Myth Response Paper

By Hillary Corwin

Long ago, the earth was flat, the rock was level, and the ocean was as smooth as glass. Even the trees were no taller than the grasses of the plains. Gods, beasts and men walked amongst each other. There was no separation between tribes, no barriers between herds, and no territory divided between the gods.

One day, when the earth had become very heavily populated, the herds and packs of animals began to fight between one another. The human tribes did the same. Angered by the way the beasts and men were killing each other, Kosmos, one of the mightiest of the gods, proposed a simple solution: kill the humans, kill the animals, and leave the earth in perfect order as only the gods could maintain. The goddesses Chaos and Gaea were shocked at Kosmos’ suggestion. “That would make us just like them,” they said, “killing to preserve what we believe is rightfully ours.” Gaea, instead, offered a second solution, “We will create barriers. The seas will become turbulent and the rock will become tall and sharp and vertical. There will be ice and snow and cliffs so tall that any man who stands beneath one will be sure that it is truly the end of the world, and any man who stands at one’s edge will quiver with fear.” So she raised the rock and made the mountains and cliffs and tossed the sea with storms and currents and all sorts of danger. At the ends of the earth she created huge fields of ice and walls of it that seemed to reach the skies. She twisted and turned the earth until it became a sphere and cut the water into fast and turbulent rivers running through the lands. This separated the tribes of men and the herds of beasts and there was perfect order. Kosmos and Gaea were pleased with the new earth.

Chaos was not satisfied. She grew tired of so dull a world and sought to add a little life to it. So she went to one tribe in the night and poured into their drinking water the essence of adventure and innovation. Upon waking, they drank the water and became overwhelmed with the desire to see and experience the worlds beyond their boundaries. They scattered, some moving to the north, some to the south and east and west. They climbed the mountains and built boats to brave the rapids, they made boards that would float on the seas and moved with the currents and invented the wheel to make their travels faster.

Many of the gods watched these men, moving across the obstacles, and laughed and drank and watched them with special interest and delight. They gave them their blessings and mended their wounds. Kosmos, however, was very angry. “What have you done, Chaos? You have destroyed our perfect world. Surely, there can be no order with such a race.” In a fit of rage, Kosmos killed Chaos. In her dying breaths, she spoke a blessing upon the tribe, “Without me, you will thirst, but it is a thirst that can be quenched. Go out and seek adventure and a life less ordinary and you will not thirst and you will live the best of lives.”

Kosmos then struck out against Chaos’ tribe. The rivers swelled, the waves crashed down, the mountains fell and the snow cascaded down upon them, but the gods subdued Kosmos before he could destroy them all and banished him to the skies. They healed those remaining of the tribe of Chaos and gave them their blessings. Adrenos vowed to watch over them, to protect them, to bring them joy until the end of time.

Their ancestors are alive today, still filled with the spirits of innovation and adventure. They are the kayakers, the rock climbers, the snowboarders and surfers, the mountain bikers and all of those who spend their lives seeking to quench their thirst for the essence of adventure – adrenaline.