This volume offers an instructive comparative perspective on the Judaic, Christian, Greek and Roman myths about the creation of humans in relation to each other, as well as a broad overview of their enduring relevance in the modern Western world and its conceptions of gender and identity. Taking the idea that the way in which a society regards humanity, and especially the roots of humanity, is crucial to an understanding of that society, it presents the different models for the creation and nature of mankind, and their changing receptions over a range of periods and places.
It thereby demonstrates that the myths reflect fundamental continuities, evolutions and developments across cultures and societies: in no context are these more apparent than with regard to gender.
Chapters explore the role of gender in Graeco-Roman and Judaeo-Christian creation myths and their reception traditions, demonstrating how perceptions of 'male' and 'female' dating back to antiquity have become embedded in, and significantly influenced, subsequent perceptions of gender roles. Focusing on the figures of Prometheus, Pandora, Adam and Eve and their instantiations in a broad range of narratives and media from antiquity to the present day, they examine how variations on these myths reflect the concerns of the societies producing them and the malleability of the stories as they are recast to fit different contexts and different audiences.
List of Contributors List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction (Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) I. Visual Symbolism: The Iconography of Creation 1. The Use of Prometheus as an exemplar in Third Century Rome (John Bradley, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK) 2. Innocent in Sense and in Body: Adam and Eve in their Mandorlas (5th century - 13th century) (Isabelle Mathian, Ecole du Louvre, France) 3. Prometheus Plasticator: Receptions of the Creation mytheme in Art (Jared A. Simard, New York University, USA) II. Creation Narratives as a Model for Marriage 4. Eve and Pandora – Myths in Dialogue (Thierry Alcoloumbre, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) 5. Tempting Treasures and Seductive Snakes: Presenting Eve and Pandora for the Youngest Readers (Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) 6. Thematic Intercultural Correspondence on the Creation of the Perfect Woman and the Falling in Love with Her (Ovid, Ibn Hazam, Ibn Hasdai, Ibn Zakbel and Alharizi) (Revital Refael-Vivante, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) III. Pandora, Eve and the Feminine Ideal 7. Adam and Eve: Reflections on a Relationship (Roslyn Weiss, Lehigh University, USA) 8. Eve, the First Woman: On Choice and Responsibility (Yael Shemesh, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) 9. Absolving Eve: Medieval Women Writers Remodelling the Creation and the Fall (Tovi Bibring, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) IV. Ideological Manipulations of the Creation Narrative 10. A Story of Adam and Eve for Soviet Children and Adults: The Divine Comedy, a Puppet-Show Based on the Bible. (Hava B. Korzakova, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) 11. Gender Archetypes and National Agendas in the Hebrew Creation Myth of the Daffodil (Vered Tohar, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) 12. Genesis 3:15 and 16 and the State of Israel (Susan Weiss, Centre for Women’s Justice, Israel) V. Reinterpreting the Creation Narratives: Post-Modern Readings 13. ‘The Beautiful Trap Inside Us’: Pandoran Science Fiction & Posthuman Personhood (Benjamin Eldon Stevens, Trinity University, USA) 14. Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and the Human Pandora (Edmund Cueva, University of Houston-Downtown, USA) 15. Pandora’s Split: Reading the Myth of Pandora in Cruel Beauty (Lily Glasner, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) 16. Adam the Alien, Eve the Robot: The Reinterpretation of Adam, Eve, Prometheus and Pandora in Japanese Manga and Anime (Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) Conclusion (Lisa Maurice and Tovi Bibring, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) Notes Bibliography Index
Lisa Maurice is Associate Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. Tovi Bibring is Associate Professor in the Department of French Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
Reviews for Gender, Creation Myths and their Reception in Western Civilization: Prometheus, Pandora, Adam and Eve
I would recommend this collection of well-researched essays to interested and curious scholars and educators hoping to learn more about how the “West” has understood our beginnings as humans and as engendered beings. * The Classical Outlook *
