World ocean (mythology)

As the abyss in chaotic motion, the ocean is everywhere. It is unlimited, not ordered, not organized, amorphous, unseen, dangerous, terrible. Some myths note its cacophony , opposed to the ordered rhythm of the sea ^[1] .

Chaos can be concretized as water or an unorganized interaction of water and fire, and the transformation of chaos into space - as a transition from water to land ^[2] . In many ancient cosmogonic myths, the ocean and chaos are equivalent and inseparable. According to this concept, the ocean remains out of space even after the appearance of the latter. Moreover, the ability of the ocean to be generated is realized in the appearance of land from it and in the depths of the ocean of a mythological creature that promotes generation or, on the contrary, jealously defends the “old order” and prevents the beginning of the chain of births from the ocean ^[1] .

Yu. E. Berezkin and E. N. Duvakin summarize the primary water motif as follows: “The waters are primary. The earth is lowered into the water, appears above the water, grows out of a piece of solid substance, placed on the surface of water or liquid mud, from an island in the ocean, is exposed when the waters have subsided, etc. ” ^[3] .

The idea of ​​the primacy of the sea element, from the bowels of which the earth arises or is created, has a universal character. This representation is present in almost all mythologies of the world, starting with the Australian . Much less frequently is there a motive for the emergence of the world as a result of the interaction of two elements of water or ice with fire. Typical examples are Scandinavian and Iranian mythologies .

The motive for the origin of the world from an egg sometimes correlates with the motive of a diver, a waterfowl, extracting silt from the sea, from which land is gradually formed. In totemic myths, bird people often appear as phratrial ancestors, which could contribute to the development of such a motive.

A diving bird, catching a lump of land from the primary ocean, often appears in the mythologies of American Indians and Siberian peoples. In Polynesian mythology, Maui catches island fish. In Scandinavian mythology, the aces raise the earth or the Thunder thunderbolt alone catches a “ snake of the middle earth ” from the bottom of the ocean. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the earth itself comes to the surface in the form of a knoll. This particular motif corresponds to the picture of the Nile flood. The primary hill is identified with the solar god Ra - Atum . In the brahmanas it was said that Prajapati drew the earth from the water, taking the form of a boar ^[2] .

In many mythologies of Asian countries, in which there is an image of the infinite and eternal primordial ocean or sea, there is a motive for the creation of the earth by a celestial being descended from the sky and interfering the ocean water with an iron club, spear or other object, resulting in a thickening that gives rise to the earth. A similar myth of creation is present in the Mongol tradition. In Japanese mythology, the islands of Japan arose from the dirty foam raised when the ocean waters were mixed with a spear of a divine character ( Izanagi and Izanami ). In the mythologies of the Mongolian peoples, the role of a condenser of ocean water is played by the wind, creating from them a special milk substance that becomes the earth’s firmament. According to the Kalmyks , plants, animals, people and gods were born from this milky fluid of the original ocean (sea) over time. These versions reveal a connection with the Indian myth of the churning of the Milky Ocean .

This myth contains a motive for the confrontation between the elements of water and fire. As a result of rapid rotation, a whorl - Mount Mandara - lights up, but trees and grasses emit their juices into the drying ocean. This motif echoes the Tungus myths about the creation of the earth by a celestial being who, with the help of fire, drains a part of the primeval ocean, thus conquering a place for the earth. The motive of the struggle between water and fire in connection with the theme of the oceans is also in other traditions.

Myths about the oceans everywhere are accompanied by myths about its containment, when the earth was already created, and myths about the attempts of the ocean to regain undivided dominance. In Chinese mythology, there is the idea of ​​a giant hollow or pit that determines the direction of the ocean and takes away excess water. In the mythology of the peoples of the world there are numerous legends about the flood .

There is a known contrast between two types of myths (for example, in Oceania ) - about land sinking in the ocean and about the retreat of the ocean or sea. An example of the first type is the legend about the emergence of Easter Island recorded on this island. In the Nganasan myth of creation, at first the earth was completely covered with water, then the water falls and exposes the top of the Shaitan ridge Koika Mou. The first two people fall on this peak - a man and a woman. In the Polynesian myth of creation ( Tuamotu Island), the creator of Thane , "Shedding Water," created the world in the waters of the water lord Pune and called for the light that laid the foundation for the creation of the earth ^[1] .

The motive of the cosmogonic struggle with the serpent ( dragon ) is widespread in terms of suppressing water chaos. In most mythologies, the serpent is associated with water, often as its captor. He threatens with either flooding or drought, that is, a violation of the measure, water “balance”. Since the cosmos is identified with order and measure, chaos is associated with a violation of the measure. The Egyptian Ra-Atum fights with the underground serpent Apop , the Indian Indra - with Vritra , who took the form of a snake, the Mesopotamian Enki , Ninurta or Inanna - with the owner of the underworld Chur, the Iranian Tishtriy (Sirius) - with the devas Aposhi. Apop, Vritra, Chickens and Aposhi detain cosmic waters. Enlil or Marduk defeats the dragon-ancestor Tiamat , the wife of Apsu , who personified as a dragon, the personification of the dark waters of chaos. There are hints in the Bible that God is fighting a dragon or a wonderful fish, also representing water chaos ( Rahab , Tehom, Leviathan ). The heroic struggle of Yu with the cosmic flood ends with the murder of the treacherous owner of the water Gungong and his "close" - nine-headed Xianli.

The transition from the formless water element to the land is the most important act necessary for turning chaos into space. The next step in this direction is the separation of the sky from the earth, which, perhaps, in essence coincides with the first act, if we take into account the initial identification of the sky with the oceans. But it was the repetition of the act - first down, and then up - that led to the separation of three spheres - earthly, heavenly and underground, which represents a transition from binary to triple division. The middle sphere, the earth, is opposed to the water world below and the heaven above. A trichotomous scheme of the cosmos arises, including the necessary space between the earth and the sky. This space is often represented in the form of a cosmic tree . Earth and sky are almost universally represented as feminine and masculine, a married couple at the beginning of the theogonic or theocosmogonic process. Moreover, the feminine is sometimes associated with the elements of water and with chaos; it is usually thought on the side of "nature", not "culture".

Mythical creatures personifying chaos, defeated, shackled, overthrown, often continue to exist on the outskirts of space, along the shores of the oceans, in the underground "lower" world, in some special parts of the sky. So, in Scandinavian mythology, frost giants precede Ases in time, and in space they are located on the outskirts of the earth’s circle, in cold places, near the oceans ^[2] .

In Sumerian mythology, there was an image of the original sea abyss - Abtsu , on the site of which the most active of the gods Enki , representing the land, fresh water and agriculture on irrigated lands, built his dwelling ^[2] . At first, the entire world was filled with an ocean that had no beginning or end. It was probably thought to be eternal. In his bowels lurked the mother of Nammu . In her womb a cosmic mountain appeared in the form of a hemisphere, which later became the earth. The arc of shiny tin, encircling the hemisphere vertically, later became the sky. In the Babylonian version in the endless pristine Ocean there was nothing but two monsters - the forefather Apsu and the foremother Tiamat ^[1] .

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the concept of chaos is etymologically associated with darkness ( cake ), but we are talking primarily about water chaos in the form of the primary ocean ( Nun ) or, in the German version, five divine pairs representing its different aspects. Water chaos is opposed by the first mound-hill protruding from it, with which Atum is associated in Heliopolis (as Ra- Atum), and in Memphis - Ptah . Initially, the existing ocean is personified in the image of the "father of the gods" Nun. From the primordial ocean, Nuna creates himself the primordial, primordial, miraculous Lord Atum , who then creates heaven, earth, snakes, etc. from Nun. In the historical era, the ocean, which was buried underground, gave rise to the Nile River. In the Herculean version of the myth, the internal connection of the ocean with chaos is noted ^[1] .

In Indian mythology there is an idea of ​​darkness and the abyss ( asat ), but also of the primary waters generated by night or chaos ^[2] . Ancient Indian oceans myths contain both typical and original motifs. In the creation hymn ( PB X 129), the beginning is presented as the absence of existing and non-existent, airspace and the sky above it, death and immortality, day and night, but the presence of water and erratic movement. In the waters of the eternal ocean there was a vital principle generated by the power of heat and giving rise to everything else. The Anthem of Cosmic Heat (PB X 190) contains another version: “Law and truths were born from the flaming heat ... From here comes the rippling ocean. A year was born out of the rippling ocean, distributing days and nights. ” The Rig Veda repeatedly mentions the generative power of the ocean (“multigeneral”, it roars at its first distribution, giving rise to creations, the bearer of wealth), thousands of its currents flowing from the depths, it is said that the ocean is the spouse of rivers. The cosmic ocean forms the space frame separating it from chaos. The ocean is personified by the god Varuna . Varuna is associated both with the destructive and uncontrolled power of the waters of the oceans, and with fruit-bearing waters that bring wealth to people ^[1] .

Indian mythology is characterized by the image of the creator god ( Brahma or Vishnu ), floating on the primary waters in a lotus flower , on the dragon Sheshe ^[2] .

The ideas of ancient Greek mythology about the ocean demonstrate a typologically more advanced stage when the image of the ocean becomes the object of “pre-scientific” research and natural philosophical constructions. The ocean is presented primarily as the greatest world river (Hom. Il. XIV 245) ^[1] , surrounding the earth and the sea ^[4] , giving rise to rivers, springs, sea currents (XXI 196), the shelter of the sun, moon and stars, which they rise from the ocean and enter it (VII 422; VIII 485). The Ocean River is in contact with the sea, but does not mix with it ^[1] . In the far west, the Ocean is washing the boundaries between the world of life and death ^[5] .

In Homer, the Ocean is beginningless, but in Hesiod it is spoken of “keys of the ocean”, in which the horse Pegasus was born, who received his name from them ( Hes. Theog. 282). Homer and Hesiod Ocean is a living creature, the progenitor of all gods and titans (Hom. Il. XIV 201, 246), but Ocean also had parents. According to Hesiod, the Ocean is the son of the oldest of the titans Uranus and Gaia (Hes. Theog. 133) ^[1] . The ocean is the brother and husband of Thefis , from whom he gave birth to all rivers and springs ^[4] - three thousand daughters - the oceanids (Hes. Theog. 346-364) and the same number of sons - river flows (Hes. Theog. 367-370) ^{[ 5]} . The gods honor the Ocean as an elderly parent, take care of him, although he lives in solitude ^[1] . The ocean did not participate in the battle of the titans against Zeus and retained its power and trust of the Olympic gods . The ocean is the father of Metis , the wise wife of Zeus (Apollod. I 2, 1). Known for its peacefulness and kindness (Ocean tried unsuccessfully to reconcile Prometheus with Zeus; Aeschyl. Prom. 284–396) ^[5] . Herodotus criticizes the mythological concept of the Ocean as a poetic invention (Herodot. II, 23, cf. also IV 8, 36, etc.). Euripides called the Ocean the sea (Eur. Orest. 1376). Since that time, a tendency has been established to distinguish between the large outer sea - the Ocean and inland seas. Later, the Ocean begins to be divided into parts: Ethiopian, Eritrean, Gallic, German, Hyperborean Ocean , etc. ^[1]

According to the book of Genesis, the Spirit of God rushed over the water. After the separation of light and darkness, on the second day of creation according to the word of God in the midst of the water, the firmament of heaven arises. Then, on the third day, according to His word, the water under the sky gathers in one place and the land appears:

According to the Second Epistle of the Apostle Peter , the world was created from water and, according to this eschatological concept, will die from fire:

In the Middle Ages, the ocean is known mainly from its mythologized side - its hypertrophied dimensions and dangers that inhabit its monsters, pitch darkness, etc.

In the era of the great geographical discoveries (from the 15th century), especially among seafarers, a special version of oceanic (marine) mythology is formed, which is a synthesis of motifs related to the danger of the ocean and new motifs that reflect the experience of sea voyages (unseen countries and people, enchanted islands, fabulous treasures, mysterious ships without a crew, with the dead, like the “ Flying Dutchman ”, etc.).

The romantic tradition develops mainly two circles of topics related to the ocean and its waters: man and the sea (fully identified with the ocean) - in terms of antithesis with the looming idea of ​​kinship in freedom ( I.V. Goethe , G. Heine , J. Byron , P. Shelley , J. Keats , V. Hugo , S. Bodler , V. A. Zhukovsky , A. S. Pushkin , M. Yu. Lermontov , F. I. Tyutchev and others) and water as the original cosmic creator element (water as the element of merging, voluptuousness at Novalis - “Students in Sais”; the theme of water in the second part of Goethe 's Faust; the mythology of water and fire is that m, later - at R. Wagner ).

F. I. Tyutchev in the poem " The Last Cataclysm " wrote:

Similar archaic and romantic ideas about the ocean span the era when the demythologizing image of the ocean turns into an element of semi-mythological space. At the same time, numerous personified images of the Ocean or the sea stand out ( Poseidon , Nereus , Nereids , among them are the mother of Achilles Thetis , Amphitrite , Pontus , Forkis , Tavmant , Triton , Aphrodite Pontius, etc. among the ancient Greeks; Maruta from the ancient Indians) ^[1] .

• Chaos
• Cosmogonic Myths
• world creation

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• Gaerte W., Kosmische Vorstellungen im Bilde prähistorischer Zeit. Erdberg, Himmelsberg, Erdnabel und Weltströme, Anthropos, 1914, Bd. 9, S. 956-979;
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• Kayser O., Die mythische Bedeutung des Meeres in Ägypten, Ugarit und Israel, B., 1959 (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, v. 78);
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• Schier K., Das Erschöpfung aus dem Urmeer und die Kosmogonie der Völospá // Märchen, Mythos, Dichtung, Münch., 1963.