Beyond Noah: The Many Floods of Myth
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When a culture finds itself inundated with miscreants and other unsavoury characters, it often introduces a nice, cleansing, world-consuming flood. Across multiple cultures, from China to Northern British Columbia, there is mention of a great flood, somewhere in the mythology.
How Many Floods?
At least six.
The most famous version of the flood myth is what we’ve heard from the Christian Bible, but that is by no means the only instance in which a flood cleanses the Earth. Noah builds an ark and saves some animals as well as his family, then goes about repopulating the Earth by some unspecified means.
The Mesopotamians document a flood myth in The Epic of Gilgamesh, where a man named Utnapishtim is advised by one of the gods, Enki (or Ea), to build a massive boat. This boat would then contain the seed of all life, as well as our hero’s family, and it would keep them all safe from drowning in the massive flood. Once the flood subsides and everyone is safe, they go about repopulating the Earth.
In Greek mythology, there is also mention of a flood. Zeus went down to Earth in disguise to learn about the nature of humankind. Zeus was nowhere near pleased. There was a meeting on Mount Olympus about what to do about those horrendous parasitic humans. The gods decided that a flood was the best choice. Prometheus, the champion of humanity, warned his son Deucalion, who, along with his wife Pyrrha, climbed into a chest afloat in the waves. They survived the flood and moved on to repopulate the Earth. Luckily, they were given a non-incestuous way to repopulate, without relying on the creation of a narrow family tree. Deucalion and Pyrrha were to throw pebbles over their shoulders and as each one landed on the Earth, a human being sprang forth.
But Why A Flood?
There are further myths to be found from Hindu mythology all the way to the Aztecs. The idea of a great, cleansing flood is so pervasive that it spans oceans. Why are there so many accounts of this one thing found across cultures that likely never had direct contact with each other? It seems to be a far stretch to think that ancient China had much communication with the Nisga’a nation in Northern Canada, and yet, their mythologies both mention the flood.
It might have something to do with the way that humanity views water. We wash ourselves with water, which gives us the idea that it has a cleansing nature. We need water to live, which inspires us to equate water with a sense of divine importance. After the rain, the world takes on a poetic sheen, allowing us to think for a moment that perhaps this is something sent from the gods.
As much as humanity has a collectively positive view of water, we tend to have the opposite view of humans. If we can all agree on something, it’s that humans are awful. We also have a flair for the dramatic and love a good apocalypse.
It makes sense then, when you think about humanity’s collective thoughts on water and humanity, that we would want to use one to wipe out the other. If you were to cleanse a surface of something bad, no matter what your religious background, you would reach for water.
One possibility for the commonality that I quite enjoy is the idea that there really was a large flood. Who’s to say that these stories are mythology at all? Maybe in the distant past, a great sea of water rose and conquered the land.
Molly Desson
Molly Desson is a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College. When she’s not busy with coursework, she’s either talking to or about her dog. Some of her non-dog interests include the ancient world, crafts, and being outside.
