myth may explain how things began.
5. Many groups of people have a myth about a flood.
6. Myths are stories about ordinary people.
7. Most myth heroes are male.
8. Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster are myths.

Read the myths and classify them:

🌞

The Cosmic Egg 🥚

"In the beginning there was a huge egg that held all the opposites — hot and cold, light and dark, wet and dry. Also inside was Phan Ku, a giant who was covered in hair. He had horns on his head and tusks sprang from his mouth.

Phan Ku broke out of the egg and separated the opposites through all the world. Every day he carved out the mountains and oceans with his chisel and mallet. And every day, for 18,000 years he grew three metres taller.

When Phan Ku died his skull became the sky, his breath, the wind, his flesh, soil, and his blood, rivers. The fleas in his hair became human beings."

🌞

The Tree of Life 🌴

"In the beginning there was only water. Life came from the water when a mighty tree emerged and grew up to the sky. But there was a worm inside the tree and it slowly devoured the tree from the inside out. The wood dust fell into the water and gradually formed into the world."

🌞

The Aztec Ark 🛥

"When the people on Earth became wicked, the god of the rain, Tlaloc, became angry and made it rain heavily. But Tlaloc saw that there were two good people, named Tata and Nena. So he warned Tata and Nena that a great flood was on the way. He told them to make an ark by hollowing out a huge tree trunk. The rain got heavier and Tata and Nena worked quickly to make a hollow log. Just as the flood hit, they climbed inside and were swept away. Eventually the rain stopped and the land appeared again. The Aztec ark had saved Tata and Nena."

🌞

The Flying Pygmy 🔥

"At the beginning of time, God had fire and the pygmy people had none. God's mother sat by the fire all day while God went out and played in the jungle. One of the clever pygmies decided to steal fire from God. He made himself a pair of wings with bird's feathers, flew to God's house and picked up

fire. But God's mother woke up and cried out,'Thief! Bring back fire or I'll freeze to death.'

God rushed home and chased the flying pygmy but couldn't catch him. The pygmy people used fire to keep warm and cook their food. When God returned home he found his mother dead. Since then the pygmies have also died."

🌞

"In the beginning, honey was found in huge pots on the ground, and people ate as much as they liked. The gods looked down and were greatly displeased. “Those humans are becoming fat and lazy,” they said. The gods commanded the bees to build honey comb high in the tall jungle trees.

Now people had to work hard to climb up and get the honey." 🍯🐝

🌞

"Long, long ago, elephants did not have trunks. One day a terrible forest fire swept over the land. To escape the smoke, the honey bees hid inside the elephants’ mouths. The elephants trumpeted angrily, but the bees would not come out. The elephants blew so hard, their mouths stretched out into trunks. In desperation, the elephants breathed in the stinging smoke and the bees finally buzzed off. Since then, bees have always built honeycomb in hollow trees, because it reminds them of elephant trunks."

🌞

"Bee was a kindly creature. One night, Mantis needed to cross a great, flooded river to reach his family, and asked Bee for help. Bee offered to carry Mantis on her back. She flew over the raging waters but was beaten down by a strong wind. Bee was dangerously close to the waves when she saw a magnificent flower floating on the water. Bee dropped Mantis onto the flower, fell beside her, and died of exhaustion. When the sun rose, curled up on the flower was the first human being – bee’s sacrifice."

Which of these myths are about:

• creation
• punishment by gods
• fire
• nature

How is scientific explanation different from mythic one?

Look at some scientific facts about bees for example:

Fact 1: Honey bees make their nests high up in hollow trees, and high on cliff faces.

Fact 2: Smoke is used to control bees; and elephants are scared of bees.

Fact 3: Honey hunters in Australia glued a small feather to a bee and followed it to the hive.

Fact 4: Honey bees live for about 40 days and then they die of exhaustion after so much flying.

'Part of a myth is true.' Do you agree?

Which of these subjects do you find most interesting to create a myth about?

• Where did the Mount Everest come from?
• Where did the Nile River come from?
• What made the North and/or South Pole(s)?
• Why is Earth the third planet from the sun?
• Why is it dark at night?
• What is in the middle of the earth?

Look at the pictures. Do you know who of them is: Hydra, Cyclops, Harpies, Gorgon, Scylla?
What myths are they from?