Geneza śmierci w tradycji mitycznej ludów Afryki subsaharyjskiej

Abstract

Death is a common and mysterious experience of man. Many myths of African peoples explain the genesis of death, which is perceived as something unnatural and undesirable in man’s normal life. Referring to the myths, the Africans try to give a causative explanation of human life marked with death and the latter’s universality and inevitability. Certain myths concerning the idea of return to life justify mythically such observations of nature as rising and disappearance of the moon, revival of vegetation, shedding off the skin by snakes, and they undertake the subject of death and its inevitability only in a marginal way. African myths express the primaeval tradition and the cultural heritage of humanity, which is testified to by the occurrence of particular motifs and their variants in the worldwide scale. Five out of seven main causes of the appearance of death have been discussed and this was done in a brief manner. It should be stated that certain myths contain characteristic threads of more than one motif. Death is a phenomenon consistent with God’s will since it is God as the giver of life who also has the ultimate power over man’s death. Many African myths emphasize the fact that the Supreme Being wanted to transfer to people the gift of immortal life but some messenger (it is often a snake, a lizard, a chameleon, a dog or a goat) passed the wrong message in this way making it impossible to fulfil its intention. In the mythical tradition of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa the appearance of death is usually caused by man himself and it results from his weakness (e.g. the overslept message of immortality, stupidity or lightheartedness), the wrong choice and disobedience. The result of man’s fault is death sent by God as a punishment. The paradox of death among the African peoples consists in death being the end of passing earthly life but at the same time it is the source of life and the gate leading to the community of the living and the immortal ancestor spirits in afterlife.