Trickery in African Mythology

     I have always liked mythology. One of the classes that I liked taking at Brooklyn College was the Classical Cultures core, which was about Greco-Roman mythology. In addition, I also liked learning about ancient Egyptian and ancient Mesoamerican mythology, which I learned a bit about in my Cultures and Transformations upper level core class that I took during my summer break. For an assignment for one of my English classes, I chose to write about the role of mythology in a particular society. I decided not to focus on Greco-Roman, ancient Egyptian, or Mesoamerican mythology, but the mythology of southern, western, and central Africa.

     One of the subjects that especially fascinated me about African mythology was trickery. Trickery was prevalent in African fables, folklore, and legends. Tricksters could either be gods, animals, or human beings. The trickster’s pranks could eventually lead to trouble among gods and humans. When that happens, the trickster has successfully bridged the gap between the natural and the supernatural.

     One such example is the West African trickster spirit who is known by the Yoruba as Eshu and by the For as Legba. This spirit is the messenger between the human world and the supreme god. In one story, the spirit is walking through a village. One side of his hat is black, while the other side of his hat is red. Some people say that the spirit’s hat is black while others claim that his hat is red. The debate eventually becomes a fight. The spirit returns to end the fight despite being the one who started it in the first place.

     The most interesting tricksters in African mythology were animal tricksters. These stories were about small, seemingly helpless creatures that outwit larger, seemingly more powerful ones. The two most well known animal tricksters still live on today. One trickster is Anansi the spider. In his stories, Anansi tries to trick people. He also tries to distract people in order to steal their food or their money. Another trickster is the hare, who is perhaps even cleverer than Anansi. In one story, the hare tricks an elephant and a hippopotamus into clearing a field for him.

     When enslaved Africans were brought to the United States and the Caribbean, the animals’ stories changed, yet stayed the same. The trickster spider became from Anansi in West and Central Africa to Anancy in the Caribbean. The trickster hare in West, Central, and Southern Africa became Brer Rabbit in the Southern United States. These tales started to define the African diaspora, fueling tales of resistance that encouraged the powerless, the African slaves, to fight back against the powerful people, the slave owners. My research on African mythology brought meaning to my childhood, when I would read stories about Anansi the spider and watch shows about Brer Rabbit.

          – Jacqueline Retalis