Bringing Social Structure to the Universe

Bringing Social Structure to the Universe

In both the Judeo-Christian and Ancient Greek cosmogony, there are several myths about the world's beginnings that not only share the same approaches as to how the world is created, but how and why mankind is as well. Men and women portray different gender roles in The Bible's Genesis and Hesiod's "How the World and Gods Were Created" due to God's capacity and need to create social order within His world. Both creation myths begin their worlds to be "without form and void" that later on develop into the establishment of God, the creation of His physical world, and most importantly, the creation of His society

(Genesis 1:2). In order for this to be done, hierarchy and structure must be formed. The sole reason for doing this is because humanity cannot be defined without the roles that men and women possess. Throughout this analytical essay, several comparisons will be made on Adam and Eve, the first man and woman created by God, and the place in society into which they were brought up. Pandora, the first woman to be introduced, and several Greek Gods will also be compared in order to examine the social order within the Greek universe. Few similarities between genders in their respective myths will be raised in order argue both sides; however, differentiating the two forms of humanity based on gender roles will truly show how Genesis and Hesiod's literature represent the establishment of hierarchy and society.

During the first three chapters of Genesis, God defines man and woman's place in society by assigning them specific gender roles soon after Adam and Eve become conscience of who they are. In chapter one, it is said that Adam and Eve are a result of "the image of God…male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:26). Even though both human beings are created equally in the image of God, it should be noted that Adam is made before his soon-to-be mate. Man is brought onto the earth before any formation of society, and because of that Adam is given the task of maintaining order in the world, and "to till it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15). With that, came boundaries that God assigns in the Garden of Eden, which was "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat," (Genesis 2:17). Taking into consideration that woman is not yet made; this proves that man is given the role to be the responsible individual. God introduces Eve to the world with the notion that "man should not be alone," suggesting that her original purpose is to be Adam's companion (Genesis 2:18). Woman is forced to abide by the same limitation that man is, which is to not eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge. This shows equality between the two genders; however, it is Eve who disobeys God's orders, and it is only after this incident that He defines the true gender roles.