Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

and Ogun wasput in charge of all things related to war and hunting and the use of
iron im ple ments. The divinities married among themselves and ga ve birth to those
who became the divine rulers of the Yoru ba. Out of the descendants of the divinities,
the children of Od uduwa became the most important politicall y and fo rm ed the ruling
dynas ty of the Yoruba kingdoms which later culminated into the imperial or ganiza tion
of the Oyo Empire. Olodumare created human beings from clay and they became the
subjects over whom the divini ties and their descendants ruled (3S-36) . Other sources
declare Ogun the first son of Oduduwa and the direc t ancestor of the Yorubas . 24
Since Ogun is the only one who forged through primordial chaos. which he
conquered throu gh the use of a scientific invention , according to Soyinlca. Ogun
becom es a key figure in the undemandin g of Yoruba metaphysics , and co nsequently
rirual drama. Ogun is So yinka's patron god, because being the god of creativity , he is
also the god of artists . In the Introduetioo to his version of the Bacchae, Soyinb
narrates the parallels between Ogun and Dionysos:
The Phrygian god and his twinhood with Ogun exercise irresistible
fascination . His tbyrsus is physicall y and functionall y parallelled (sic)
by the opa Ogun bome by the male devotees of Ogun . But the tbyrsus
of Dionysos is brighter , it is all ligbt and running wine , Ogun ' s stave is
more symbolic of his laboun of Ogun through the night of transition . A
long willo wy pole, it is topped by a froad -bound lum p of are which
strains the pole in wilful curves and keeps it vibrant ••.• Through town
and village, up the mountain to the grov e of Ogun , thi s dance of the
straining phallus-heads pocksthe air above men and women revellers
who are decked in palm froods and bear palm branches in their hands
(v).
131
Associated with the Dionysian rituals are the fertility rites whi ch inc lude the barvesting