The Mythology of All Races, Vol. 11: Latin-American

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

58359

Title

The Mythology of All Races, Vol. 11: Latin-American

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

This scholarly volume explores the rich mythology of Latin American indigenous peoples, spanning from the Antilles to Patagonia. Hartley Burr Alexander offers a descriptive treatment of regional beliefs, focusing on essential conceptions rather than exhaustive classification. The text covers creation myths, deluge legends, pantheons, and heroic cycles, providing a comprehensive overview of pre-Columbian thought across diverse cultures.

Summary up to 500 words

Hartley Burr Alexander's *The Mythology of All Races, Vol. 11: Latin-American* offers a comprehensive survey of indigenous beliefs across the Americas conquered by Spain and Portugal. Although titled 'Latin-American,' Alexander notes the terminological incongruity of applying this term to native myths, as it logically fits transplanted Iberian institutions rather than aboriginal ideas lacking unities following colonial lines. Consequently, the work organizes material by regional ethnology and pre-Columbian civilization centers, moving geographically from the Antilles and Mexico through Central America, the Andes, the tropical forests of Brazil and the Amazon, and finally to the southern pampas and Tierra del Fuego. The text details cosmogonic cycles common among South American wild tribes, often featuring cataclysms like fire or flood followed by transformation stories. These narratives typically involve twin hero brothers who restore order, separate heaven and earth, and give form to animals. Specific legends include the Cherentes star myth, where a young man captures a star in a gourd only to be horrified by the dance of the dead, and the Mundurucu tale of a stone growing into the heavens. Alexander devotes significant attention to major civilizations, including the Aztec pantheon with deities like Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl; Maya cycles involving Votan and Kukulcan; and the Inca Empire centered on the deity Viracocha. The Andean north features Chibcha myths and El Dorado legends, while the south explores Inca legends and Yunca pantheons. In the tropical forests of the Orinoco, Guiana, and Amazon regions, the author examines spirits, shamans, and nature deities, including tales of food-makers, dance-masks, and were-beasts. The final chapters cover the Araucanians, Patagonians, Fuegians, and their unique survival myths. Alexander emphasizes that these are primarily tales with allegorical meanings rarely expressible in other terms. Aimed at readers of broadly humane tastes rather than specialists, the work utilizes a pioneering bibliography to guide students through vast diversities of sources. It serves as both an introduction to specific regional lore and a comparative study of American Indian racial characters and distinct cultural differences.

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4.2/5

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Categories

• Mythology