“History repeats itself,” wrote Karl Marx, the 19th century German philosopher and economist, “first as tragedy, second as farce.” Of course, he meant this politically, but it applies mythologically as well, a parallel that requires some explanation.

The most influential historical myth that has shaped Western civilization is the Genesis account of Creation. And, like every myth, this biblical story is a template which we have placed upon a raw reality to give order and structure to a mystery that must be made meaningful by interpretation. Today, our world of scientific objectivism requires this myth to be understood as being metaphorically rather than literally true. However, for nearly 3,000 years, it was understood as an unquestioned account of what actually took place. But, as anthropologists and mythologists now explain, the form and meaning of the story representing this myth was reshaped as the repeated retelling of it mixed with complex historical, psychological and sociological dynamics.