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Culture hero

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: culture hero
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Mythological figure who secures for humanity the attributes of culture either in cooperation with or in opposition to the gods. The culture hero is often an animal or trickster figure, the most common motif being the animal who steals fire from the gods for the benefit of humans. In other stories the culture hero is human and must overcome the opposition of animals. In still others, the culture hero must travel to an inaccessible place to reach a life-giving or healing tree or other plant; supernatural animals may assist or obstruct him. See also Prometheus.

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A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. A typical culture hero might be credited as the discoverer of fire, or agriculture, songs, tradition and religion, and is usually the most important legendary figure of a people, sometimes as the founder of its ruling dynasty. The hero is sometimes said to be still living, but is often instead a star, constellation, animal or purely spiritual in nature.

In many cultures, particularly Native American, the mythical figure of the trickster and the culture hero are combined. To illustrate, Prometheus, in Greek mythology, stole fire from the gods to give it to humans. He is more of a culture hero than a trickster. In many Native American mythologies and beliefs, the coyote spirit stole fire from the gods (or stars or sun) and is more of a trickster than a culture hero. Natives from the Southeastern United States typically saw a rabbit trickster/culture hero, and Pacific Northwest native stories often feature a raven in this role: in some stories, Raven steals fire from his uncle Beaver and eventually gives it to humans. The Western African trickster spider Ananse is also widely disseminated.

In some cultures, there are dualistic myths, featuring two culture heroes arranging the world in a complementary manner. Dualistic cosmologies are present in all inhabited continents[1] and show great diversity: they may feature culture heroes, but also demiurges (exemplifying dualistic creation myths in the latter case), or other beings; the two heroes may compete or collaborate; they may be conceived as neutral or contrasted as good versus evil; be of the same importance or distinguished as powerful versus weak; be brothers (even twins) or be not relatives at all.[2]

The term is sometimes used to describe great authors or artists in a metaphorical sense (e.g. Mzwakhe Mbuli, a South African poet [1]).

Contents

Partial list

Abenaki mythology

  • Bedig-wajo (western)
  • Ktaden (eastern)
  • Glooscap

Australian Aboriginal mythology

Abrahamic mythology (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

Armenian mythology

Ashanti mythology

Aztec mythology

Banks Islander mythology

Celtic mythology (Irish, Welsh)

Chinese mythology

Egyptian mythology

English mythology

Etruscan mythology

Finnish mythology

Greek mythology

Inca mythology

  • Wiracocha

Indian mythology

Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Mythology

Inuit mythology

Japanese mythology

Lakota mythology

Māori mythology

Maya mythology

Mesopotamian mythology

Ohlone mythology

Navaho mythology

Norse mythology

Ojibwe mythology

Persian mythology

Polynesian mythology

Roman mythology

Serbian mythology

Slavic mythology

Solomon Islander mythology

  • To-Kabinana

Mythology of the United States

Ute mythology

Vietnamese mythology

Weenhayek mythology

  • Ahutsetajwaj
  • Tapiatsa

Zuni mythology

  • Yanauluha

External links

Notes

  1. ^ Zolotarjov 1980: 54
  2. ^ Zolotarjov 180: 40–43

References

  • Zolotarjov, A.M. (1980). "Társadalomszervezet és dualisztikus teremtésmítoszok Szibériában". in Hoppál, Mihály (in Hungarian). A Tejút fiai. Tanulmányok a finnugor népek hitvilágáról. Budapest: Európa Könyvkiadó. pp. 29–58. ISBN 963 07 2187 2.  Chapter means: "Social structure and dualistic creation myths in Siberia"; title means: "The sons of Milky Way. Studies on the belief systems of Finno-Ugric peoples".

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