Polygamy In The Epic Of Sundiata

Polygamy and Family Relationship in the Epic of Sundiata My father had two wives, although the marriages did not overlap one another. With his first wife, he had three children – two daughters and a son. With his second wife, my mother, he had two children – a son and myself. My brother and I have never seen my father’s children from his first wife, we have never spoken, we have never even met - that is my family, one that proportionally resembles that of D. T. Niane’s telling of Sundiata Keita but traditionally does not. Sundiata is the son of Maghan Fatta Kon and his second wife, Sogolon Kedjou. Maghan Fatta was the king of the city of Niani and Sogolon was the “ugly woman” that he was destined to marry to produce a great ruler. Albeit,

Since birth, a son’s role in the family is to prove themselves better than their father – once a new mother is added to the mix, an addition to the son’s role is to perform in a way, such that, to please his mother. Years after his birth, Sundiata still had not learned to walk, which became fuel for Sassouma to use when terrorizing Sogolon. Sassouma particularly did so the day that Sogolon went and asked her to spare some baobab leaves. Having his disability be a source of humiliation for his mother, Sundiata immediately set out to correct this. “In great effort he straightened up and was on his feet at on go – but the great bar of iron was twisted and had taken the form of a bow” (Niane 21). Determined to extinguish this cause of stress for his mother, Sundiata crawled over to an iron rod and used it to bring himself to his feet. He then went behind Niani and tore up an entire baobab tree from the ground, that he would put on his shoulders and bring back home for his mother. What was once Sundiata’s weakness, quickly became a power that he would use to defend his mother’s reputation. It is a son’s wish to protect his mother, but it is a mother’s instinct to guard her