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think themselves to be above the gods do not gel away unpunished.; the fact that Zeus himself "gave his nod; in the literal sense of the word. demonstrates that Dion ysos acted in acco rdance with the will of Zeus . Aware of the parallels between Greek and Yoruba mythology and ritual s. Soyinka underscores the significan ce of the elder god, Ogun , who is synonymous with Dion ysos. Like the Gree ks, the Yorubas have a multiplicity of gods and several aetio logica1 myths. In Yotuba Myths. U11i Beier records : In the beginning there was Orisha.. Orisha lived alone in a little hut which wasat the foot of a huge rock. He hada faithful slave . who cooked his food and looked after him in every way .. . One day the slave waylaid Orisha. He waited for him at the rapof the rock. and when he saw Orisha return borne fro m his farm, he roll ed a huge boulder onto the hut. Orisha wascrus hed into hundred s o f pieces and they were scattered thro ughou t the world ...Orunmila [Yoruba crea tion god} put all the pieces he had collected into a large calabash which be called Orisha Nla , or Orishanla, and deposited them in a shrine at Ife . But hundreds of fragments are still scattered throu ghout the world today (6-7) . Orisba's household slave , reminiscent of Cadmus, is one of the earliest examples of resistance to servitude in the Yoroba mytho logy. Beier suggests that the Yoru bas say they have 401 otisha. or divini ties . meaning that DO one knows the exact number. Ogun, like the Dionysos depi cted by Euripides in the B4cc:J:M. symbolizes the creative/d estructi ve principle in humans and nature . In Myth. Soyinka records the myth about the gods ' journey through an impenetrable void and Ogun 's importance: A long isolation from the world of men had created an impassable barrier which they [the gods ] tried, but failed. to demo lish. Ogun finall y took over . Armed with the first techni cal instrum ent which he had 129
forged fro m the ore of mountain-wo mbs. he cleared the primordial j ungle, plunged throu gh the abyss and called on the others to follow. For this feat the gods offered him a crown, invitin g him to be king ove r them (28-29) . Yoruba mythology elevates Ogun because be is the first to restore communication between gods and men. It is to Ogun that Soyinka attributes the creation of the first technical implement and thereby implies Ogun 's superiority to Cronus and Uranus . the former of whom has only a flint sickle to castra te the latter. The rest of the Yoruba creation myth presents Ogun's dual nature and similarity to the Greek: gods Zeus and Dionysos. Ogun, who is well-received at tre. comes to the aid of the townsfolk by ridding them of their enemy, similar to OdewaIe's accomplishment for the Kutuje people in Rotimi' s The GodsAre Not To Blame. However, Ogun refuses several requests from the people for him to be their king but since they persist he eventually accepts and comes down from his mountain abodedecked in palm fronds to be crowned king. One day , Ogun drinks a gourd of palm wine left by Esu, the trickster god and in his state of confusion kills his own people (29). Soyinka insists that "Ogun . by incorporating within himself so many seemingly contradictory attributes. represents the closest conceptioo to the original oneness of Orisa-nla " (31). Another version of this myth which helps to crystallizeSoyinka's Bacchaeis recorded in "The [fa Divinatio n System- by Wande Abimbola. Ifa, also known as Orunmila, was one of the 40 1 divinities who came to earthand settledat Ue. Olcdumare, the Yoruba high god. gave each divinity a function to perform on earth 130
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51. 101m'S RImlINKING GREEK TRAGEDY
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to th
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and Caribbean descen t, remain ed a
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CHAPTER 1 • INTRODUCTION Postc ol
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Postcolonial theory comprises the d
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colonial process . 3 The use of the
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Even mough postcolonial theory inte
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wickedness, that the very idea of i
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linguistic groups . The people who
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that is our nig1'i1utU •...• Fo
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Africans in Ivory Coast have beenqu
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how me West dealt with the Orien t
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presence show s. aim relentlessly t
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women by the natives. In "Caliban A
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privileged the aite above those wit
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CHAPfERl 11re Gods An Nol To BI4mr.
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hindered communication with the dif
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Banhamcites the production notes an
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he founded the on Olokun theatre gr
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In the legend, against the advice o
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also happens to be the household se
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human features and interact with me
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From the moment a child is conceive
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Having heard about their predicamen
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older brother rightfull y occupies
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two daughters are introduced on sta
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from whi ch the noun is derived is
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tragic flaw, his sin of hubris . br
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occur does leave room for the possi
Page 91 and 92: accepting it; the gods themselves c
Page 93 and 94: doing : you bl ed down andreceive i
Page 95: of the Townspeople: [The] old. and
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Page 100 and 101: his household. Rotimi has a dual pu
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Page 107 and 108: on Odewale that he should kill his
Page 109: in the first place••..(foreign
Page 115: communication is limited to only th
Page 121: entity under the colonial system. I
Page 126 and 127: the illusion that all would be well
Page 128 and 129: Letterario Internarionale Mondello
Page 133 and 134: imaginatively recreates the plot an
Page 135 and 136: in his thigh and sewed it up so tha
Page 137: In the prologue of Euripides ' lJac
Page 141: trim not only lhe bi- sexual nature
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Page 162 and 163: and drinks from the wine that spurt
Page 164 and 165: From orgas mic moans the surrogate
Page 166 and 167: "those gods . who yearly mus t be r
Page 168 and 169: By making the audience or a membero
Page 170: minute of his speech, he utters the
Page 174 and 175: which he turned water in to wine at
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Page 188 and 189: African mythological worldview on t
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Booth, James. "Human Sacrifice in L
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