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Susano O: A Trickter Archetypes In Japanese Mythology

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Mythological stories have been a part of my life for a very long time, the majority of them stemming from different cultures that my parents would introduce to me in order to get me interested in reading more books from the fantasy genre. One thing that is common among all types of foreign mythological stories is that they illustrate various archetypes, one of them being the trickster archetype. Although I had knowledge of many European mythological tricksters such as Loki and Hermes, I never had the chance to look into trickster archetypes that may be present in East Asia, more specifically, Japanese literature and mythology. In Japanese mythology Susano’o, the Shinto god of Storms and Oceans is a notorious trickster. Characterized by his …show more content…

Susano’o would frequently abuse his power and be destructive and impetuous, “destroying forests and mountains and killing local inhabitants down on Earth” (Cartwright). He is a supernatural force who possesses human characteristics like apathy and imprudence, displayed by his violent and uncaring actions. According to Anthony Mercatante and James Dow, authors of World Mythology and Legend: The Facts on File Encyclopedia, “Susano is both good and evil in Japanese mythology” (920). Susano’o expresses cunning intelligence and contradicting qualities by unapologetically disrespecting his sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu and then later during his exile aiding an elderly couple save their youngest daughter from the eight-headed serpent. His shrewd intellect is displayed more so in the second tale with the elderly couple and their daughter than the tales featuring Amaterasu. When Susano’o hears about the predicaments of the elderly couple, he orders them to create a fence around their house with eight openings, each containing a strong rice wine for the serpent to drink. As a result, the eight-headed serpent drinks the rice wine, which causes it to be intoxicated, making it easier for Susano’o to kill the

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