African mythology is as diverse as the collection of cultures that encompass it. As the cradle of civilization, it nursed the Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures. Prior to this there were indigenous tribesmen, nomadic in nature, who carried their myths from place to place, influencing those cultures surrounding them. Thus, we can see that there are many similarities across the continent in the stories and traditions.
Although the stories in the suggested reading list are not representative of the wide diversity of African mythology, they do present us with samples of animals as primary characters in creating order and reason out of chaos and accident. They are representative of a type of myth that provides the reader with animals playing different roles according to the culture they originate in. In some of the myths, animals are created before humans, and they take an active role in the genesis of the world.
In the mythology of the Fon, or Dahomean, located in what is nowadays the country of Benin, a bird by the name of Wututu acts as the messenger of Sogbo, who is the chief of thunder pantheon. We can see the important role that the animals play by studying the following two myths: “The Rule of Sky and Earth Delimited” ( ADDIN ENRef Courlander, p.161) where in the search for water Sagbata sends the eagle, the vulture, the cat, and the chameleon to his brother Mevioso to ask for water telling us what they endure, and “Sogbo Becomes Master of the Universe”” (Courlander, p.163) where it is Wututu, Sogbo’s messenger who brings relief to the draught. (If the Wututu bird is killed by accident, a big ceremony must be held in reparation).
Some animals such as the praying mantis are widely regarded as sacred. The praying mantis was credited by the San (Bushmen) with bringing fire to the people after having stolen it from the ostrich. The Pale Fox, from the Dogon tradition, was said to have invented agriculture after stealing seeds from the creator god. After going into refuge in the wilderness he is given credit for being the leader in the expansion of the human civilization. For the Bambara people, located in Mali, the originator of agriculture was an antelope sent from heaven to teach the skills of farming ADDIN ENRef (Willis).
There are also representations of animals which are part of the prime force of creation. As representative of these animals we have one of the most widespread creatures used in African mythology, the serpent (Willis, p.277). Under the names of Chinaweji or Chinawezi in Central and Southern Africa, and Nkongolo in Zaire, the serpent plays a pivotal role.
One of the most popular representations of animals in African mythology is the trickster (please refer to other units in this volume). At times represented by a spider in West and Central Africa and as a hare in southern Africa, it also appears in the form of a tortoise or even that of a jackal.
In the creation myth of the Yoruba tradition, “The Descent from the Sky” ADDIN ENRef (Courlander, p.189), Agemo the chameleon plays an integral part in the power struggle between Olorun, the supreme orisha, ruler over the sky and the earth beneath the sky, and Olokun, female deity of the sea and the marshes, in his quest to make earth where only water and marshes exist. The chameleon outwits Olokun in a match paralleling the Greek tale of Arachne challenging Athena to a weaving competition. In the end, Athena saves Arachne’s life as she turns into a spider.
The roles of animals in American Indian mythology are extensive, and integral to the faith of humans in nature. Thus, we can see the hero in the shape of an animal, or that of a human with animal form changing shape as it wills. Among the legends and myths of such heroes we have Old Man Coyote, Bear Man, Spider Woman, or even the Man-Eagle. There is a blurred alliance between people and animals which is most prevalent with the North Pacific Coast tribes and the Plains Indians.
In the Altaie tradition, located in the mountains of Mongolia, it is two geese that fly over the primordial waters ADDIN ENRef (Leeming, p.7). One of them represents God, and the other the devil.