The Genesis-the beginning of the journey

Each representation of the creation of the world depends on the historical context, where the author’s point of view adapts to audience’s point of view.

From first passage of Genesis in Bible you can see the word “God” appearing. The authors of Bible emphasize that creator was God. In contrast, in Hesiod’s Theogony we can see that author introduces the idea of the genealogy of the system of gods. Bible was made for the audience who believed in God. But for which audience was Theogony written? What audience Hesiod considered while writing a myth? As we know Hesiod was a Greek poet who lived in c. 700 BC. He created hexametric poem (a line of verse consisting of six metrical feet) that was a chief model for later ancient didactic poetry. He created a structure that helped the audience to easily comprehend the perception of God due to the beauty of lyrical tone. Human beings occupy the center of the story. Hesiod also helps audience to understand the cosmogony-a theory regarding the origin of the universe in Greek tradition. Why did Hesiod’s Theogony create a myth of gods?

Medium: Myth.

The Creation of Adam (1511-1512)

by Michelangelo

Medium: The revival of Greek and Roman culture was represented in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. This secular view point is depicted in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, it was painted during 15^th century. The idea of Humanism was introduced during this time, where the humans were idealized and associated with gods. The creators of power became humans as you can see in the part of Sistine’s Chapel, where a human being separates light and darkness.

The interesting thing is that in Genesis the word “God” is emphasized, showing that he was the only one to create order: “And God made the two great lights, the great light for dominion of the day… And God placed them in the vault of the heavens to light up the earth and to have dominion over day and night and to divide the light from darkness”. Here the human is depicted in perfectionist way, where you can see the muscles of the body. This restates my view of the meaning that ideals become humans, where they started to play the roles of gods. I believe that during the Renaissance period people started to lose faith in God, vast movement of Enlightenment philosophies. Enlightenment- a European intellectual movement emphasizing individualism rather than tradition.

Reviewing all mediums, is the representation of gods closely linked to historical context? As we know the author of each medium wants to be connected to audience. Do you agree that the author should have the same ideology as audience in order to connect to them?

Medium: Film.

If yes, what is the ideology nowadays? In class we watched part of film, where the word “Creator” is not mentioned. Why did director choose to be neutral, oversimplifying the context? Is it because the society rejected traditional values? Do you think this is an attempt to appeal to audience?