Testing the Waters of the Historically Popular Deluge Myths
“The wolf swims among the sheep,
the tawny lion and the tiger both
are carried helplessly upon the waves...
Now unrestrained, the sea conceals the hills,
and strange new waves beat at the mountaintops;
the greater part are drowned beneath the waves,
while those spared drowning perish of starvation.”
—Ovid, Metamorphoses (Book 1, lines 420-430)
Introduction:
With a massive fire consuming much of Australia, murder hornets wreaking havoc, and a global pandemic caused by an infected bat, it’s only natural to question what new disaster Mother Nature might throw our way. In recent politics, climate change and its many causes have come into the spotlight—some of which being more intense storms and the rising sea level. Assuming that the crazy ride of 2020 has more in store for the human race, a perfect example of, “what else could go massively wrong?”, can be found in the Greco-Roman myth of “The Great Flood”.
Recorded in 8 A.D. by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, the annihilation of the human race and the animal kingdom is brought on by a god’s vengeful flood. According to this myth, the king of the gods, Jupiter, visits mankind and is appalled with the immorality and disgrace that he is met with—one human, Lycaon, even tried to trick him into eating human flesh. He calls the council of gods and decides to hit the “reset” button on Earth by creating an immense, all-consuming flood. Two humans, a husband and wife who go by the names Deucalion and Pyrrha, are warned of the impending flood and build a boat; Jove sees them amid the chaos, and they are deemed pious and devoted enough to the gods to be granted salvation—these two humans then go on to repopulate the Earth (Torrent and the Temptest Flood).
This particular myth falls into the extensive folklore category of “great flood myths” or “deluge myths”, and similar cases can be traced through multiple cultures throughout history. The purpose of this blog is to examine how this specific myth we chose from the Metamorphoses has been translated and adapted throughout time and other cultures. This project was created for our ENGL 211 class with the brief requirements being to choose a Greco-Roman myth from Vergil’s Aeneid or Ovid’s Metamorphoses, gather at least 10 examples of adaptations, and analyze how the myth has changed throughout time and across cultures.
While the earliest recorded representation of the deluge myth is easy to track down (seeing as it is quite literally written in stone), the historical context of oral storytelling can be much harder to pinpoint. With each retelling of a myth, the speaker essentially can rewrite or edit out parts of the story. Colonization and the western ideals impacted cultures and their storytelling across the world, especially indigenous tribes who relied on this method. Many of their stories were not translated and recorded until the 1900s or the Eurocentric era. Because of this, we have chosen to highlight the lesser-known, non-western cultural representations of the deluge myths through Australian, African, and Native American tribes. We will then transition into the Abrahamic deluge myth beliefs. Because this myth is so extensive, we will be focusing on the causation of the flood as well as the aftermath.
The Deluge Myth in Indigenous Cultures
The earliest known deluge myths date back 5,000 years to the Mesopotamian era. There are several stories recorded in this time period that detail a mythological flood brought about by the gods to bring an end to the human race. Almost all of these include a religiously devout couple or human who is instructed by the gods to build an ark to escape the flood. The earliest known recorded myth comes from this era and is known as “The Epic of Gilgamesh”. This story takes place in Ancient Sumeria and was scripted onto 12 clay tablets (The Epic of Gilgamesh). In one of these tablets, the king Gilgamesh searches for the sage Utnapishtim to discover the secret to immortality. Utnapishtim and his wife were deified by the gods after they preserved humanity by loading their relatives onto a large boat that they were instructed to craft and fill with every animal and every grain on earth. He and his wife find themselves back on land when their boat runs aground on a mountain top. These tablets do not cite a specific grievance for the cause of destruction, but much like the Greco-Roman myth, the gods were angry and dissatisfied with the human race. (Utnapishtim)
Australia
Australia was settled in 40-60,000 BCE and native cultures are separated into many regions by current-day scholars. The myths we’ll be focusing on are in the three major sections—the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Northwest. Because these myths were traditionally passed down orally, there are many interpretations or variations even in these three major regions. The influence of slavery and western culture also played a huge role in the dispersant and loss of these myths. Dr. Michael Witzel is a professor from Harvard University who studied and translated several deluge mythologies from Africa and Australia. He found that outside factors of western colonization, as well as the migratory patterns of some indigenous people, greatly impacted the specificity of individual myths, so he decided to group them by commonalities or mythemes.
In the Southeast, a god known as a “Deus Otiosus”, or creator god, brings about the flood as retribution for the evil deeds of humans when they emerged from the ocean and one man emerged from a frog. The animal population was slowly being selected to be transformed into their “second” forms, (humans), but the world was vastly overpopulated by animal clans. This mythological flood was brought about by a rain spell. This obviously really strays from the original myth as animals play a more prominent role in this collection and their transition into humans lies more with beliefs of evolution.
In the Northeast, there are multiple major myths that detail floods, all in retribution or due to a mistake made by the humans, but the floods themselves come in many different forms. The human population in these stories is at least cut in half, but many are saved by a canoe reaching the top of a mountain or a boat that carries a select few. This collection is very similar to Delecuian and Pyrrha as they were chosen as the survivors and are moored on the side of a mountain once the flood water settles.
In the Northwest, a new variation occurs: the flood is now caused by bad interactions with “The Rainbow Serpent”. In some stories, the humans are drowned by the tears of the snake, in others, they drown in the serpent’s urine. In many cases, the serpent ends up eating some humans as well, which may be a metaphor for a flash flood from a river. This set does not really correlate with the original story, except for the utter annihilation of humanity.
On the whole, Australia certainly varies in the delivering of the flood, but still holds similarities in the salvation of the humans and the universal motif of human mistakes and gods’ wrath. (Pan-Gaean Flood Myths)
Africa:
Much like Australia, Africa is full of diverse influences and variations. Africa faced several influences on its culture because of western culture and the stealing of its people to be forced into slavery. Dr. Witzel’s paper also groups these tribes into regions with mythemes that share commonalities due to the fact that the original story has been separated and altered so extensively. The main regions that the mythemes are from is sub-Saharan Africa, the Sahel belt, and the northern East.
The sub-Saharan is essentially from West Africa to the Congo, and Southern Africa. In this region, the flood is mainly seen as revenge on humans for their misdeeds or evil intentions. Some of the floods emerge from spells cast, others from open sores. One instance even recounted it stemming from a fight between the sun and the moon. No specific means of human salvation are depicted here, but there is one instance of regeneration. Gods’ wrath and retaliation still hold a common theme in this region like it did in the original story.
In West Africa or the Sahel belt, there are many instances of the flood coming from a calabash—a bottle gourd that was and still is utilized as a bottle, tobacco pipe, and many other utensils. Almost all of the myths are a form of punishment or retribution, and again it is not abundantly clear how the human race survives.
In the Eastern belt, or what is known as the land stretching between Kenya to South Africa, there are more variations in these mythological floods. One myth comes from yet another house utensil, a pot left on top of a house to collect rainwater. Another myth says that the flood was brought about by a spirit on a mountain. One myth that shows some similarities with the Greco-Roman myth details the flood coming from rain and is a god’s retribution for murder—the humans end up being saved on a boat.
While the African folklore does not provide specific means of human survival, it does show some similarities with the Australian and Greco-Roman cultures in how the flood was delivered and the vengeful retribution of angry deities or spirits. (Pan-Gaean Flood Myths)
Interestingly, through Dr. Witzel’s research in comparing the mythemes found in Australia and Africa, he found that there is a simplified scheme that dates back before any Christian influence spread to its regions. This would mean that if the original telling story of the story were able to be properly recorded and dated, it could potentially be placed further back than the Abrahamic belief system that lies in Christianity and Islam.
Native American:
Like most other cultures Native Americans had their own versions of the flood myth. A lot of these stories have been passed down from generation to generation, so the stories may have changed over the years. There are many versions of the stories in each tribe about the great flood. But only 3 tribes stories will be discussed, the Ojibwe, Lakota, and the Hopi.
The Ojibwe and the Lakota tribes have very similar stories on how the great flood was enacted. Both mention the Creator and how he was upset with the state of the world. The people were disrespectful, evil, and did not know how to act like a human. Since the creator was so displeased with how the creatures were they decided to create a flood to purify the Earth. The main difference between these two stories is how the people were saved. In the Ojibwe story, Waynaboozhoo and the Great Flood, it mentions how the surviving man Waynaboozhoo made rafts out of sticks for him and all of the surviving animals. The only surviving creature in the Lakota legend was Kangi the crow. (Ojibwe Flood Legend) (Lakota Flood Legend pg. 496-499)
The Hopi tribe story is similar to the Ojibwe and Lakota but there is a slight difference. The main cause for the flood is that the humans did not learn the first two times the creator, Sotuknang destroyed the Earth. He decided to destroy it for the third time. He gathered the people that were not corrupted and led them to the Spider Woman that cut reeds so that the humans could float. Then he wiped out the rest of the people. (Hopi Flood Legend)
There is not that much difference between Ovid’s Metamorphoses and these Native American myths. We do not know where either of them derived their sources from. We are able at least to figure out some of Ovid's writing due to what we know about the Roman Empire at that time. But we have a bigger struggle with the Native Americans. Because of the wiping out of Native cultures, a lot of stories have been lost. A lot of Natives were wiped out when the settlers set foot on their soil. Then over hundreds of years, they faced dozens of horrors causing some to lose their way of life. We can only think where these stories have come from due to what other people have heard from their ancestors. The Metamorphoses and these Native myths have something in common, their source material is unknown but we are able to pinpoint at least when they came into play through other histories.
Abrahamic Religions - Noah's Ark
Christianity and Judaism
Throughout the history of humanity, the most popular and well-known flood myth in western culture has been Noah’s Ark. In the Old Testament book of Genesis, Christianity and Judaism both use the same story. As one of the oldest pieces of writing in the known world, Genesis begins by telling of God’s creation of the Earth and the first humans. But after Adam and Eve release evil into the world, humanity becomes more and more corrupt.
According to Genesis, God became extremely disappointed and regretful of his creations and decided to start over.
“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord”. (Genesis 6:5-8). Genesis6
Noah and his family take the place of Deucalion and Pyrrha from Metamorphoses and are tasked with saving a male and female of each species on earth. According to Genesis, building the ark took Noah 150 years, and he was 600 years old when the project was completed. Even more impressive were the dimensions of the ark that this one man and his family created: “The ark was to be 450 ft. (137 m) long, 75 ft. (23 m) wide and 45 ft. (14 m) high. It was to have three decks, be divided into rooms and have a door in the side.” (“Noah’s Ark”). ArkFacts
Noah’s Ark has some very interesting parallels and differences to flood myth in Metamorphoses. Noah and his family are the equivalent to Deucalion and Pyrrha. They were similarly chosen by a divine presence to be the only survivors or the flood due to their piety. There is also a chance that Ovid knew the story of Noah’s Ark when he wrote his magnum opus. Genesis was written contemporarily with Homer in sometime around the 5th or 6th century BC, while Metamorphoses was finished in 8AD (Moffit).Flood in Genesis and Metamorphoses
The conclusion of each flood myth is different in how long each flood lasts and how the earth is repopulated, but seeing as how both floods are caused to punish humanity’s corrupt nature, they are very similar tales.
Islam
Noah and his Ark were also included in the Quran. Noah, or Nuh, as he was known as in Islamic texts, was a prophet who was tasked with warning humanity of Allah’s commands. The Quran states,
“I have called to my people night and day. But my call only increases their flight from the right way. And every time I have called to them, that You might forgive them, they have thrust their fingers into their ears, covered themselves up with their garments, grown obstinate, and given themselves up to arrogance" (Quran 71:5-7).QuranPassage
Like many Islamic profits, the Quran shows how many ignore the warning, and in this case, as in the Bible, refusing to head Allah’s warnings result in a flood. According to Surah Nuh, Nuh was tasked with building an ark to save pairs of animals and those followers who believed in his preachings, just as Judeo-Christian writings state. However, when the flooding came, Nuh’s wife and one of his sons were drowned as they were disbelievers, showing that faith bonds us more than blood (Huda). The depiction is very similar to Genesis, except for more people being saved, and some of Nuh’s family actually being lost to the deluge.
Overall, the three Abrahamic religions tell the same story with just a few details conflicting. The Abrahamic flood story differs from Metamorphoses in one big way. While the Roman story involves a whole pantheon of gods who combine to cause the deluge, it is only God/Allah who creates the flood in Noah’s/Nuh’s Ark. This belief in a monotheistic religion separates the Abrahamic cultures from the other cultures who also had flood myths. It’s also important to remember that Metamorphoses was released much later than the writings which show the Abrahamic stories, so Ovid likely had encountered other writings and or oral stories depicting various other deluge stories
Contemporary Interpretations of Noah's Ark:
Many of our discussed myths have depicted the gods’ vengeful wrath, a great flood brought on in some form, and often a boat or ark that proves to save humanity.
Western Culture and Christianity have taken a dominant role in our society and may seem more accessible to the general public. For this reason, our contemporary contribution on how the deluge myth has been interpreted today will be focused on the story of Noah’s Ark and how American culture has interpreted it.
The Ark Encounter
The story of Noah’s Ark has claimed many contemporary minds and the media. One such interpretation is known as Ark Encounter. This corporation was founded by a group of creationists who created a “life-sized” replica of the ark in Kentucky and the insides detail tableaus of village life, creatures in cages, and their claims about this myth and why the deluge myths are so widespread. The Ark Encounter believes that “Noah’s descendants stayed together until God confused their languages at Babel and they scattered. As the various people groups spread around the globe, the story of the Flood was shared, until it became distorted and embedded in their respective histories” (Author name). The group also goes on to debunk other flood myths. When it is faced with the Babylonian/Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh and Utnapishtim, the tablets that are dated further back than the biblical Moses’ writings, they state that this only proves that it was, “written earlier, not that its contents are original or correct”. Interestingly, when faced with science or evolution, the Ark Encounter decided to include dinosaurs as some of the animals that Noah would have taken aboard the ark. (Introducing the Ark Encounter)(Stats on the Construction of the Ark)
These claims would come with obvious controversy on many fronts. Whether it be the fact that they essentially bash every other deluge myth or their claim that it is a “watered down” version of Noah’s Ark, this would understandably raise some offense. However, their scientific claims of how the ark was built, what animals were on board, and the timeline that they date the ark back to is the media’s main focus. In the following videos, one video addresses the complexities of the ever-elusive evidence that lies behind the claims of multiple “ark expeditions”, while the other details the shortened version of a debate between Ken Ham, the head of Ark Encounter, and the popularized scientist Bill Nye.
Hollywood Cinematic Interpretations:
Noah’s Ark has been biblical mythology that has definitely seen the bright lights of Hollywood. This tale has been in children’s animation, adult cartoons, and even many live-action movies. Western cinematic culture has tried to tackle this story in many different tones and has received backlash in many different forms. Three interpretations that show many similarities and differences between them are Evan Almighty, Noah, and Family Guy.
Evan Almighty
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This is a more comedic approach to Noah’s Ark with actors Ben Stiller and Morgan Freeman. Rather than taking jabs at the biblical story, it comes off as a more heartfelt, family comedy about a newly elected politician who is instructed by God to build an ark. The entire scheme reveals some shady political deal that makes a dam burst, and this movie makes a more “green earth” and “be kind to thy neighbor” approach. Where it strays from the original myth is that the rain only lasted for a few short minutes, but the flood itself came from a poorly constructed dam. The flood did not bring about the end of days for all of humanity, but rather the flash flood of a city that would probably result in some injuries, extensive property damage, and maybe a few deaths, (although, much of the city’s population is rushed onto and saved by the ark). This was not really an all-encompassing punishment for humans, but rather a political and environmental morality check. Environmental politics of the 21st century greatly influence the content of the film Evan Almighty. \ NoahThis is a live-action movie that has received backlash from multiple communities as well as praise. This movie details the story of Noah and his family as he builds the ark and how he is assisted by fallen angels. This interpretation is far more dark and gruesome as it really settles in on the immorality and cruelty of man, and has been criticized as not being true to the biblical story: Noah does not take 150 years to build the ark, his daughter and son have love interests, Noah can be depicted as incredibly cruel and questioning god’s orders, and a final battle between the humans and fallen angels to storm onto the ark. However, the main controversy came when countries in the Middle East and the Islamic religion banned the viewing of this movie as it would create false idols or prophets. These cultures do not want to have representations of their beliefs in the form of humans because they believe that it is essentially the deification of those humans. Interestingly, Noah is portrayed as an anti-hero, almost villainous character, compared to how he is portrayed in other stories. The use of fallen angels trying to gain redemption paired with a devout man could be seen as a commentary on resisting authority. Family Guy
Seth McFarlane’s Family Guy, Season 18 Episode 19 is a parody of many stories in the Bible, one of which is a brief adaptation of Noah’s Ark. The tale is completely butchered as Peter puts his own unique spin on the famous story. Instead of building the ark over 150 years as in Genesis, Noah steals the wood from his neighbor's house, he then makes some extremely questionable room assignments for his animal guests as they are paired by prey with predators. The episode is solely meant as a laugh as it also chooses to highlight several discrepancies in the deluge myth and provides a humorous commentary about political and social debates. They also go on to make several perverse jokes that are meant for a more mature audience. This is clearly a more comedic approach to the deluge myth, but it can come with obvious offense from multiple perspectives, which is typically the goal of this adult cartoon. This cartoon company often questions authority and outlook of a variety of belief systems; they don't really affiliate themselves with one side. Family Guy: Noah's Ark CitationsIntroduction Naso, Publius Ovidius. Ovid: Metamorphoses. W.W. Norton and Company, 2004. Saghir, Isra. “Torrent and the Tempest Flood: An Analysis of Flood Myth Across Cultures.” 2019, doi:https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ya/article/download/33362/25619/. Ovid. Metamorphoses. Translated by Charles Martin, W.W. Norton & Company, 2004. Cultural Adaptations “Utnapishtim.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2020, www.britannica.com/topic/Utnapishtim. Carnahan, Wolf. “The Epic of Gilgamesh.” Epic of Gilgamesh, 2001, www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/. Australia Witzel, Michael E.J. “Pan-Gaean Flood Myths: Gondwana Myths -- and Beyond.” DASH Home, Shikanda, 1 Jan. 1970, dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/8460265. Africa Witzel, Michael E.J. “Pan-Gaean Flood Myths: Gondwana Myths -- and Beyond.” DASH Home, Shikanda, 1 Jan. 1970, dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/8460265. North America Connors, Valerie. “Waynaboozhoo and the Great Flood.” Native American Legends-Waynaboozhoo and the Great Flood, www.uwosh.edu/coehs/cmagproject/ethnomath/legend/legend9.htm. Erdoes, Richard and Alfonso Ortiz. American Indian Myths and Legends, Pantheon Books, New York. 1984. (pp. 496-499) Issak, Mark. Flood Stories from Around the World, 2002, www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html. Waters, Frank. Book of the Hopi, Penguin Books, New York, 1963. Abrahamic Religions “Bible Gateway Passage: Genesis 9 - New International Version.” Bible Gateway, www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+9 Moffit, Anne. “Anne Moffit CAMS 045 E-Portfolio.” Anne Moffit CAMS 045 EPortfolio, 2 Oct. 2015, sites.psu.edu/azm5664cams045blog/2015/10/02/the-flood -in-genesis-and-metamorphoses/. “Noah's Ark.” Christian Bible Reference Site, www.christianbiblereference.org/story_ Noahs Ark.htm. Huda. “The Prophet Nuh (Noah) in Islam.” Learn Religions, www.learnreligions.com/prophet-nuh-noah-in-islam-2004537. Contemporary Interpretations “The Ark Encounter Ark Stats.” Thearkencounter.com, The Ark Encounter, 2016, assets.arkencounter.com/doc/pdf/ark-stats-book.pdf. “World Flood Myths.” Ark Encounter, 2020, arkencounter.com/flood/myths/. “The Ark Encounter—Kentucky.” The Ark Encounter, Kool Buildings, 2017, youtu.be/PeNOURXWCmM. “Here’s What Nobody Tells You about the Ark.” Noah’s Ark, Grunge, 2019, youtu.be/8JRBKYdnhzY. “Bill Nye & Ken Ham/TOUR/DEBATE/The Ark Encounter.” Bill Nye and Ken Ham, Atheism Is Awesome, 2017, youtu.be/1qCtgA2HWxc. “Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham - HD (Official).” Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis , 2014, youtu.be/z6kgvhG3AkI. “Evan Almighty (The Flood Scene) HD.” Evan Almighty, KAABA, 2018, youtu.be/ervEaQCD7Lc. Cieply, Michael. “'Noah' Is No. 1 Despite Complaints.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Mar. 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/movies/noah-floats-to-top-of-the-box-office.html. “Noah (6/10) Movie CLIP-The Great Flood (2014) HD.” Noah, Movie CLIPS, 2014, youtu.be/PWf0rLp7sUY. “Family Guy Season 18 Episode 19.” Family Guy, Bob Rogers, 2020, youtu.be/NuYQQp92DHQ. About the AuthorsTyler Hobbs is a senior pure and applied math major at Hastings College. He can be often found either on the baseball field or trying to escape into Geoge RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire universe. Cassidy Coalson is a sophomore double majoring in English and Art Education at Hastings College. She’s often found in a plant nursery or craft shop and she enjoys painting, embroidery, and going on hikes with her miniature cat Margo. Audrey Weeks is a sophomore Language Arts and Theatre Education major at Hastings College. She is mostly found either in the theatre or in the band room as those are two of her biggest passions or she is found constantly bothering her three cats. |
