Deucalion a Greek Myth Retold by J

Deucalion A Greek Myth retold by J. F. Bierlein

At a very early point in history, perhaps even before the end of the golden age, humankind grew very wicked and arrogant. They grew more tiresome by the day until Zeus finally decided to destroy them all. Prometheus, Titan creator of mankind, was warned of this coming flood and he in turn warned his human son, Deucalion, and Deucalion’s wife, Pyrrha. Prometheus placed the two of them in a large wooden chest. And it rained for nine days and nine nights until the entire world was flooded except for two mountain peaks in Greece, Mount Parnassus and Mount Olympus, the latter being the home of the gods.

Finally the wooden chest landed on Mount Parnassus, and Deucalion and Pyrrha got out of it only to see that the entire world around them had been destroyed. From the trunk, they took out enough provisions to feed themselves until the waters subsided. Then when they came down from the mountain, they were horrified. Everywhere around them were dead bodies of humans and animals; everything was covered with silt, slime, and algae. The couple was grateful to be saved and they gave thanks to the gods for their deliverance.

Zeus spoke to them out of the sky, saying, “Veil your heads and cast behind you the bones of your mother.” Pyrrha responded, “We have no mother with us, only my husband and I were in the chest.” But Deucalion knew what Zeus meant and threw some rocks behind him. For rocks are the bones of Mother Earth, the mother of all. These rocks were transformed into people who repopulated the earth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tata and Nena Flood Story

An Aztec Myth retold by J. F. Bierlein

During the era of the fourth sun, the Sun of Water, the people grew very wicked and ignored the worship of the gods. The gods became angry and Tlaloc, the god of rains, announced that he was going to destroy the world with a flood. However, Tlaloc was fond of a devout couple, Tata and Nena, and he warned them of the flood. He instructed them to hollow out a great log and take two ears of corn-one for each of them-and eat nothing more.

So Tata and Nena entered the tree trunk with the two ears of corn, and it began to rain. When the rains subsided and Tata and Nena's log landed on dry land, they were so happy that they caught a fish and ate it, contrary to the orders of Tlaloc. It was only after their stomachs were full that they remembered Tlaloc's command.

Tlaloc then appeared to them and said, "This is how I am repaid for saving your lives?" They were then changed into dogs. It was at this point, where even the most Copyright © 2015 by Greenville Area School District

righteous people were disobedient, that the gods destroyed the world, ushering in the present era of the Fifth Sun.

Study Guide Questions

1. Why did Zeus choose to destroy mankind?

2. Why was Deucalion saved? What instructions was he given?

3. How does Zeus help the survivors repopulate the earth?

4. Why did the Aztec gods create the flood?

5. Why were Tata and Nena saved? What instructions were they given?

6. What happened to Tata and Nena after the flood? Why?

7. After having reading the stories of Noah and Utnapishtim what patterns do you see emerge from the archetypal flood myth stories?