The Similarities and Differences between Greek Mythology and Chinese Mythology

蒋衍

Abstract：Both Chinese myth and Greek myth are well-known to China and Western countries respectively， and play a significant role in each culture. These two mythologies are associated with human origin and heroic figures. What the two shares in common is to make a bold conjecture for the creation of the world and human origin， to praise heroes legends with enthusiasm， and to think highly of the true love in the world. However， due to the different geographical position， historical background， value system， social system and culture， there must be a lot of different places between Chinese mythology and Greek mythology. This paper is aimed at deepening the understanding between China and the West， and promoting the communication between each other.

Key words：Chinese mythology， Greek mythology， similarities， difference

Introduction

Mythology is stories or legends made up by the people in ancient times through the supernatural images and fantasy to express their original understanding of world origin， natural phenomena and social life. For one thing， it mostly is in the form of simple and full of romanticism， and for another， it is the first kind of ideological form of human after entering the civilized world. In the fight against nature， human beings were unable to understand and overcome nature scientifically， sp that they had no choice but to rely on the imagination to conquer and control the force of nature. As a result， mythology was born to represent the ancient people's understanding and desire of natural society. Mythology can be divided into epoch-making myths， natural myths and heroic myths.

Every nation in the world has created their own myths when they stepped into the era of civilization after saying goodbye to the wild times. These myths have obviously regional customs and strong ethnic characteristics. China and Greece are both ancient countries with a long history of culture， what follows is to take these two countries myths as a sample.

1. The similarities of the Chinese and Greek myths

1.1 A conjecture for the creation of the world and human origin

In Chinese myth， it is said that the universe was a chaotic place before earth was separated from heave. There was a giant called Pangu who had waken up after a deep sleep for about eighteen thousand years. Pangu created heaven and earth with his divine power， and his eyes became the sun and the moon; hair and beard， stars; the body， the four poles and majestic mountains; blood， the rivers; the tooth bone and  marrow， the underground mines; the skin and hair， vegetation; and the sweat， the rain， so then the world come. After Pangu created the world， Nuwa saw the world was so beautiful but very lonely， so she decided to knead mud and water in to human figure， which was called mankind.

In Greek myth， the earth goddess Gaia was born in chaos. Then， Gaia and Uranus gave birth to twelve Titans. Cronus， Gaia's youngest and most terrible and wily children， was convinced by Gaia to castrate his father， the first generation of celestial master， so he became the ruler of the Titans with his sister-wife Rhea as his consort， and the other Titans became his court. Cronus and his wife then gave birth to Hestia， Demeter， Hera， Zeus， Hades， and Poseidon. Because Cronus had betrayed his father， he feared that his offspring would do the same， and so each time Rhea gave birth， he snatched up the child and ate it. Rhea hated this and tricked him by hiding Zeus. When Zeus was full grown， Zeus challenged Cronus to war for the kingship of the gods. At last， with the help of the Cyclopes， Zeus and his siblings were victorious. Every god had his own task to do， and managed the world together. In the aspect of human origin， they were born when the prophet Prometheus fabricated a figure of god， and Intelligence goddess Athena blew the God breath.

1.2 Ode to the heroes

In Chinese myths， there are many heroic storied， for example， Pangu created the world， Houyi shot the sun， Shennong tasted a hundred grasses， etc. Similarly in the Greek myths， Perseus had no fear of dangers to kill the Medusa for getting rid of evils， Prometheus stole the fire， and so on.

These all are the ode to heroes. People express their worship for heroes by using myths. Besides， what they praise is maybe their desires， and maybe their happy life.

1.3 An eulogy of the true love in the world

No matter what kind of love， between friends， lovers and relatives， all can be found in two myths. In China， the story about Chenxiang split rocks to save his mother is still praised. The love story about the cowherd and the weaving maid is more beautiful and touching. In Greek myths， Demeters love to her daughter moved the heaven and the earth. Cupid and his lover finally got married after several twists and turns.

All of these touching stories reflect peoples yearning for a better world. Maybe， they just escape from the darkness of reality in the myths.

2. The differences of the Chinese and Greek myths

2.1 Value system

China adheres to the value of collectivism， as a initial shaper of culture， Chinese myths are bong to pay more attention to peoples sense of social responsibility and ethics. On this condition， we can find that Chinese myths appeal to the virtue of “the world belongs to all”， praise the greatness of working people， and sings high of the tough and undaunted spirit， like Shennong and Dayu， the near-perfect images of the saint.

Compared with Chinese myths， Greek myths focus more on individual rights and emphasize the importance of individual. Such as Zeus， he does whatever he wants， even irritates other gods at all costs for the sake of his selfishness. Because of the difference between collectivism and individualism， Chinese myths tend to be rational， for the divinization of people; while Greek myths incline to be emotional for the humanization of gods.

2.2 Social system

Chinese society is a centralized system， so it greatly contained the further development of myth. The ruling class mainly worshiped the gods who made great contributions to the nation and people in order to consolidate his reign. As for some gods， who disobeyed the rule of ruling， were derogated， so that the original appearance of myths could not be reflected.

In Greek myths， the gods characters are very complicated， which cannot be simply distinguished by good and evil. The separation and incorporation of the gods mainly rely on their interests. Such point that dont talk about right and wrong only by absolute standards of good and evil created a looser and freer environment for Western cultural thoughts later.

2.3 Cultural tradition

For one thing， Chinese ancient scholars advocated that literature should serve for politics because of deep-rooted political system， which was the important reason for politicization of Chinese myths. While Greek indicated that literature should be the realistic portrayal， thus， it had a strong realism. With time going by， Chinese myths gradually become fragmented and out of system. Otherwise， Greek myths conserve the original appearance of myths.

For another， there is no fixed inheritance of ancient Chinese culture， which has a strong spontaneous tendency， so Chinese myths cannot be carried out too much. They are dispersedly conserved only in some ancient books， short and without a system. On the contrary， Greek myths are mostly inherited by folk singer. In the process of spreading， Greek myths become a long book after the poets and dramatists added personal imagination to polish and enrich the stories.

Conclusion

The Chinese myths and Greek myths root in different soil， have different values， social systems and cultural traditions. But among the many differences， there are some similarities. By comparing the similarities and differences of two myths， it is easier to deepen the understanding of Chinese and western culture， and enjoy Chinese and western culture better.

Reference

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