"Where did man come from? Where did time begin? Who, or what, createdall things?" These are questions that mankind has sought to answer from thebeginning of existence as it is known today. Many stories and fables have beentold and passed down from generation to generation, yet two have survived the test of time and criticism. The Biblical account in Genesis, probably writtenby Moses around 1500 B.C., and the story of creation and flood in Ovid'sMetamorphosis, written somewhere between 8 and 17 A.D., have weathered thecriticism and become the most famous. The Genesis account, however, may be themost prominent of the two accounts. Within these accounts, are manysimilarities, as well as differences, which make these two writings wellrespected, while holding their own in the literary world. Though both accounts of the creation and flood are well respected ontheir own, when compared side to side, they are drastically different. Ovid'spurpose for writing the creation story is geared more towards explainingcreation as it happens, in his opinion, whereas the Bible stresses the fact thatthe God of the Hebrews is responsible for the world's existence today. Overall,Ovid is very detailed in explaining the formless mass, creation of the earth,waters and land metaphorically. The Biblical account seems to be more plain,simple, and organized; not spending time on intricate detail. There seems to beno specific time frame for creation in Ovid's writing, whereas, the Bible statesthat it takes God six days to complete His creation; resting on the seventh. InMetamorphoses, the creation story is seven stanzas, a compilation of eightylines. It takes Moses thirty- one verses of Old Testament history to completehis story of creation. There are a few discrepancies in detail as well. The water, in Ovid's,"[holds] up, [holds] in the land," while, in Genesis, the land "[separates] thewaters from the waters" (549; 1:9).
