One type across cultures
People noticed the similarities between these characters as early as the beginning of the 20th century, while comparing myths from different continents. It is not their appearance that matches, but a set of traits: cleverness, gluttony, a tendency to deceive, the ability to change shape, and a complete inability to keep agreements.
- AnansiA spider from West African stories. Through trickery, he gets all the world's stories from the sky god and gives them to people.
- CoyoteA character from the myths of Indigenous peoples of North America. He steals fire for people and constantly gets into trouble because of his greed.
- HermesOn the very first day of his life, he steals a herd from his older brother, then makes peace with him by giving him the lyre he has just invented.
Notice the recurring plot: a theft that turns into a gift for people. Fire, stories, and a musical instrument all arrive through breaking the rules, and they could not have arrived any other way, because no one would have given them up willingly.
The trickster is a negative character, like a minor villain.
More often, he is a culture hero: he brings people something they did not have. He does not serve evil; he serves change, and that makes him both dangerous and useful.
Why this character is needed
Every myth has an order to it: the gods are in their places, and the rules are set. Nothing can happen in such a world. The trickster is a built-in source of disorder, and without him, the story will not begin, while the world will remain forever as it was created.
There is also a social role. Stories about a clever trickster allowed people to laugh at the powerful and at the rules without seriously challenging them. Jesters and carnivals served a similar purpose: a temporary, permitted violation of order strengthens order itself.
This type has not disappeared. A character who cheats, lies charmingly, and ultimately saves everyone is a constant presence in movies and TV shows. We forgive him things we would forgive no one else, for exactly the same reasons as 3,000 years ago.
What does a trickster most often do in myths?
Why do mythologies need this kind of character?
Sources
- Tricksters in the mythologies of different peoples have been studied comparatively since the early 20th century
- the stories of Anansi, Coyote, and Hermes belong to different traditions and are not connected by their origins
Next in the “Heroes and Monsters” series
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