Common universal myth stories

1. 1 - CREATION OF THE WORLD
It is in the nature of humans to wonder about the unknown and search for answers. At the
foundation of nearly every culture is a creation myth that explains how the wonders of the earth
came to be. These myths have an immense influence on people's frame of reference. They
influence the way people think about the world and their place in relation to their surroundings.
Despite being separated by numerous geographical barriers many cultures have developed
creation myths with the same basic elements.
Many creation myths begin with the theme of birth. This may be because birth represents
new life and the beginning of life on earth may have been imagined as being similar to the
beginning of a child's life. This is closely related to the idea of a mother and father existing in
the creation of the world but sometimes the creation doesn't occur until generations after the
first god came into being.

2. A Supreme Being appears in almost every myth. He/she/it is what triggers the train of events
that create the world. Sometimes there are two beings: a passive and active creator.
Not all cultures imagine life starting on earth. Some believe that it originated either above or
below where we live now. Still other myths claim the earth was once covered with water and
the earth was brought to the surface. These are called diver-myths.
According to some cultures humans and animals once lived together peacefully. However
because of a sin caused by the humans they are split up. This sin is often brought on by
darkness and is represented as fire. Other times the innocence of humans is taken away by a
god.
We continue to wonder. Even now, as the 21st century approaches we continue to make
theories on how earth was created. They are our new creation myths. We base our ideas on
scientific evidence. However the creation myths were based on what people saw - their
observations.

3. 2 - PARADISE LOST – UTOPIA
The story of the Garden of Eden is well known. But did you know this story is found in almost
every culture’s mythology? There is something about wishing for a time when everything in the
world was perfect - people see the past through rose-tinted glasses. We always feel that
somehow things were better back then.
The story of a harmonious land uncorrupted by pain or lust is the biggest slice of “good old
days” nostalgia you’ll ever encounter. The Ancient Greeks, meanwhile, fondly recalled their
Golden and Heroic Ages—a time when the world was happier, men were men, and things
basically didn’t suck so bad. Similar ideas appear in Hindu, Norse, and Persian belief, always
featuring a lost utopia to which modern culture can never return.
Interestingly, there may be a scientific reason behind all this. Recent research into nostalgia
has shown that idealized memories of the past may make us happier in the present.

4. 3 - THE GREAT FLOOD3
The idea of a flood that drowns the entire world pops up in almost every single culture. Jews
and Christians know it as the story of Noah, but other versions almost certainly predate the
Genesis account. The Ancient Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh includes the tale of Utnapishtim,
who builds a boat, fills it with animals to escape a deluge, and eventually comes to rest on a
mountaintop. The Greeks had Deucalion, who survived a flood sent by Zeus. Other versions
appear in Hindu, Mayan, and Native American legends.
These tales may or may not be inspired by reality. In 2009, National Geographic reported on the
utter lack of evidence for a globe-destroying super-flood. Yet theories still persist of an ancient
comet strike near Madagascar sending tsunamis across the globe or a sudden flood caused
by melting glaciers drowning the entire Black Sea area. Could this universal myth simply be
the faded memory of a real event that occurred around 5,000 BC? We may never know.

5. 4 - RESURRECTION
Jesus’s resurrection is one of the most significant beliefs in Christianity. It is a unique moment
that established Christ as the one true savior of humankind. The idea of a dying deity or
important human who is later resurrected has been around for thousands of years.
This includes the story of Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god whose birth was heralded by a star,
who was betrayed by a friend, was murdered, and was later resurrected. But there are lesser
known versions as well. The Greek cult of Dionysus had their figurehead killed off every two
years, only to rise again at a later date. Persephone also died regularly, and many pagan
traditions from Scandinavia to Central America involved gods dying and returning to life or men
dying and coming back as deities.
Perhaps most interestingly of all, a historical tablet known as “Gabriel’s Revelation” allegedly
tells the story of a Jewish rebel known as Simon who was killed by the Romans, only to be
resurrected three days later. It was written in 4 BC, over 30 years before Jesus had the same
experience.

6. 5 - THE HERO’S QUEST
Thanks to the occasional movie adaptation, most of us probably have a vague knowledge of
the poems of Homer (even if we don’t know we do). Considered the earliest examples of
Western literature, his Iliad and Odyssey are epic myths of tortured heroes fighting their way
across oceans and continents in search of metaphorical salvation—and they appear in near-
identical form in almost every culture.
It’s called the “hero’s journey,” and nearly all epic stories throughout history have followed this
specific model. Famously, George Lucas deliberately based the first Star Wars on it, and you
can find its influence in The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter;
the list goes on.
The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, the story of Sinbad the Sailor in the 1,001 Nights, the legend
of King Arthur, the tale of the Argonauts all of these and plenty more fit the structure of the
hero’s journey just like Homer’s poems. In fact, nearly every single culture in recorded history
has myths that fall into this category. Even Moses’s epic wanderings in the Bible fit this model.

7. 6 - THE LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS
The myth of Atlantis: a utopian city wiped out in a single night thanks to an unearthly
cataclysm. But Atlantis is only the most famous of mythical lost cities. Near-identical stories
crop up with such regularity that it’s tempting to think they must be somehow related.
Take Iram (also known as Ubar). A fabled city in the deserts of modern Saudi Arabia, Iram is
said to have been wiped out in a single night when Allah buried it under a flood of sand. In
other words, it’s the Atlantis myth translated to a world without water. Then you have Ys off the
coast of France, which was supposedly flooded around the 5th century by a mythical warrior
king. And that’s before we get onto the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and the Hindu myth of
Tripura, which both involve gods wiping out immoral cities in a rain of fire.
In short, the idea of a city obliterated overnight is so powerful it seems to show up everywhere.
Are these half-remembered tragedies with some basis in fact (like Pompeii) or just stories that
play to the apocalyptic idealist in all of us? We’ll leave it to you to decide.

8. 7 - EPIC BATTLES
The idea of an unimaginable war that threatens to tear apart the cosmos connects with us so
deeply that it still powers our epic stories. The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and
countless others all feature this age-old story. It can be found in the legends of almost every
ancient culture. Christianity has the battle between God and the rebel angels led by Satan.
Ancient Greece had the story of the Titans taking on the gods of Mount Olympus. The Hindu
tradition involves a dizzying series of battles so epic they’d give any nightmares.
The reason why this myth exists is that most cultures throughout history have consistently
been on the brink of war or prone to invasion, so an apocalyptic slaughter was probably never
far from everyone’s minds. Either way, it suggests the human drive to war is just about
universal.

9. 8 - APOCALYPSE
Everything that begins has an end, and our ancient ancestors knew that as simply as we do.
No surprise then that most cultures carry an End of Times myth to counter their creation
story—a sort of explanation of the end of everything for those who won’t live to see the actual
end (i.e. everyone).
For Christians, this apocalypse is a gigantic epic that plays out over many, many years and
involves so many disasters, wars, and calamities that it’s hard to keep track. Same with the
Norse Ragnarok, which is a collection of disasters and battles that results in the Earth being
drowned and recreated afresh. In Hinduism, it’s another epic battle followed by a rebooted
universe, while Buddhism annihilates the world in a pyrotechnic fireworks display so amazing it
deserves its own Michael Bay film.
In other words, most humans throughout history have lived with their own personal vision of
the end of everything, one that makes sense in the context of their lives and cultures. How do
you think the world is going to end?