Concept in Definition ABC

The term cosmogony comes from the Greek kosmos, which means universe, and from gignomai, which means birth or genesis. Thus, a cosmogony is a story, usually mythical, that explains the creation and order of the universe and, at the same time, the appearance of the human being.

The different conceptions of the universe make up the origin of the different civilizations of antiquity.

Cosmogony of Ancient Egypt

According to the mythology of the ancient Egyptians, in the beginning there was no Heaven or Earth, there was only one ocean infinity that contained all the elements of the universe. The spirit of the world was scattered in chaos, but that same spirit took conscience and thus Ra, the god of the Sky and the Sun, was born. From his force created everything that exists in the world.

Mayan Cosmogony

For the ancient Mayans, the universe was made up of two realities: Heaven and the lower world. For this civilization the world was absolutely still and lifeless, but six deities covered in green plumage and who rested in the depths of the waters decided to create the Earth and everything that exists in her.

From that moment on, the Earth had a spirit of its own or heart from the earth. In it grew a ceiba, whose roots reached the underworld and its leaves reached the different levels of Heaven. Then plants, animals and, finally, human beings made of mud were born.

The Mayan cosmos has three levels: Caan or heaven, Caab or earth, and Xibalbá or the underworld. At the same time, the universe is ordered with geometric criteria.

The Greek cosmogony is known through the mythological accounts of Homer and Hesiod

According to the accounts of both poets, initially there was chaos. Out of this chaos arose Gaea or the Earth and Eros or the love. These gods created darkness, light, the starry sky, discord, mountains, and everything that exists.

Then the god Cronos was born, the father of time, who contracted marriage with Rea. From the union of Cronos and Rhea, Zeus was born, the god who ended up dominating the Olympus of the gods.

The different cosmogony appeared in a period when science did not exist

From Copernicus and Galileo the astronomy it is the science that explains the order of the universe. In this sense, astronomical explanations are equivalent to the accounts of the cosmogony of the ancient world.

At present, the Bing Bang theory is the one that explains the origin of the universe and its expansion. This theory is embedded in the cosmology, a branch of astrophysics.

Photos: Fotolia - Vadimsadovski