Every culture has a myth about the creation of their universe and themselves. Myths seek to answer many questions about the world that where unknown at the time. They answer questions like Where did people come from? How was the world made? and others like them. They also provide guidance on many moral issues such as what things to value and what morals to uphold. It is clear that these myths reflect much about the values and lifestyles of the cultures where they originated. Therefore by studying and comparing different myths one can learn a lot about the similarities and differences between the cultures. There are several examples of this in the creation myths of Northern Europe and those of Ancient Greece. .
The most striking similarity between Northern Europe and Ancient Greece's creation myths is their divinity system. Both cultures have multiple gods that represent different forces of nature. In Greece for example there is Apollo, the god of the sun. In Europe there is a similar god, Frey, the god of sun and rain. There is also Thor, the god of thunder (Europe), and Poseidon, god of the sea (Greece). The forces of nature are represented by gods because of a need to explain things like weather and celestial patterns. .
One difference that can be seen is the difference of climate and the effect on the culture. The presence of the Frost Giants in the European myth shows that they lived in a vary cold and harsh climate. In Greece they have gods like Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, and Athena the goddess of wisdom and the arts. These variations show that because the Europeans lived in a far harsher environment they had less time for intellectual and artistic pursuits. .
The god's path to power tells a lot about the culture too. These myths come from a time when "might made right" and war was a very real concern. This is reflected in the myths. In both stories blood is shed in a take over of power between gods.