Creation Stories: Landscapes and the Human Imagination

by Anthony Aveni

An accessible exploration of how diverse cultures have explained humanity’s origins through narratives about the natural environment

Drawing from a vast array of creation myths—Babylonian, Greek, Aztec, Maya, Inca, Chinese, Hindu, Navajo, Polynesian, African, Norse, Inuit, and more—this concise illustrated book uncovers both the similarities and differences in our attempts to explain the universe.
 
Anthony Aveni, an award-winning author and professor of astronomy and anthropology, examines the ways various cultures around the world have attempted to explain our origins, and what roles the natural environment plays in shaping these narratives. The book also celebrates the audacity of the human imagination.
 
Whether the first humans emerged from a cave, as in the Inca myths, or from bamboo stems, as the Bantu people of Africa believed, or whether the universe is simply the result of Vishnu’s cyclical inhales and exhales, each of these fascinating stories reflects a deeper understanding of the culture it arose from as well as its place in the larger human narrative.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Anthropology

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Anthony Aveni is Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of Astronomy, Anthropology, and Native American Studies Emeritus at Colgate University. He helped to develop the fields of archaeoastronomy and cultural astronomy.

Reviews

[Jan Peregrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe a year ago I read a fascinating, scientific book called The Grand Biocentric Design by Robert Lanza with help from a theoretical physicist and astronomer. It's the final book in a series of books that explain how life creates reality, how our observations and even knowledge of objects will influence how the smallest units of matter behave. In short, it means that we make our world.

After reading 2020's Creation Stories: Landscapes and the Human Imagination by Anthony Aveni, a professor of astronomy and anthropology, I've been mulling over how to connect the two books ,being the unashamedly scientific storyteller I am...

Aveni's book shares many very imaginative creation myths from ancient peoples around the world. As he explains, we need to find order in the midst of chaos, light out of darkness, life out of death.

Lanza's books? They also find life through all of reality, a reality made of our environments and how we experience them as well. The only difference is in size. Lanza's scientifically-imaginative understanding of reality begins with the microscopic. Aveni's with what is visible to our unaided eyes. Aveni also shows how ancient peoples believed that supernatural gods were transforming themselves to create our world and creating us out of various materials not unlike the world

They both, it seems to me, help us to understand the mysteries of life, such as how did the universe form, where did life come from, why are we here, why must we die, and so on.

I read another fascinating, very engaging book called Mythos by Brit Stephen Frye about the Greek myths and how he understands them in a contemporary way. I haven't yet read the next two in the series, but the first is highly recommended.

Two points that struck me about Aveni's book.

First is his chapter about Babylonian myths because I have a friend born and raised in Iraq and she wants my help to write a self-help book for immigrants like her to America. I now understand her childhood environment much better and how changing her environment has, consciously or not, transformed her understanding of the world.

Second, in his Conclusion he talks about the very ancient Miletan philosopher Hecataeus and many centuries later the philosopher Diodorous, a century before Christ, who were the first to create a creation myth without the suupernatural and how it later became the scientific theory of evolution.

An enjoyable book indeed! Hope you'll check it or the other books out.

[Jeff Bobin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief description of creation stories from around the world. Good basic information. Not a lot of depth.

[Masta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aveni’s approach is comparative, but not merely cataloguing. He seeks out the underlying questions that creation myths attempt to answer: How did the universe begin? Where did humans come from? Why do we die? What is our purpose? While the details of the stories differ—some involving gods, others animals, or even abstract forces—Aveni finds that they often reflect the physical realities and challenges of the storytellers’ environments. For instance, the Inca myth of emergence from a cave, the Inuit’s tales of birth from holes in the snow, and the Polynesian legends of islands being fished from the sea all reveal a deep connection between myth and landscape.

The book traces the evolution of creation stories, noting how explanations for existence gradually shifted from the supernatural to the natural and philosophical. Aveni highlights early thinkers who began to seek answers outside the realm of gods and spirits, paving the way for scientific inquiry and theories like evolution. Yet, he suggests, the need to impose order on chaos and find meaning in existence remains a constant in the human experience, whether expressed through myth or science.

Aveni writes in a clear, engaging style, making complex ideas accessible to a general audience. The book is concise and well-illustrated, which helps bring the stories and concepts to life. However, some readers may find that the breadth of coverage comes at the expense of depth; individual myths are often introduced briefly, without delving deeply into their cultural context or narrative richness. The book is more a guided tour than an immersive journey into any single tradition.

Overall, Creation Stories: Landscapes and the Human Imagination is a thoughtful and stimulating introduction to the world’s creation myths. It encourages readers to see myth not as mere fantasy, but as a profound response to the environments and existential questions that have shaped humanity. Aveni’s work is especially valuable for its emphasis on the interplay between landscape and imagination, inviting us to reflect on how our own surroundings continue to influence the stories we tell about ourselves and our place in the universe.

[Degan Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview of the world’s creation stories, grouped by category but with a theme of commonality running through all of it. However, I found it a bit simplistic and would have liked more of a storytelling feel or context on the cultures.

[Cheryl]

Maybe for Into the Forest 2023 challenge.