Creation myths and their cultural functions.

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I will separate my findings and support into three headings-GENERAL. MYTH 1, and MYTH 2, so you can follow the framework for your final work. The theories will be throughout, whereas the chosen myth in its own section. "compare' usually indicates similarities, and "contrast,' differences. Either way, you will find plenty of both as you read the two myths I have chosen for this analysis.

GENERAL

Such a small question, yet it's one of the biggies! Top three on the "meaning of life" list. I was drawn in, when I remembered that Douglas Adams' "42," was the most coherent answer yet proffered by mankind. (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Seriously folks, so many experts have thrown this one around that great quotes abound, for general use in your introduction and conclusion.

First, another from Adams, the "dedication" in Dawkins' "The God Delusion":

'Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to
believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?'

APA-------Dawkins, R. (2006). The God Delusion. London: Bantam Press

generally speaking about myth and its function:

"Myths were held to be
naive explanations of the behaviour of the heavenly bodies, of
the mysterious forces governing the growth of plants, crops,
and cattle, or ofthe entrancing powers behind sexual love and
generation. With the development of more sophisticated
theological and philosophical ideas, these explanations underx
went transformations which frequently involved a change of
the mystery being explained as the mind of man conceived
the powers in question to be more than the sun, the crops, and
the feeling oflove themselves. In other words, the actual stories
remained, but their meanings as well as the names of their
central characters were changed to fit more mature ways of
thinking."

APA------Watts, A. (1954). Myth and Ritual in Christianity. New York: Grove Press

on religion/God/creation myths filling "gaps" in knowledge:

As the American geneticist Jerry Coyne put it in his review of
Behe's book: 'If the history of science shows us anything, it is that
we get nowhere by labelling our ignorance "God".' Or, in the
words of an eloquent blogger, ...