Myths developed since people were making several attempts to explain the origin of the universe and its content. The ancient people were also curious to explain their existence and origin. As a result, they came up with different stories relating to their origin, nature, and their way of life. As a result, myths, based on various theories of humanity and life, made an attempt to explain the people's culture within a specific place. Yoruba people from Nigeria are an example of individuals who had a deep root in mythology. Yoruba people had several myths attempting to explain their origin, the origin of different natural features such as the sun, moon, and stars ( Pype, 2017). The Yoruba myths also made several attempts to explain the application of different judicial systems that guided their life during this time. A View of the Yoruba mythologies through the lenses of feminism, archeological and anthropological theories reveals different cultural aspects of Yoruba that were the core of their cultural development and contributed significantly to their way of life in the past and the modern Yoruba society in Africa.
Myths followed a cultural line and were intertwined with the culture of the people within the society. Mythology as part of the culture explained the perception of the community about a particular aspect of their life. For instance, a reflection of the Yoruba mythologies tries to explain the role of ladies in the society ( Moyer& Nguyen, 2017). In African society and most countries worldwide, male chauvinism still exist. The society still view male as superior to ladies. This has created a bout a role segregation whereby the ladies are given specific light roles while men are expected to carry out demanding roles. Further, in most Africa society, ladies are expected to display specific personality that are much humble than men. They are expected to be submissive to their husband. As a result, they should be creatures whose main role is to follow instructions with less company. A view of Yoruba mythology through the lens of feminism communicates this idea.
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In the Yoruba mythology of the development of the sea, sun, moon and the stars, the moon and the stars were submissive and did not object or question the movement of men as represented by the sun and the sun’s sons in the myth. For instance, when the sun’s sons were following their father, the moon and the stars which represent the mother and the daughters inthis myth remained behind. Their role was to watch the action without questioning. Other than that, the moon and stars have dim light and they are not as hot as the sun in this myth. They travel at night producing a less grueling light. This shows the society expect from the ladies. The ladies need to be humble in the society’s view. On the other hand, the sun and its sons are superior in the myth. First, the son has the freedom of moving from ones side to another side of the earth daily and nobody should question this movements. Secondly, the son is represented as strong and powerful. Its light is much superior to the moon. Lastly, the sun’s sons are represented as more daring than the stars which in this case represent the daughters. They take the risk of following their father as they are also curious to become powerful like their father. As a result, a view of such a myth, through the lens of feminism reveals the superiority the male gender is given in such a society ( Crenshaw, 2018). It further tries to explain the origin of gender equity, the gender roles, and the gender perception that has put the male gender above the female sex among the Yoruba community and entire Africa. It further re-tells the tale that myths developed in conformity with the culture and the way of life within the society. From the myth it may be true to state that men were given superiority and the ladies were expected to be submissive to men and were not to question any decision made by the men in the society.
A view of the Yoruba myths from the anthropological perspective also reveals the connection between people and events that eventually become the culture within such a society, and has had a significant influence in the stories about the creation in the present days. From the Yoruba mythology of the creation of the human being and the dry African land, it is evident through the lens of the anthrophony theory, that society needs each of its functional part to have become complete ( Thomas, 2015). Functional perspective is critical in the uniform development of the society, and it brings about the culture of communism within the community. Communism culture needs its doctors, nurses, teachers, drivers and al people from different professional to form a whole society. A society where specialization is given less priority may not progress and develop. From the Yoruba mythology of creation of dryland and its content, it is evident that Obatala needed the support of the chief god Olorun, the ruler of the sky, and the goddess Olokun, the ruler of what was below, in order to reach the ground and creates the dry land and its content ( Alberti, Jones & Pollard, 2016). They had to give each other support and each had to contribute a role for Obatala to accomplish the mission. It is an implication that the functionalism culture of the Yoruba, as well as the communism culture that exist in this part of Africa from the ancient time to present days, is the development of myths that emphasize togetherness in the past years. From such a myth, it is easy to states that most of the African countries believed in role sharing. They viewed individualism as factor that was deteriorating the development needed in the society. They embraced communism and functionality, contributing strengths and putting it together to achieve a specific milestone.
Lastly, the culture of the Yoruba can also be explained by examining their mythologies through the lens of the anthropological theoretical perspectives. Symbolism has been used by the archeologists to explain different aspects of life and nature. Symbolism represents a specific aspect of culture that was in existence sometimes back and is still put into use today. Through examination of such symbols, it easy for anthropologist to interpret the current situation which is the representation of such a symbol and connect it with what it was representing sometimes back. For instance, the Yoruba people in the present world believe in communism. The archeologists’view on such a culture tries to relate it to different mythologies in the past and the nature of people that existed during such time among the Yoruba. In the archeologists' view, the current behavior is a true reflection of what happened in the past. It is true while examining the mythology of the Yoruba that communism was a common practice among these individuals. People were connected and formed a norm of helping each other during the creation ( Ogundipe, 2018). In other Yoruba mythologies that were based on the formation of the society as well as its development, it is alsoevident that people helped each other for them to achieve whatever they wanted to make their life comfortable. It is thus easy to make a conclusion from the archaeological point of view that the Yoruba culture of communism stems from the culture that existed among people who came up with different myths depicting the way of life during this time.
In summary, the Yoruba mythologies, through the lens of feminism, archeological and anthropological theories are a true reflection of the culture that existed in this community some years back. People came up with mythology as means of trying to explain their origin as well as origin of different aspect of nature. From different myths from different cultural background, it is evident that specific aspect of culture makes the content of a specific myth. For instance, the Yoruba culture analysis from the perspective of feminism shows the root of the male supremacy and the gender perspective of this community. From the anthropological perspective, it is easy to identify the root of the communism nature of the Yoruba. Lastly, the root of Yoruba culture is generally evident through the examination of their myths from the archeological perspective. This is the same culture that has been adopted and has become common among the Yoruba people in the present days.
References
Alberti, B., Jones, A. M., & Pollard, J. (2016). Archaeology after interpretation: returning materials to archaeological theory . Routledge.
Crenshaw, K. (2018). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics [1989]. In Feminist legal theory (pp. 57-80). Routledge.
Moyer, E., & Nguyen, V. K. (2017). Edgework in medical anthropology. Medicine Anthropology Theory , 4 (5), i-iii.
Ogundipe, A. (2018). Esu Elegbara: Chance, Uncertainly In Yoruba Mythology . Kwara State University Press.
Pype, K. (2017). Yomi Ola, Satires of Power in Yoruba Visual Culture. Durham NC: Carolina Academic Press, African World Series (PB US $48–978 1 61163 037 4). 2013, 272 pp. Africa , 87 (1), 226-227.
Thomas, J. (2015). The future of archaeological theory. Antiquity , 89 (348), 1287-1296.
