Mythological Africans Podcast

We read and discussed "The Story of the Two Brothers" which is believed to be one of the oldest folktales in the world. The story recounts the lives and exploits of two brothers, Anubis and Bata, the women who betrayed them, and their eventual reconciliation and exaltation as God-Kings. The first part of the story is strikingly similar to the biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. “The Stor...

In this episode we celebrated Kiswahiliday 2022 by reading “The Story of Liongo”, a chieftain, hero, warrior, and poet of the Swahili people. We also discuss the complicated history of the Swahili language which is widely spoken in Eastern Africa. Swahili has many similarities with other indigenous East African languages and a complex history which includes interactions with these languages as wel...

Depending on who you ask, the Agojie of the Kingdom of Dahomey were either a ruthless military force heavily involved in the slave trade which dominated the West African coast from the 16th to the 19th century, or fierce defenders of their King and nation from European incursions. But as I talked about in this interview , the reality is more complex. In this episode which was recorded around the p...

The Ila people are found in Zambia. They are also known as the Baila, Sukulumbwe, or Shukulumbwe. We read 4 stories: * The Explanation for the Origin of Murder * The Man and the Mushrooms * A Man and His Mother * How Two Men Had a Dispute These stories are quite dark! They explore the themes of betrayal, murder, revenge and regrets, offering a fascinating glimpse into some Ila perspectives on mora...

Zanzibar is an island on the East African coast. The island has a rich cultural history with influences from indigenous African peoples, Arabs, Indians, the Portuguese and the British. This is reflected in folklore from the island which features evil magicians, snake kings and wily rabbits! Story Source: Zanzibar Tales Told by Natives of the East Coast of Africa by George Bateman Get full access t...

The Ndòwé people are found in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. They are also referred to as the Benga people or the Playeros (Beach People). We read the story of the Sun (Vyoyi or Joba), the Moon (Ngande), Evening Star (Konde a Ngande i.e. Moon's favorite wife) and her twin sister Morning Star (Nyalangwa), and how they all got exiled to the sky, blown away by the Wind (Ngunga). We also met other celes...

The Soninke people are found in Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea and The Gambia. We read two stories: * The First Bard Among the Soninke * Kirama and Kankejan The stories explore themes such as sacrifices made out of love (CW for cannibalism), respect and generosity towards the disadvantaged, and the origin of Soninke bard (or griots). Fun Fact : Kirama and Kankejan is an alternate telling of the...

The Amazigh are found in Morocco Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Western Sahara, Mauritania, the Canary Islands, Egypt, Mali and Niger. The Amazigh people are sometimes referred to as the “Berbers” but they prefer to be called “Amazigh” or “Imazighen”. We read two stories and a couple of poems from Amazigh folklore and discuss how much the folklore of different North African peoples like the Amazigh have...