Any extensive exploration of mythology will reveal how incredibly heterogeneous human culture is. I know of no book that shows this better than Barbara C. Sproul’s Primal Myths. Sproul has collected the creation myths of every corner of the world. From the Yao of northern Mozambique we learn how “. . .the gods were driven off the face of the earth by the cruelty of man.” The Jains and Buddhists of India give us rarified discussions of why there are no creators at all. The Maidu of California tell us that the world was created from the dirt under turtles’ fingernails.
Rich with plot and character, they can be read as beguiling stories,
