Cosmologies of the ancient Mediterranean world/Kosmologiee van die antieke Mediterreense wereld

Cosmology is concerned with the order of the universe and seeks to provide an account, not only of that order, but also of the mind or reason behind it. In antiquity, the cosmos was usually understood religiously, such that the cosmologies of the ancient Mediterranean world were either religious in nature or constituted a reaction to a religiously conceived understanding of the structures of the universe. The oldest form in which ancient cosmologies occur is myth, which, owing to its elasticity as a form, enabled them to be appropriated, adapted and used by different groups. In addition, different cosmologies co-existed within the same ancient culture, each having an authoritative status. This article provides an introductory overview of these cosmological myths and argues that a comparative approach is the most fruitful way to study them. Emphasis is given to certain prominent cosmological topics, including theogony (the genesis of the divine) or the relationship of the divine to the cosmos, cosmogony (the genesis of the cosmos), and anthropogony (the origin of humans within the cosmos). Although these myths vary greatly in terms of content and how they envision the origin of the cosmos, many of them depict death as part of the structure of the universe. Kosmologiee van die antieke Mediterreense wereld. Kosmologie het te doen met die orde van die heelal en wil rekenskap gee van hierdie orde en ook van die bewussyn daaragter. In die antieke tyd is die kosmos gewoonlik godsdienstig verstaan, met die gevolg dat die kosmologiee van die antieke Mediterreense wereld of 'n godsdienstige aard gehad het of bestaan het uit 'n reaksie op 'n godsdienstig-geskepte begrip van die strukture van die heelal. Mites was die oudste vorm waarin antieke kosmologiee voorkom wat vanwee hulle plooibaarheid dit bewerk het dat hierdie kosmologiee deur verskillende groepe toegeeien, aangepas en gebruik kon word. Hierbenewens het verskillende kosmologiee in die antieke kultuur langs mekaar bestaan--elkeen met sy eie gesagstatus. Hierdie artikel bied 'n inleidende oorsig oor hierdie kosmologiese mites en redeneer dat 'n vergelykende benadering die mees geskikte vir die bestudering van hierdie mites is. Daar word op sekere prominente kosmologiese temas gefokus, waaronder teogonie (die ontstaan van die goddelike) of die verhouding tussen die goddelike en die kosmos, kosmogonie (die ontstaan van die kosmos), en antroponogie (die ontstaan van die mens binne die kosmos). Alhoewel hierdie m