Divine Roles Across Cultures Matrix

Select one common divine role that recurs in world mythology.

Possible options of divine roles include the following: father or mother divinities, divinities of war, home or hearth divinities, divinities of love, divinities of wisdom, divinities of medicine or health, divinities of the wind, divinities of agriculture, divinities of the sky, ruler of all the gods, and so on.

Identify the role in the title of your matrix.

Select two myths, each from a different culture, in which the divine role appears. Identify the divinity names and cultures in columns A and B.

Complete the matrix by answering each of the five questions for both selected divinities.

Title: Female Divinities of Life Column A

Divinity Name: Pe-le

Culture of Origin: Hawaii Column B

Divinity Name: Au Co

Culture of Origin: Vietnam

1. How is this divinity portrayed? Describe the divinity’s role within the myth.

Pe-le was the most feared and respected of Hawaii’s divinities. Pe-le is a goddess of both life and death. Described as “She-Who-Shapes-The-Sacred-Land" Pe-le is known to send out ribbons of fiery lava down the mountainside and create new fertile land around the southeastern shore of Hawaii since 1983 (Rosenberg, 2006). The youngest and loveliest goddess, Au Co cried and her tears became a long river that wound down to the seashore, where it emptied into the sea. In the river masses of small creatures— crabs, shrimp, oysters, and fish,—savored the new current of water as the sweet-scent kissed the aromatic earth. It was with the nourishment of her tears the earth became green and beautiful. Before introduction of her tears there were no trees and flowers growing on earth as plants and living things could not thrive on seawater (Rosenberg, 2006).

2. Is the divinity male or female? What function does this gender play?

Pe-le, the female Goddess came up out of the pit as a most lovely woman. Pe-le beauty was captivating enough to command the attention of everyone...