The full version of the Greek Flood myth is found only in Ovid's Latin source, but there are references in Greek.

1) Zeus (Jupiter) is angered at the evil of men, and sets out to measure it himself. Unfortunately, he encounters the cannibalistic lycanthrope Lycaon and his worst opinions are confirmed.

2) Zeus brings a great flood. Deukalion (the son of Prometheus) and Pyrrha (the daughter of Epimetheus) survive in a boat. (According to one tradition Prometheus warns them, against the will of Zeus.)

3) When the flood waters recede, the boat comes to rest atop Mt. Parnassos.

4) Ge-Themis (or Zeus) instructs the couple to throw "the bones of their mother" over their shoulders. They correctly conclude the "bones" are the rocks of "Mother Earth." Deukalion's rocks become men and Pyrrha's become women (another autochthonous birth). In one version, Prometheus brings fire and puts life into the stones.

The flood myth is one of the world's most widespread. The oldest known account is the Sumerian story of Zuisudra, which was then transferred to the Babylonian version of Utnapishtim. The Sumerian version antedates the Genesis story of Noah by about two thousand years.

In general, versions of the myth from Asia Minor and westward involve humans and a boat; versions from the rest of Asia and the New World tend to follow the Earth-Diver version. In this latter, the boat carries the culture-bearer and the waters do not recede. The culture-bearer (or a helper) dives down to the bottom and brings back mud, from which the culture-bearer creates a new land surface. Then he creates humans to populate it.