μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif
Scholars’ trail — 3references

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

  • general **Delarue Nouvelle Revue des Traditions Populaires (1950) 262–275
  • general Wesselski Theorie 45
  • general Gaster: Oldest Stories 81.
Within the index

Filed under Origin of death.

Filed beside it
Origin of death from falsified messageOrigin of death from bad creator's unsuccessful imitation. The bad creator attempts in vain to endow his creations with life like the good creator. Fails and thus introduces deathOrigin of death from unwise choice. Choice between two bundles, one containing tempting articles, the other everlasting life. People choose the large bundle and lose everlasting lifeOrigin of death when early people put on new skins. Child fails to recognize mother, who puts old skin back onOrigin of death: punishment for scorning deityFirst son who died before his father after the FloodOrigin of death because world is overpopulatedOrigin of death because people weary of livingMen die because a snake comes to prey on mankind while creator restsGod of world of the dead demands that men die so he will have subjects. (Cf. A487)Death origin: God sends a woman to sell poisoned curds to manGod sends centipede down to introduce death into the world through its poisoned stingDeath comes into the world by treachery of the gods: stick used by man for scratching his back is changed into cobraGod punishes man by killing his child: origin of death

wander