Category Archives: Myths

Sacred narratives

Dangun Myth

AGE: 45

Date of performance: 04/01/2025

Language: English

Nationality: South Korean 

Occupation: Teacher 

Primary Language: Korean/English 

Title- Dangun Myth 

Context- J shares with me the “Dangun Myth”, a Korean myth that explains the origin of the founder of the first Korean kingdom, Dangun. J says that it is believed Dangun’s father descended from heaven while his mother was a bear that succeeded in a challenge to stay in a cave for 100 days to become human. 

Analysis- Within folklore, there are 3 narrative genres that share similar characteristics with one another. One of which are myths—sacred truths that are miracles if they touch reality. Myths typically describe life before or after the real world, just as the Dangun Myth does. The Dangun Myth describes the origin of Korea’s ‘official’ leader while having fantastical elements such as a bear-woman and god of heaven. The Dangun Myth exhibits characteristics of a typical folk myth.

The Legend of Popocatepetl & Iztaccíhuatl

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 75
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: Spanish

Text: 

“My grandmother told me this legend about the two highest volcanoes in the hemisphere in Mexico City: Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. When the Aztec Empire dominated the valley of Mexico, it was common knowledge that neighboring towns had to be subject to a mandatory tax. The chief of the Tlaxacaltecas, who were the enemies of the Aztecs, decided to fight for his people’s freedom. The chief’s daughter, named Izataccihuatl, fell in love with Popocaetepetl, who was a warrior. Right before the war, Popocatepetl asked the chief for the hand of the princess. The father agreed and told him once he got back from war, they would have a wonderful wedding. But a woman who was in love with Popocatepetl told the princess that he had died in combat. The princess then died of sadness. Popocatepetl came back and found out that she died. Devastated, he ordered a tomb to be built under the sun, creating a huge mountain. He took the princess and laid her on the mountain. He kissed her lips and died with her. From then on, they remained together, facing each other. Over time, snow covered their bodies, creating two volcanoes.”

Context: 

My informant is from Mexico City, and her grandmother used to tell her this love story about the two volcanoes that they could see from their home.

Analysis: 

The story is a legend that explains the origin of two of Mexico’s most famous natural landmarks: the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. It’s a legend that explains how something of the natural world came to be. It is also a tragic love story that shows how miscommunication and longing lead to death. The mountains facing each other are a symbol of the symbolic permanence of love and grief. 

Suicide Bridge

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

Text: 

“I grew up in Pasadena, and I’ve always heard stories about the Colorado Street Bridge, which everyone calls ‘Suicide Bridge’. The legend says that during the Great Depression, so many people jumped off the bridge that now it is haunted. Supposedly at night you can hear footsteps behind you when no one is there, or even him standing on the edge.”

Context:

The informant grew up in Pasadena. She heard this story from her parents and friends in middle school. The bridge does have a history with suicides. My informant let me know that she heard this legend mostly during Halloween, or when she was a teenager and her friends would drive over the bridge. 

Analysis:

The Pasadena Suicide Bridge legend is a blend of history and supernatural folklore. It was built in 1913 but became famous in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The legend reflects cultural anxieties about tragedies, mental illness, and death. By turning a site of real-life tragedy into a location for ghost stories, the community creates a way to process trauma. 

Tale of Crab Maga

My informant told me a tale of Crab Maga also known as “Why Mosquitoes Buzz In Our Ears,”. It is a Filipino children’s tale and was read to her my her Filipino grandmother when she was about six years old. The tale goes as follows: The story of “Crab Maga,” evolves around a king crab named Maga who struggles with insomnia. To help him sleep, he calls upon the frogs from the village to sing him a lullaby. However, his loud snoring causes rain, which amuses the frogs. When Maga wakes up and learns that the frogs were laughing at a snail carrying its house, he orders his sheriff, another crab, to arrest the snail.

The snail explains that it was laughing at a firefly, which leads Maga to send the sheriff after the firefly. The firefly, in turn, claims it was trying to find a mosquito that was bothering it. When the mosquito arrives, it is unafraid of Maga and mocks him, leading to a confrontation where Maga kills the mosquito. However, this action provokes a swarm of mosquitoes that attack Maga, targeting his weak spots. In fear, Maga and his sheriff dig a hole to hide and are never seen again. The story concludes with the explanation that the buzzing of mosquitoes in our ears is a reminder of this tale, as they are attracted to holes, similar to the one where Maga and his sheriff took refuge.

This particular children’s tale has a huge colonial undertone as it talks about a ruler in a position of power whose whims and ego dictate what happens to the creatures that do not have in a sense a freedom to express how they feel. The creatures have to lie and blame others for laughing and pointing out the flaws of Maga. Like many folk tales, it uses animals with human characteristics—crabs, frogs, snails, fireflies, and mosquitoes—to create a world where complex social dynamics and consequences play out in a playful yet instructive way.

The story also reinforce the power of people and what resistance to the injustice and standing for one’s truth can lead to. Mosquito is the lesser of all creatures yet it stands in its truth and even sacrifices its life for it. A group of mosquitos however are able to overturn the king to avenge the mosquito, thus teaching the lesson of the power of the group.

The ending of the story is very interesting, offering the tale as an explanation of why mosquitos get close to humans and why we can hear them. Mosquitos in this context are already established as heroes thus offering a different outlook on insects that are usually perceived as as pests and annoyance. This reinforced the idea of preserving nature and treating things humans annoying with respect, as they might not know the full story of why things happen.

Myth of Pandora

My informant told me of the myth about a greek Goddess Pandora. The myth developed from the belief that men came from a woman, but emerged from Earth and that the first woman who was formed by the Gods, particularly God Hephaestus, was Pandora. Hephaestus was instructed by Zeus to create a mortal woman and to punish another God for introducing fire to humans. Pandora was sent as an evil to the world and Gods gave her a box of sufferings, struggle, and wickedness.Zeus instructed Hephaestus to make Pandora naive enough so that she would open the box, however Pandora was still instructed not to open it. Pandora was curious about the box since it was forbidden to open it, and because of her naivety she opened the box and released al of the bad things in the box into the world. That’s why there’s evil in the world like bad people and pain. This is a myth about how the first woman came to the world and how the evil was brought about. The subject highlighted that they do not think this myth has gotten its own theatrical play, however it is mentioned in many other works.

My subject has heard the myth before in their life as it was frequently mentioned in literature, media, and pop culture, but they really learned it in their ancient dramas class in university.

From a folklore perspective, the myth of Pandora works as an origin story explaining how suffering and evil entered the world. These kinds of stories help people make sense of things that feel unexplainable, like pain, injustice, or why life can be difficult. In Pandora’s case, the story suggests that the troubles of the world began because of one act: her decision to open the box she was told not to. This mirrors the story of origin in Judeo-Christian tradition when Eve ate from the forbidden tree of knowledge.

What stands out is how the myth places a woman at the center of this turning point. Pandora wasn’t just created to exist—she was designed, by the gods, to serve a purpose of punishing humanity, yet still given a free will. She’s made to be beautiful and appealing, yet also naive and curious, which ultimately leads her to open the box. This idea—that a woman’s curiosity brings about chaos is a theme that shows up in many cultures. These stories reflect the belief systems about gender, control, and obedience. In that way, Pandora’s myth doesn’t just explain the origin of evil—it also reflects the ancient anxieties and ideas about women and their role in society.

The box also serves as an interesting power symbol. It represent a boundary—between the known and the unknown, safety and danger. The fact that Pandora opens it, even though she’s told not to, speaks to a very human trait of curiosity. The story seems to warn against this kind of questioning, especially when it comes from someone who wasn’t meant to have power in the first place.

When my informant mentioned that they’d mostly encountered this myth through school and popular media, it reminded me how myths like Pandora’s continue to live on, even outside of their original cultural context. They show up in literature, film, art, and even everyday language . Even if people don’t know the full story, they’ve likely absorbed some part of it just by being part of the culture. That’s how folklore works—it adapts, survives, and keeps finding new ways to be relevant. In the end, Pandora’s myth isn’t just about how evil came into the world. It’s also about how humans try to make sense of suffering, how they tell stories to explain the hard parts of life, and how those stories reflect the values and fears of the people who told them.