Sometimes animals stir up mischief. Trickster tales are often passed down orally from generation to generation and often teach a lesson. These tales usually have animals as their main characters. Some common tricksters are the coyote, hare, snake, and monkey. Trickster animals are amoral (neither good guys nor bad guys) and their loyalties are often opportunistic in nature. They are survivors above all else and self serving. Sometimes they portray a hero and a villain at different times in the same story. These animal tricksters often scoff at societal rules and bend them to fit their agenda. Their antics are often foolish and make us laugh.
If you have ever seen the cartoon Bugs Bunny you know that brains often triumph over might in these tales. Tricksters often overcome any physical limitations they may have with their cleverness like the Brer Rabbit stories of the Southern United States. When Brer Rabbit is finally caught by Brer Fox, he uses reverse psychology to escape what seems to be certain death. "Whatever you do," cried Brer Rabbit, "Don't throw me into the briar patch". When Brer fox throws him into the briar patch he laughs and tells him he was born and bred in the briar patch and hops off. Other popular trickster tales are Ananse the Spider stories from Africa and those of the Monkey King of China pictured above battling Jade Rabbit.
Have you ever heard that storks deliver babies to people's doorsteps? In many myths and legends animals are mediators between humans and the gods or the natural and the supernatural. In Indian legend each god has an animal they use as a vehicle. Lord Genesha is carried around by a mouse; Durga rides a lion and Garuda a peacock. Often birds, because of their ability to fly, are cast as the mediators. The enormous Thunderbird of many Native American cultures is said to act as a messenger to the Great Spirit in the sky. In Japanese mythology a three legged crow called the Yatagarasu, pictured above, represents Heaven, Human, and Earth. It is said to intercede between the god's and the human race.
Animals are often portrayed as guardians in myths and legends. They may guard any number of things: gods, knowledge, treasure, heaven, hell, etc. In Greek mythology the entrance to the underworld was guarded by the three headed hound Cerberus, pictured above. He prevented the dead from escaping Hades. According to Chinese legends, the dragon Tianlong guards the palace of heaven and the dragon Fucanglong guards buried hidden treasures.
Often the gods have the features of animals or take the shape of animals. Zeus took the shape of animals to hide his identity while he pursued beautiful women and Odin could change his shape at will as well. Cernunnos, the Celtic lord of all animals, had the body of a man and the horns of a stag. In Ancient Egypt the crocodile Sobek was the god of fertility and strength. The Indian deity Ganesh has the head of an elephant and the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl is described as a feathered serpent. Nanook, the god of bears, takes the shape of a great polar bear and is said to curse dishonest hunters.
Have you seen the movie Tarzan or the Jungle Book? The main characters in both stories, Tarzan and Mowgli, were raised by animals. There are many myths where animals play the role of adoptive mother to human babies. The twin brothers Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were ordered to be murdered by their Uncle who wanted no competition for the throne. Legend says they were left in a basket and found by a she-wolf who cared them until they discovered by a shepherd who brought them home. Paris, the destroyer of Troy, was raised by a she-bear after his father abandoned him to die, fearing an omen surrounding the boy's birth. The warrior poet Oisin's mother was transformed into a deer, but still managed to raise her infant son until she was killed by the same druid who had cursed her. His father, the Irish hero Finn Mac Cumhal, found him and raised him. The Roman emperor Octavian banished his wife and twin boys mistakenly believing they were not his. A lioness took one of the twins, Octavian, and raised him as if he were her own cub.
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