Final answer:
A common thread in creation myths from The Bible, Ancient Greece, and Japan, as discussed in Crash Course Mythology, is the earth-diver myth concept, involving a creator deity who shapes the world from primordial mud.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Crash Course Mythology, one common thread in the creation stories from The Bible, Ancient Greece, and Japan is the concept of the earth-diver myth, which involves a creator deity sending an intermediary, often an animal, to gather mud or earth from which to fashion the world and humanity.
For example, in these myths, it is often stated that one god made the universes at the beginning of time and will end them, humans have a soul that continues after death into another dimension, and time is linear with one existence for individuals and the universe. It is also noted that many stories in the Hebrew Bible share similarities with earlier Mesopotamian legends, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Furthermore, both Ancient Greek and Japanese mythologies have complexities in their pantheons that reflect the historical amalgamation of different cultural beliefs, such as the conflict between matriarchal and patriarchal deities in Greek mythology, mirroring the physical conflicts of the peoples who became the Greeks.
This notion supports the idea that myths and deities serve as a reflection of human societal structure and the search for cosmos, or order, within chaos.