Tricksters: An Introduction: Crash Course World Mythology #20

Summary

In this episode of Crash Course Mythology, Mike Rugnetta explores the fascinating world of trickster stories. Tricksters, often mischievous and morally ambiguous, are celebrated for using their wit to overcome obstacles, rather than brute strength. The episode delves into African trickster Anansi’s story, where his greed leads to unintended consequences, and Hercules' eleventh labor, where he tricks Atlas. These tales highlight the rebellious, clever nature of tricksters, but also show that their actions can blur moral lines, offering insights into human behavior and the allure of breaking rules.

Takeaways

• 😄 Trickster stories are popular because they feature underdogs winning through cleverness rather than strength.
• 🌀 Tricksters are transgressive characters, often acting as rebels, and this makes them appealing.
• 🌍 African trickster stories, like Anansi's, are known for their morally ambiguous endings and animal characters with human traits.
• 🤔 In the story of Anansi, greed leads him to accidentally kill the king's favorite jester and try to shift the blame onto his son.
• 😲 Anansi's attempt to outdo his son backfires, but he manages to avoid long-term punishment by tricking Ant into carrying the jester's coffin.
• 🕷️ The Anansi myth explains the natural phenomenon of ants carrying heavy burdens, showing the trickster's lasting impact.
• 🧠 Tricksters often trick others through cleverness, even fooling other tricksters like in the Hercules and Atlas story.
• ⚖️ Trickster myths can serve as moral counterexamples, showing the consequences of lying and cheating, though the tricksters often escape justice.
• 💡 Tricksters, such as Br’er Rabbit, can symbolize resistance, using wit to outsmart more powerful oppressors, especially in contexts like slavery.
• 🎭 Trickster stories are compelling because they reflect human tendencies to bend rules, and they challenge conventional ideas of morality.

Q & A

What are trickster stories, and why are they popular?

Trickster stories are myths where clever, transgressive characters outsmart others. They are popular because they often feature underdogs who succeed using intelligence rather than strength, and their rebellious nature appeals to audiences.

What makes tricksters appealing despite their morally ambiguous behavior?

Tricksters are appealing because they challenge societal norms, offering a sense of rebellion and freedom. Their actions may be unethical, but they highlight human desires to break rules and outsmart authority, reflecting relatable qualities.

What lesson can be drawn from Anansi's story involving the dwarf?

Anansi’s story teaches that greed and deceit can lead to one's downfall. Although Anansi initially tricks others, his own greed causes him to fail, but he still manages to escape long-term punishment by tricking someone else.

How does the story explain a natural phenomenon involving ants?

In the story, Anansi tricks an ant into carrying the burden of the dead dwarf, which serves as an explanation for why ants are seen carrying heavy loads in the natural world.

How does the story of Hercules relate to trickster myths?

Hercules uses trickster tactics when he outsmarts Atlas by pretending to need padding for his shoulders, tricking Atlas into resuming his task of holding up the world. This mirrors tricksters' cleverness in outwitting others.

Why do trickster stories often have morally ambiguous endings?

Trickster stories frequently have ambiguous endings because tricksters don't always face the consequences of their actions. They often get away with their misdeeds, making the stories less about morality and more about the cleverness and unpredictability of human behavior.

What role do animals play in African trickster stories like Anansi’s?

In African trickster stories, animals with human traits interact in human-like situations. These stories use animals like Anansi the spider to explore human behavior and morals in a playful, yet meaningful way.

What is the significance of tricksters in oppressed communities, as seen in Br’er Rabbit stories?

In stories like Br’er Rabbit, tricksters represent the oppressed using cleverness to resist and outwit those in power. These tales were especially resonant in the context of slavery, where enslaved people used trickery to assert some form of autonomy.

How does the story reflect a Quentin Tarantino-like style?

The Anansi story, with its morally ambiguous protagonist and lack of clear punishment for wrongdoings, is likened to a Quentin Tarantino film because of its dark humor, complex morality, and unexpected twists in the plot.

What broader question does the script suggest about the consequences of tricksterism?

The script asks what would happen if tricksters always won and if their behavior was left unchecked. It suggests that while a little rule-breaking can be fun, if everyone acted like tricksters, society would descend into chaos.

Outlines

00:00

🎭 Introduction to Trickster Stories

Mike Rugnetta introduces Crash Course Mythology's exploration of trickster myths, warning that these tales can be humorous, rebellious, and morally ambiguous. Trickster figures often use their cleverness to outwit others rather than relying on physical strength or supernatural powers. A brief comedic exchange with Thoth sets the tone for the episode. Tricksters, like the African character Anansi, are beloved for being transgressive, appealing to our admiration for rebels and underdogs.

05:02

🕸️ Anansi and the Dwarf: A Classic African Trickster Tale

This African myth centers on Anansi, the spider trickster, and his son who face a drought. When the son finds a magical dwarf who can bring rain, Anansi, greedy to outperform his son, kills the dwarf by accident and tries to frame his son. The son outsmarts Anansi, who ultimately confesses but still evades his punishment by tricking Ant into taking on the burden. The story showcases Anansi’s cunning but highlights how his greed leads to temporary downfalls, only for him to escape punishment in the end.

🍎 Hercules and Atlas: Tricksters and Burdens

This paragraph compares the trickster elements in the Anansi tale to one of Hercules' labors. In his eleventh task, Hercules tricks Atlas into retrieving Zeus’s Golden Apples by offering to hold the world in his place. When Atlas tries to leave Hercules with the burden permanently, Hercules tricks him into taking the world back, showing that even heroes can employ trickery to achieve their goals. The comparison underscores how tricksters often fool others into taking on responsibilities.

🧠 Moral Complexity of Trickster Tales

Trickster myths, though entertaining, reveal complex moral lessons. While tricksters like Anansi or Br’er Rabbit may symbolize rebellion and provide examples of outsmarting powerful figures, they also highlight how deceit and transgression can go too far. Tricksters often escape punishment, leaving audiences questioning the morality of their actions. Yet, tricksters also offer a form of resistance for the oppressed, representing a way to reclaim power against stronger forces. However, unchecked trickster behavior could lead to societal harm, making these stories both amusing and thought-provoking.

Keywords

💡Trickster

A trickster is a character in mythology known for their cunning, deception, and often morally ambiguous actions. In the video, tricksters like Anansi and Prometheus use cleverness rather than strength to achieve their goals, often challenging societal norms. The video explores how tricksters represent rebellion and transgression, which makes them popular and relatable.

💡Anansi

Anansi is a famous trickster figure from African folklore, often depicted as a spider. In the video, Anansi tries to outsmart both his son and the king but ends up getting punished for his greed. His story illustrates how tricksters sometimes get caught in their own schemes, yet often escape true punishment, embodying the moral ambiguity of trickster tales.

💡Morally Ambiguous

Morally ambiguous refers to situations or characters that are not clearly good or bad. In the context of the video, trickster stories often end in ways that blur moral lines, as seen with Anansi's actions, which are both cunning and wrong. This ambiguity is part of the appeal of trickster myths, as they challenge traditional ideas of right and wrong.

💡Rebellion

Rebellion is a key theme in trickster stories, where characters often defy authority or societal norms. The video mentions Ares, the Greek god of war, and rebellion, as a comparison to tricksters who represent defiance. Tricksters like Anansi rebel against kings or other figures of power, using wit instead of force to assert themselves.

💡Transgression

Transgression refers to breaking rules or crossing boundaries. Tricksters like Anansi and Prometheus engage in transgressive behavior by lying, cheating, or stealing to get what they want. In the video, trickster myths are celebrated for this rebellious spirit, though they also serve as cautionary tales about the dangers of going too far.

💡Prometheus

Prometheus is a trickster figure from Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods to give to humans, an act of defiance for which he was punished. In the video, he helps Hercules by offering clever advice to avoid direct conflict, showing how tricksters use intelligence over physical strength to solve problems.

💡Anansi and the Ant

This is one of the trickster stories discussed in the video, where Anansi tricks an ant into carrying the burden of a dead dwarf. The story exemplifies the classic trickster narrative where Anansi outsmarts others to escape punishment. It also explains a natural phenomenon, as trickster tales often do, by suggesting why ants carry heavy loads.

💡Atlas

Atlas is a figure from Greek mythology tasked with holding up the sky. In the video, he is tricked by Hercules, who momentarily takes over Atlas' burden in exchange for golden apples. The story reflects how even mighty figures like Atlas can be tricked, illustrating the power of wit over strength in trickster myths.

💡Cunning

Cunning refers to using intelligence and cleverness to achieve one's goals, often through deceit. In the video, tricksters like Anansi and Hercules use cunning to outwit others and escape difficult situations. This quality is central to the appeal of trickster figures, who often overcome stronger opponents by being smarter.

💡Betrayal

Betrayal is a recurring theme in trickster stories, where characters deceive or turn on others for personal gain. In the video, Anansi betrays his son by trying to frame him for murder, and Atlas tries to trick Hercules into permanently holding the sky. These betrayals highlight the trickster's willingness to break trust for the sake of personal advantage.

Highlights

Introduction to trickster stories and their common themes of transgression, cleverness, and rebellion.

Tricksters are often portrayed as underdogs who win through wit rather than strength or power.

David Leeming's description of tricksters as amoral, scatological, yet generally likeable figures.

Example of Anansi, the African trickster spider, trying to manipulate a situation involving a magical dwarf.

Anansi's greed leads him to kill the dwarf, setting off a chain of deceit to avoid punishment.

Anansi tries to frame his son for the dwarf's murder, but his son cleverly avoids the trap.

Despite Anansi's cleverness, his greed ultimately leads him to confess to the crime, yet he escapes punishment by tricking an ant.

The story explains a natural phenomenon: why ants are often seen carrying heavy burdens.

Anansi's story serves as a moral lesson about the consequences of greed, though his punishment is fleeting.

Comparison of the Anansi story to Hercules’ eleventh labor, where Hercules tricks Atlas into holding the world again.

Hercules, like Anansi, uses quick thinking to avoid a burdensome fate, showcasing tricksters outwitting others.

Atlas, a trickster in his own right, tries to offload his burden onto Hercules but is outwitted.

Trickster stories often feature morally ambiguous characters who get away with their tricks and even become celebrated.

Trickster stories, like those of Br'er Rabbit, can reflect oppressed individuals using cleverness to outsmart their oppressors.

Trickster myths can serve as a moral counterexample, illustrating the dangers of letting deceit and mischief go too far.

Transcripts

Hi, there. I'm Mike Rugnetta. This is Crash Course Mythology, and today we're going to start the first of a few episodes

a show favorite: trickster stories, but be warned, trickster

myths can get sexy, a little gross, and they're filled with betrayal, but we should be able to handle it, right Thoth?

Oh, hmm...

Oh, Thoth, Stan just texted me. You've been promoted to host. So, uh, I'm just going to go grab a coffee. See you later

Good luck.

[Intro]

Just kidding. There's no way that Thoth could host the show.

He's like thousands of years old and he only speaks Ancient Egyptian which literally no one understands.

But roping some sucker into doing my work is exactly the sort of thing a trickster would do.

Trickster stories are traditionally very popular, and for a good reason:

In many trickster stories the underdogs come out on top, and not by virtue of their...

superior strength or immortal attributes either, but because of their smarts.

Another appealing thing about tricksters Is that they're transgressive. They're rebels and who doesn't love a rebel? Just ask Ares, Greek

God of War and Rebellion or James Dean the American God of pomade and leather jackets.

A good place to start is mythologist David Leeming's description of a trickster:

so a moral and scatological, but otherwise a good guy. We all have that friend, I think.

Let's begin in Africa. African Trickster stories remain popular and frequently have ambiguous or morally dubious endings.

According to Thury and Devinny,

So let's see exactly what they mean by "disharmony" in the Thought Bubble.

Anansi the spider and his son [] are farmers having a bad year because of a drought.

One day [] is out for a walk lamenting the poor harvest and he sees a hunchback dwarf by the side of the road.

The dwarf asks [] what's wrong, and when he explains the dwarf promises to help.

He tells [] to find two small sticks and tap him lightly on his hump while singing. So, tap tap, and it begins to rain.

Soon the crops start growing. Anansi thinks he can do better and goes to look for the dwarf himself, making sure to bring two big sticks.

The dwarf tells Anansi to tap him on his hump again,

but Anansi ends up hitting the dwarf so hard that he kills him.

Now, Anansi is scared because the dwarf was the King's favorite jester.

So he puts the dwarf's body in a kola tree and waits.

When his son [] come by and asks his father if he'd seen the dwarf,

Anansi tells him that the dwarf is climbing the tree looking for a kola nut.

The quicken sin climbs up the tree the dwarf's body falls down to the ground

Anansi cries out that "his son had killed the King's jester!" But [] knows Anansi's tricks and replies that the King was

actually angry with the dwarf and now he could go to the king and collect a reward.

Knowing there's a bounty Anansi exclaims that he had killed the dwarf.

Anansi arrives at the Kings court and discovers the King was not angry with the Jester.

But now he's certainly angry with Anansi. The king orders the body of the dwarf to be put in a box which Anansi must carry

on his head forever unless he finds someone else to carry it.

Eventually, Anansi comes across Ant and asks him to hold the box while he goes to the market, and, wouldn't you know it, Ant falls for it?

This is why to this day we often see ants carrying great burden. Thanks, Thought Bubble.

It's probably becoming clear. Why you know a lot of us just don't trust spiders.

In a number of ways, this is a classic African Trickster story.

It features animals with human characteristics interacting in a human world

The Trickster is initially undone by his own greed.

If Anansi had just listened to his son and not tried to outdo him, he would have been okay.

Also, maybe he shouldn't have tried to frame his son for a murder.

But Anansi fails in his attempt to hide his crime because his son knows his reputation for duplicity.

Despite his cleverness Anansi's greed gets the better of him.

His desire for the reward leads him to admit his bad deed and be punished for it.

And if he did end up carrying the coffin for eternity, the story might provide a lesson about justice,

but Anansi, being a trickster, is able to convince someone else to bear his burden.

So he gets off scot-free. The ending of the story does explain a natural phenomenon

(why ants are so industrious),

but the story isn't exactly a model for good behavior. In the end Anansi gets away with killing the dwarf.

His comeuppance is brief and the only thing he learns is that ants are total suckers.

It's really like a Quentin Tarantino film of trickster myths.

The story of Anansi and the Ant bears some resemblance to one of Hercules's labors.

We'll talk more about Hercules when we get to our episode on heroes,

but the long and short is that he had to do twelve labors, and completing them cemented his reputation.

One of these labours, the eleventh, was to gather Zeus's Golden Apples from the far end of the Earth.

These apples were guarded by a dragon (Ladon) and the Hesperides,

nymphs who were the daughters of Atlas, the Titan with the unenviable task of holding the world on his shoulders.

Talk about legendary back pain.

It took a long time and a number of adventures before Hercules even found out where the apples were,

but eventually he is told about them by another trickster, Prometheus.

You remember him, he's the guy who stole fire for the Humans and was punished by being chained to a rock

and having his liver eaten daily by an eagle.

Well good news, eventually Hercules kills that eagle and in return Prometheus tells him

that the way to get the apples isn't to fight a dragon, but to simply ask Atlas.

Atlas can easily get past his daughters and that Mr. Dragon. No sweat.

So hercules makes a deal with Atlas hercules will hold up the world giving Atlas a much-needed break and in return, apples.

Atlas is thrilled because I mean think about it, how would you feel holding up the literal world all the time?

So he leaves, he goes he grabs the apples.

The problem is that when he returns he tells Hercules that he really doesn't want to hold up the earth and the sky anymore.

So like maybe that's just your job now Hercules. I don't know, just spit balling here.

So here's Hercules, he can't move, he's holding the world after all, but he does some quick tricky thinking.

He tells Atlas "Sure, he'll do it", but could atlas take the Earth and Sky back for just a second while he gets some padding for his shoulders?

And when Atlas agrees, Hercules grabs the apples and vamooses.

Tricksters tricking tricksters. Kind of like [???].

In these stories, we see that it often doesn't take much for a trickster to figure out how to fool the object of his trick, sometimes called a dupe.

Often the dupe doesn't really deserve it, although it's hard to feel sorry for Atlas,

who was attempting some minor league trickstering himself.

While tricksters can be seen as playful scamps, they also show us that play can be dangerous,

especially, when like Anansi, we let it go too far.

in the Anansi story, the trickster acts as what Leonard and McClure call a moral counterexample.

We're usually better off when we don't lie or cheat each other, but that's exactly what tricksters do.

We're typically happy when they're punished for their tricks, but this doesn't always happen.

Trickster stories can be especially troubling because not only do they usually get away with their tricks, but are often celebrated for it.

Tricksters aren't all bad, though. The trickster can provide a model for the oppressed to reclaim some autonomy in the face of overwhelming power.

This is one of the main lessons of the Br'er rabbit stories which are descended from African Trickster stories,

but transplanted into the context of chattel slavery in English-speaking North America.

Br'er can be seen as representing slaves who would use their ingenuity to fort and outsmart cruel plantation owners

Maybe then, it's worth asking what would happen if the tricksters just always won.

And the truth is while some tricksterism may be justified and a little bit of transgression here and there is fun,

if everyone decides that it's okay to beat dwarves to death in order to double the amount of rainfall, metaphorically speaking, that wouldn't be great.

Trickster stories are often morally ambiguous in this way.

Even Br'er rabbit isn't all clearly the good guy, and that's one part of why we like them so much, maybe.

Sometimes it's simply a thrill to break the rules. We as human can see ourselves pretty clearly in the trickster myths.

It's hard to identify with someone who can hold the world or who goes on errands for the father of creation,

but we've all at least tried our hand.

Bamboozling someone into taking over our responsibility. Sorry Thoth, you're a good sport.

Thanks for watching, we'll see everyone next week.