Nature Myths
Early myths had their origin in processes of Nature, or aspects of natural phenomena which, to the primitive mind, appeared supernatural. Inducing a belief in powers invisible, infinite and divine, and in future existence. With this belief these aspects were eventually invested with personality.
An example is the Greek tradition of Kronos, a native myth accounting for the separation of Heaven and Earth. Uranus (Heaven) husband to Gæa (Earth) kept his progeny Oceanus (sea) Hyperion (Sun) and Kronos (Light and Dark, or Time) in the hollows of the earth, in darkness. Kronos revolted, and forcing Uranus away, kept him for ever at a distance.
A New Zealand parallel is the Maori Tree or Forest god Tani, who effected a similar severance by lying down on the earth and pushing the Heavens away with his feet. The native belief being that man was a tree upside down, his hair forming the roots and his legs the branches.