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BIRTHING THE GODS: HOW CREATION STORIES CAN DRIVE A WORK’S PURPOSE
By Jack Meullenet
October 10, 2017
Rhodora Vennarucci
4:30 Tuesday
Creation is present in almost all great pieces of literature. It is such an appealing topic
and theme to write about because it can provide many important elements to a work: creation
stories can explain why things happen, link something old to something new, and bring new
ideas into the world. In Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and Hesiod’s
Theogony, creation takes a central role in driving the core purpose of the text. This role shows
that creation is a universal, harmonious idea. In each of these works from extremely different
times and places, creation not only fits into the theme, it enhances the other parts of the work. It
transforms the purpose into something more powerful than it could be without an origin story.
Chatwin uses the Aboriginal creation story to connect the Aboriginals to Central
Australia all the way from time immemorial to modern day. The Aboriginal religion is very
unique in the way that it approaches creation. Instead of mighty, immortal gods decreeing that
