The African culture is deep in beliefs and values that date back from thousand of years ago. Throughout time these people have found many different ways of keeping track of track of their ancestors and then beliefs of the people before them. We can see this is the form of myths and storytelling.
The myths of the African people are not only a record of the past but many myths are still part of everyday life for these people. Many different cultures in
Myths for these people can come in many forms. Many of them are base on the origin of the world or what life after death will be like and how you get there. The reason for so many versions of a single story is because of traveling tribes and the split of religions throughout time. At one time the
Though there may be many different beliefs and varieties in the African culture there are a few things their myths have in common. Many myths present characters that are spirits, deity, pantheon, ancestors, rules and heroes the people lookup to. Also, in many cultures the earth, sun and moon are seen as gods; gods and goddesses are key to many myths. There are many themes seen in African mythology. The subject of god is always a big issue. In many stories it isn’t clear whether god came from an egg or if the earth did. It presents many issues and subjects the believers to numerous question and disbelievers. Another theme seem amongst the thousand of myths is that of twins. African view twins as being very special beings and are seen as almost sacred. And finally, the trickster, in many different stories there is a trickster of some sort shown, normally in the body of an animal. The trickster is seen by many as the messenger between the world and the gods but also as a destroyer. The trickster shows that survival is possible in all faces of devastation.
Every culture has there own myths and folklores but none compare to the soul and history of those of
For more information:
http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/african-mythology.php
http://www.a-gallery.de/docs/mythology.htm
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/A-Am/African-Mythology.html
For more information on gods:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mythology/african_culture.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:African_mythology_stubs
3 comments:
Nice job with a huge topic! I am especially interested in some of the things you find in common in African mythology. The point about the twins is also interesting -- we will see in Things Fall Apart a very different idea about twins.
I have always been amazed and astonished by the history of mythology. I couldn't imagine learning most of my life experiences from various stories passed on genration to generation. I am left wondering what happens if someone wants to change the story dramatically based on ficticious events.
You didn't let such a broad topic sprawl out too much, because you really could have rambled and I wouldn't have actually read it all. I liked the extra link idea too, it made me wonder if I did enough on mine.
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