Tale of a Trickster

I am taking both Classical Foundations of Literature and Mythologies this semester, and have found that there are in fact a lot of similarities between many Greek and Roman stories and those of other cultures. Perhaps the most obvious similarities are found in the tales of tricksters. We read the tale of Hermes for this class, but I have read many other trickster tales from different cultures in Mythologies and even a couple in American Literature.

One of the stories that most reminded me of the tale of Hermes was called "The Mwindo Epic." It is an oral story told by the Nyanga people in the Congo. Like Hermes, the trickster of this story is a baby who was born the day before he starts playing his tricks. He is very full of himself and likes to boast and brag. Although he is not a god like Hermes, he did have an unusual birth. He uses his trickery in order to help himself, but it does help others in return. A brief summary/description of the "Mwindo Epic" can be found at http://www.rickriordan.com/mwindo_epic.htm

Another trickster story that we discussed in my Mythology class was the Raven myth. It is a native American myth that has a number of different versions. The raven has an unusual birth, is a baby throughout a large portion of the story (he has the ability to shape shift between the raven and a baby), and lives on the outskirts of society as well. He tricks people into giving him the moon, stars, and the sun/daylight. Although he did this for selfish reasons, all of these things did end up helping society.

Throughout the semester we have read a number of Native American, African, and African-American trickster stories and it has surprised me how much they all have in common. In a number of them the trickster is a baby. They all are selfish and do things in order to please themselves, even if their actions do in some way help society. Almost all of them have unusual births, and a number of them are either gods or in some way conceived with the help of the gods. They live on the fringe of society and do not adhere to their laws and social rules. Reading the tale about Hermes has helped me to see these stories in a different way. I think that that is one of the things that many of the pieces of literature that we have read thus far in this class has helped me to do. I am now more able to "read the eternities rather than the times" now than I was before because I have the background knowledge. It is something that I find immensely interesting, and knowing similar stories, in many cases the very stories that more modern ones are based off of, has made the experience much more interesting for me.