Throughout history man has sought an explanation for our origins and why we are here. Many creation myths are attempts by our ancestors to do just that. I have discovered, reading many of these creation myths, that there is also an attempt to explain why human existence is imperfect. The following essay will compare four creation myths and their explanation of how man's imperfection occurred. The first creation myth I will begin with is of Jewish origin and comes from the Old Testament book of Genesis, specifically chapters one through three. Chapters one and two focus on Jehovah's (God) creation of the heavens, the earth, and all living things. After man (Adam) was created, Jehovah gives him a single command: “From every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die (The Revival Study Bible, Genesis 2:16-17).” Jehovah then creates a companion for man, woman (Eve). Through this account of creation the reader has the impression that creation itself is perfect, that is: after creation God declares everything good, man has an intimate friendship with his creator, man and woman were naked and they felt no shame. Unfortunately that perfection ends when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then they felt ashamed, blamed others instead of themselves, and hid from God. Because of their disobedience, God punished them according to his law. Both Adam and Eve and their offspring were condemned to a life of pain, suffering, and death. The second creation myth that I will examine in this essay is of Greek origin and is known as The Five Ages of Man. This myth begins with… middle of the paper… fiction to begin with. I therefore hypothesized that suffering and imperfection were present from the beginning. A common thread that connects most of these myths is the transformation of a seemingly perfect creation into imperfection. This devolution of life from a utopian existence to a dystopian existence varies from myth to myth, but every myth has it. I believe creation myths contain these explanations because of a psychological desire that all people possess. I believe people want to know why there is pain and suffering in the world as much as they want to know the origin of life. Both of these things are essentially inexplicable. Works Cited Sproul, Barbara C.. Primordial Myths: Creation Myths Around the World. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Print.The Revival Study Bible. Ed. William Pratney, Steve Hill, Tamara S. Winslow. Singapore: Genesis, 2010. Print.