Creation Stories

Welcome to creation stories!

Prometheus Steals Fire

Prometheus was a clever Titan who cared about humans. When Zeus kept fire away from them, Prometheus decided that people needed it to survive and grow. He stole a glowing ember from the gods, hidden inside a hollow fennel stalk, and brought it to humanity. Fire gave people warmth, cooked food, light and the ability to work metal, but Zeus was furious. Prometheus was chained to a mountain and terribly punished until Heracles eventually freed him. I like this myth because fire is both useful and dangerous. Prometheus gives humans an amazing power, but what they choose to do with it becomes their responsibility.

Fun fact: Prometheus supposedly smuggled divine fire inside a giant fennel stalk. Mythological crime apparently required gardening supplies!

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Romulus and Remus

Romulus and Remus were the legendary twin brothers at the centre of Rome's foundation story. Their father was said to be Mars, the god of war, and their mother was Rhea Silvia. As babies they were placed in a basket and left beside the River Tiber, but a she-wolf found and fed them until a shepherd rescued them. The twins grew into strong young men and eventually decided to build a new city. Unfortunately, they could not agree about who should rule it. Their argument ended terribly, and Romulus became Rome's first king. I think their story has everything: danger, wild animals, kings, brothers and one extremely famous wolf!

Fun fact: Rome's legendary founders were fed by a wolf. Suddenly your childhood packed lunch seems very boring!

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The Myth of the Bennu

The Bennu was ancient Egypt’s sacred bird of beginnings and renewal. It was especially connected with Heliopolis, the Sun gods Ra and Atum, and the resurrected god Osiris. Modern retellings sometimes offer a neat adventure called the Myth of the Bennu, but Egyptian sources do not preserve one continuous story with a beginning, villain and ending. Instead, short religious passages and images reveal several linked ideas. I imagine the Bennu arriving in the stillness of the first morning, when the world has only just risen from the water.

Fun fact: Scientists named an extinct giant heron found in the United Arab Emirates Ardea bennuides, meaning Bennu-like heron.

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