Trickster Archetype

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Mythology is a very broad subject. There are many stories who date way beyond our ancestors. They vary across the world and share similarities and differences. Although no two myths are be the same, the striking resemblance that they bear never cease to amaze me. The two different myths that I will like to compare is the Trickster Archetype. One will be Hermes from Greek mythology and the second one will be Anansi from African mythology.

Anansi is a West African god. Some believe that he was the inspiration for Spider-man. Anansi can appear as either a man or a spider. He is intelligent and plays pranks on everyone. Sometimes his plans get the best of him. For example, one day Anansi was hungry and went to one of his friend house for dinner. When he arrived, dinner was not ready. Anansi was impatient and did not want to wait instead he gave his friend a string from his spider web and advise him to pull on the string when dinner is ready. He then went to another friend house hoping that dinner will be ready for him there too. Unfortunately, his next friend was not ready either so Anansi gave him another string from his web and gave him the same …show more content…

They both feature a god who was a trickster. Both gods were malicious and smart. They use their power to turn the odds in their favor. Although they played malicious pranks, none of these gods was label as evil and was an amusement for the public eye. Loki, the Norse trickster god, on the other hand was very unpopular and his pranks did not amuse anyone. Although Anansi and Hermes shared many things, they also had their differences. Anansi was portray as a man and a spider while Hermes was always portray as a man. Unlike Anansi who did not have any special equipment, Hermes always carried magical sandals, which gave him incredible speed, and a special staff called a caduceus. Hermes had a job; he was the messenger of the gods and he escorted the dead to the

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Trickster Archetype

The World On Turtle's Back Genesis Similarities