How Death Came to Mankind
Myths and Legends
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13628183 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alain Corcos (Michigan State University, East Lansing, corresponding author), L R Krupka (Michigan State University), Lawrence Krupka (Michigan State University, East Lansing) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 187-199 |
| Publication date | 1984-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2190/0yup-50l0-9vru-td9c |
| OpenAlex | W2023012429 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 12 |
An examination of anthropological data in the form of myths and legends from various less complex societies than our own, regarding the origin of death, reveals several major themes. In the forbidden fruit theme, disobedience to divine commandments results in the death of the offenders and their descendants. In the delayed or wrong message theme, God's message giving immortality to humanity is forgotten, garbled, or delayed by the messenger. In the molting theme, human beings never receive the property of shedding their skin as do some reptiles, thus losing immortality. In the moon theme, humans lose their ability to come back to life as does the new moon. Other themes on the origin of death focus on the banana, overpopulation, anger, greed and jealousy. In the various myths discussed, death is never discussed as a necessary natural condition for humankind. Nevertheless, for these primitive cultures, the myths account in a reasonable manner for death continuing on earth today
Adam and Eve · Aesthetics · Afterlife · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Environmental ethics · Garden of Eden · Humanity · Immortality · Literature · Mythology · Natural (archaeology · Overpopulation · Population · Sociology · Theme (computing · Theology · Demography · History · Jungian Analytical Psychology · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Philosophy
The Ila-speaking peoples of Northern Rhodesia
Hawaiian Mythology
The Native Tribes of South-East Australia
The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead
The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia
The Sociological Significance of Myth
Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States
The World of Primitive Man
American Indian Mythology
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,03 |
| Citation span | 1992 - 1992 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |