Similarily to Vincent, this has not been my first time reading the book of Genesis. I too am a Catholic, so I am very familiar with the stories it entails.
I must say that I find it very difficult to analyse or critique this work seeing as for the most part I believe in the stories it dictates. But, I`ll try my best 🙂
Firstly, I noticed similarities between the God of Genesis and the gods of The Odyssey. Primarily, it was the acceptation of sacrifices. Both the God of Genesis and those of Homer`s work rely upon sacrifices given up by the people in order to stay appeased. However, unlike The Odyssey, Genesis`God appears to truly care for his people. Yes, he does wipe out Sodom, and flood the Earth, but he does so in order to cleanse the Earth of the evil that is growing upon it. He also possesses the qualities of justice and mercy, in that he spares the innocent, and even will pardon the most wicked city for the sake of the righteous. In The Odyssey, however, the gods create a perception that they have little to no concern for humanity, except when it adversely affects them, such as Poseidon hunting down Odysseus. Also, the God of Genesis is portrayed in a far more traditional manner; he is far less endowed with human traits, such as jealousy or lust, reflecting a more common view of a deity. This portrays the discrepancies between different cultures regarding religious beliefs and values.
Another aspect that I noticed is the authority that God desires to possess over His people. The Lord only becomes angry with Adam and Eve when they obtain the knowledge that He has. This portrays the dominance that all Lords wish to have. In an attempt to see this from a non-religious perspective, one could say that the only reason the Lord abhors sin and wickedness is because it is contrary to what he dictates as law. As soon as God feels his authority is lost, such as with Sodom, and with the story of Noah and the ark, he must wipe out any opposition to his will.
Finally, it was interesting to note the discrepancy between what is considered justifiable. For example, when Cain commits the first murder of his brother, Abel, the Lord abhors the action, yet when the sons of Jacob kill Shechem, Hamor, and the rest of the city, all for raping Dinah, the Lord pays no heed. Perhaps adultery is considered horrible enough to justify such atrocious actions, but at the moment, I am a tad perplexed as to how one deems actions as acceptable…
All in all, I look forward to some heated literary and religious discussions in class 🙂