Polynesian

When Love Leads to Deception and Betrayal

In the beginning, Father Rangi and Mother Papa, who represented sky and water fell in love and created six gods: Tawhiri, god of winds and storms, Tane, father of trees and birds, Tu, god of war-spirited humans, Tangaroa, god of fish and sea reptiles, Rongo, god of the sweet potatoe and edible roots, and Haumia, god of the fern rood and edible wild plants. Father Rangi and Mother Papa were so in love that they were unseparable, creating tension with the children because this forced them to live in perpetual darkness, so they decided to pull thier parents apart so that they could live in daylight. Once they succeeded, Tawhiri became angry that they only lived in daylght, so he sent winds and storms to attack his siblings.

Tawhiri destroyed Tane's forests and attacked Tangaroa's seas. Tangaroa retreated into the depths of the sea, but his two grandchildren; shark and lizard, debated whether to live on land or in the water. Shark decided to live in water, while lizard chose to live on land, therefore, making Tane, the father of trees, and Tangaroa, god of fish and the sea, enemies. While Tane and Tangaroa fought, the rest of the children decided to attempt at stopping Tawhiri's winds. Each of them tried, but only Tu proved strong enough to defeat Tawhiri. Tu wanted revenge on his siblings for failing, so he gave his humans the power to eat Tane's birds, Tangaroa's fish, Rongo's sweet potatoes, and Haumia's fern roots.

Meanwhile, Tane created the first woman named HIne Ahu One, fell in love with her, and produced a child named Hine Titama. Tane fell in love with his child, and with her, created the first men and women; upon finding out about this, the ashamed Hine Titama decided to live in the underworld to watch over her children once they had passed away.

Similarities with Bible
 * Like the Bible, The Creation Cycle describes how nothing exists in the beginning of time.[[image:rangi width="489" height="836"]]
 * There are confilcts between families; especially between brother and brother.
 * Humans are created by gods. God creates Adam and Eve and Tane creates Hine Ahu.

Differences with the Bible
 * The Creation Cycle has a a specific Underworld and upper world, while so far in the bible, there is only one place where god and the humans live.
 * In the Creation Cycle, many different gods control animals, plants, and the ocean, while in the Bible, God himself is the only one in ruling over the creatures and oceans of the world.
 * Woman is created first by Tane in The Creation Cycle, while in the Bible, man is created before woman.

Similarities between Enuma Elish
 * They both start out with two main gods, usually a mother and father figure, that create all the gods.
 * Conflicts occur between the children and the parents resulting in either pain or death.
 * Both stories focus mainly on the gods and not humans. Humans come last in the creation.
 * Humans are made out of a god in some way. In the Enuma Elish, humans are made from Tiamat’s remains. In the Polynesian creation, humans are made from the red clay (blood from Father Rangi and Mother Papa)

Differences between Enuma Elish
 * The Enuma Elish describes earth in the beginning as nothing but water. The Polynesian creation describes earth as nothing but an idea.
 * The Enuma Elish has conflict between Tiamat and Marduk whereas the Polynesisan creation has conflict between both parental figures and the children.
 * In the Enuma Elish, the gods make humans to serve the gods. In the Polynesian creation, the gods don’t state the reason for making humans.
 * The Polynesian creation specifically states that women were made first but in the Enuma Elish, it does not specify whether men or women came first.