Origins of Sky Myths: Iroquois, Zulus & Polynesians - Essay Sample

Introduction

Myths are stories that are used in explaining natural events. This paper will provide a discussion on the myth of the sky that pf the Iroquois legend and a myth that explains the meaning of existence and death according to the Zulus. Also, a myth that chronicles the adventure of a racial hero basing on the Polynesian.

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One of the several myths about the origin of the sky is based on Iroquois legend who narrates of a great island that was floating in the sky on which the sky people lived long ago before the existence of the world. There were no feelings of sadness and death among the sky people. However, one-eve sky woman noticed that she was giving birth to twins, and her husband was not happy. Her husband tore out a light-giving tree, peered through the hole, and pushed her down to the world below the sky.

When Sky woman was falling from the sky, she was caught by two birds and was taken to other animals. The other animals had created the land they were living in through bringing mud from underneath the sea. The sky woman, while on the land, created the moon, sun, and stars. She bore twin sons Flint and Sapling. They were evil and good sons, respectively. When Sapling created good things in the world, Flint would destroy them. There emerged a fight between good and evil, but good outdid evil. Hence according to Iroquois, this is the origin of the sky, which has moon, sun, and stars.

One of the myths of the origin of death, according to the Zulus, is the claim that in ancient times Unkulunkulu that is the old one sent the chameleon with information saying “go chameleon and say let no man die." The chameleon began the journey towards the earth to pass the message to the people. The chameleon crawled slowly and loitered in the way, eating the purple berries produced by Ubukwebezane tree and basking in the sun when its belly was full and fell asleep. The chameleon tendency of being easily swayed away by things in the air he could crawl and when he sees sweet fruits of flowers he stood, and this made his journey to take a longer time than expected by the sender.

Old one opted to send another message to the earth; this time, he chose to send a lizard. He told the lizard to go and say, “let men die." The lizards crawled faster, passed the chameleon without speaking to it went and delivered its message, the lizard returned on his wheel to the sender. The lizard was always obedient and followed instructions quickly when sent to an errand by the Old One. After a while, the chameleon arrived where it has been sent; it shouted, "the old one says let no man die." The men refuted the information delivered by the chameleon, claiming they had heard the lizard where men should be left to die and could not listen to the chameleon. Thus through the word of the lizard, death started occurring on the earth up to date.

The myth of the racial hero according to Polynesian mythology is of Maui demonstrated as strong charlatan god popularly known for the creation of pacific islands. Maui’s parents were god Tangaroa and a woman whose name is not mentioned. He undertook many activities to improve people's lives, making the day longer and sky higher. Maui was gifted with supernatural supremacies; he created islands while up on a fishing tour with his associates. Foremost he formed an enchanted trawling hook with a jawbone of his grandmother. Then he threw the hook into the water and started pulling up the islands from the ocean floor the islands in which currently Polynesians live. On the matter of advancing the time for people to have more hours to make cloth, cook food and attend to their farms, He used his grandmother’s jawbone to beat the sun, which was caught and placed in the net. Due to that beating, the sun was seriously injured, and from that instance, it limped slowly across the sky, and hence people had extra time to attend to their chores, whether at home or the farm. Maui's attempt to become immortal by tricking Hina was not successful. Hina, the goddess of death, was asleep when Maui was trying to trick her. Maui crept into her body, trying to trespass it only for the goddess to be woken by a bird and crumpled Maui to demise.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in many communities, there are several myths concerning events and phenomena depending on their culture, beliefs, and values. This paper has provided a discussion on the origin of the sky, which consists of the stars, sun, and moon. The myth of the origin of the sky, as illustrated, has been based on the Iroquois legend. The second myth was about the origin of death and existence. The origin of the myth was that of the Zulus is the claim that in the ancient times, Unkulunkulu sent out a lizard and a chameleon on the same errand with different messages. The chameleon was sent with the right message to the men in which the lizard was given a negative message. Chameleon was slow in delivering the excellent news; hence the lizards arrived first and delivered the bad news to the news about them dying. Lastly, the myth of the racial hero from Polynesian mythology, Maui, had the power to make days longer for people to have enough time to perform their duties on the farm or at their homes.