James George Frazer's origin of death stories: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Washington DC Zoo - Veiled Chameleon 1.jpg|thumb|right|The [[chameleon]] is reviled as a messenger whose slowness is responsible for the origin of death.<ref>{{citation |title=African Mythology A to Z |author=Patricia Ann Lynch, Jeremy Roberts |chapter=Chameleon |pages=24-25 |isbn=9781604134155 |year=2010}}</ref>]] |
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The '''origin of death''' is the theme of many [[myth]]s. In Africa, hundreds of stories of this kind have been recorded.<ref>{{citation |title=Introduction to African religion |author=John S. Mbiti |chapter=The Origin of Death |pages=116-117 |isbn=9789966469281 |year=1992}}</ref> |
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==Nigeria== |
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'''The Origin of Death''' is a [[myth]]ological story of the [[Bura-Pabir language|Bura people]] of northern [[Nigeria]] that serves as an explanation for [[death]] on Earth.<ref>{{citation |title=Encyclopedia of World Mythology |author=Arthur Cotterell |year=1999 |chapter=Death comes into the world |quote=Long ago, there was no such thing as death. All were therefore surprised when a man died. They sent a worm to the sky to ask Hyel, the supreme deity (Bura, Pabir/Nigeria), what they should do. |year=1999 |isbn=9780760728550}}</ref> |
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The [[Bura-Pabir language|Bura people]] of northern [[Nigeria]] say that, at first, neither death nor disease existed but, one day, a man became ill and died. The people sent a worm to ask the sky deity, Hyel, what they should do with him. The worm was told that the people should hang the corpse in the fork of a tree and throw mush at it until it came back to life. But a malicious lizard, Agadzagadza, hurried ahead of the worm and, instead, told them to dig a grave, wrap the corpse in cloth and bury it instead. The people did this so when the worm arrived and said that they should dig up the corpse, place it in a tree, and throw mush at it, they were too lazy to do this and so death remained on Earth.<ref>{{citation |title=Encyclopedia of World Mythology |author=Arthur Cotterell |year=1999 |chapter=Death comes into the world |quote=Long ago, there was no such thing as death. All were therefore surprised when a man died. They sent a worm to the sky to ask Hyel, the supreme deity (Bura, Pabir/Nigeria), what they should do. |year=1999 |isbn=9780760728550}}</ref><ref> |
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| ⚫ | {{citation |last=Scheub |first=Harold |title=The African storyteller: stories from African oral traditions |year=1990 |publisher=Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company |isbn=9780840360373 |page=52 |pages =494 |quote= the Bura people [...] had an unusually full system of culture embedded in their folk tales.}}</ref> This Bura story has the common mythic [[motif (narrative)|motif]]s of a vital message which is diverted by a [[trickster]].<ref>{{citation |last=Scheub |first=Harold |title=Meanings: Manual for the African Storyteller |year=1994 |publisher=Kendall/Hunt |isbn=9780840399342 |page=27 |quote=The motif is a venerable mythic motif, the interrupted message,and raises the question of what would have happened if only, if only . . . A worm, in this incarnation of the motif, is to inform the humans that life is everlasting. But a trickster of a lizard overtakes the worm, and gives the wrong message: humans are evanescent. So it is that death comes permanently into the world. And the storyteller adds a scene in which the onus for death is placed entirely on the backs of humans: people are too lazy to retrieve the corpse and hang it on a tree.}}</ref> |
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==The story== |
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In the beginning, it is stated that neither death nor [[disease]] existed. One day, a single man became ill and died. The people saw this and decided to ask the sky what action they should take. The people then told a [[worm]] to go and ask the sky what they should do with this man. When the worm goes to the sky, the sky tells the worm to have the people hang the [[corpse]] in the fork of a tree and throw mush at it until it comes back to life. |
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While the worm is making his way back, a [[lizard]] named Agadzagadza hurries ahead of the worm. It is said that he purposely intended to deceive the people on earth. When he arrives at the village, he tells the people that the sky sent him instead. He then tells them that sky ordered they dig a [[grave (burial)|grave]], wrap the corpse in cloth, and bury it in the grave. The people follow his advice and the worm returns afterwards. |
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When the worm arrives, he immediately tells the people that they were wrong to accept the wisdom of Agadzagadza and that they should promptly unbury the corpse, place it in a tree, and throw mush at it. The people refuse to do this out of [[laziness]] and so it ends that death remains on Earth. |
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==Aetiology== |
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While the Buran people blame Agadzagadza for deceiving them and allowing death to remain, the story also indicates that mankind is at fault for listening to the lizard and being too lazy to carry out the right instructions.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} |
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== Scheub == |
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{{Expand section|date=July 2011}} |
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Harold Scheub states that the Bura had an "unusually full system of culture" expressed in Bura folk-tales.<ref> |
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{{cite book |
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| last = Scheub |
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| first = Harold |
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| title = The African storyteller: stories from African oral traditions |
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| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=bYLfAAAAMAAJ |
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| accessdate = 2011-07-23 |
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| edition = revised |
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| year = 1990 |
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| publisher = Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company |
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| isbn = 9780840360373 |
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| page = 52 |
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| pages = 494 |
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| quote = [...] the Bura people [...] had an unusually full system of culture embedded in their folk tales. |
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}} |
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</ref> He analyses the the story in terms of mythic [[Motif (narrative)|motif]]s: the interrupted message and the intervention of a [[trickster]]-figure.<ref> |
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{{cite book |
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| last = Scheub |
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| first = Harold |
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| title = Meanings: Manual for the African Storyteller |
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| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=_crfAAAAMAAJ |
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| accessdate = 2011-07-23 |
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| year = 1994 |
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| publisher = Kendall/Hunt |
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| isbn = 9780840399342 |
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| page = 27 |
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| pages = 109 |
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| ⚫ | | |
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}} |
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</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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==Bibliography== |
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* |
* {{citation |author=Eva M. Thury, Margaret K. Devinney |year=2005 |title=Introduction to Mythology |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780195179682}}</ref> |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2011}} |
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{{death}} |
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[[Category:African mythology]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Cultural aspects of death| ]] |
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[[Category:Eschatology]] |
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{{Africa-myth-stub}} |
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{{death-stub}} |
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</nowiki> |
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Revision as of 15:23, 23 July 2011
The origin of death is the theme of many myths. In Africa, hundreds of stories of this kind have been recorded.[2]
Nigeria
The Bura people of northern Nigeria say that, at first, neither death nor disease existed but, one day, a man became ill and died. The people sent a worm to ask the sky deity, Hyel, what they should do with him. The worm was told that the people should hang the corpse in the fork of a tree and throw mush at it until it came back to life. But a malicious lizard, Agadzagadza, hurried ahead of the worm and, instead, told them to dig a grave, wrap the corpse in cloth and bury it instead. The people did this so when the worm arrived and said that they should dig up the corpse, place it in a tree, and throw mush at it, they were too lazy to do this and so death remained on Earth.[3][4] This Bura story has the common mythic motifs of a vital message which is diverted by a trickster.[5]
References
- ^ Patricia Ann Lynch, Jeremy Roberts (2010), "Chameleon", African Mythology A to Z, pp. 24–25, ISBN 9781604134155
- ^ John S. Mbiti (1992), "The Origin of Death", Introduction to African religion, pp. 116–117, ISBN 9789966469281
- ^ Arthur Cotterell (1999), "Death comes into the world", Encyclopedia of World Mythology, ISBN 9780760728550,
Long ago, there was no such thing as death. All were therefore surprised when a man died. They sent a worm to the sky to ask Hyel, the supreme deity (Bura, Pabir/Nigeria), what they should do.
- ^
Scheub, Harold (1990), The African storyteller: stories from African oral traditions, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, p. 52, ISBN 9780840360373,
the Bura people [...] had an unusually full system of culture embedded in their folk tales.
{{citation}}: More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ Scheub, Harold (1994), Meanings: Manual for the African Storyteller, Kendall/Hunt, p. 27, ISBN 9780840399342,
The motif is a venerable mythic motif, the interrupted message,and raises the question of what would have happened if only, if only . . . A worm, in this incarnation of the motif, is to inform the humans that life is everlasting. But a trickster of a lizard overtakes the worm, and gives the wrong message: humans are evanescent. So it is that death comes permanently into the world. And the storyteller adds a scene in which the onus for death is placed entirely on the backs of humans: people are too lazy to retrieve the corpse and hang it on a tree.
Bibliography
- Eva M. Thury, Margaret K. Devinney (2005), Introduction to Mythology, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195179682</ref>
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