Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
F54 — Oedipus, ATU 931, 933.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewUnaware of this, the son and mother (Konkani: daughter and father) engage in sexual relations and later learn of the incest they have committed. Cf. motifs c8c, f54e.
Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms.
F54 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedF54. Unaware of this, the son and mother (Konkani: daughter and father) engage in sexual relations and later learn of the incest they have committed. Cf. motifs c8c, f54e.
F54a. In her husband's appearance, the woman discovers signs that are not immediately noticeable, indicating that he has hidden his true nature from her and is not the right marriage partner (he is an animal, or her son, brother or father); or the husband discovers in the same way that his wife is his sister.
F54b. A young man or boy copulates with his mother or sister. This becomes known from the remains of paint or feathers with which he was covered during sexual intercourse.
F54c. A husband sees someone's fingernail marks on his wife's body and gathers the men to find out who left the marks.
F54d. A woman gives birth to a boy after accidentally drinking animal urine, or a female animal gives birth to a boy after drinking a man's urine.
F54e. Not knowing who is in front of him, a young man kills his father.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M29G2 | 99.23% | Cancer (crab) defeats or deceives strong opponents by cunning. |
| M187C | 99.20% | Participating in a race, the crab defeats its faster opponent. |
| K27X9 | 97.12% | The hero must retrieve a small object (often a ring or signet ring) thrown into deep water (often the sea). Cf. motif C6 ("The Diver"). |
| M143 | 96.38% | Finding himself in a pit or well, one character persuades another to climb down to him, thanks to which he gets out, leaving the other at the bottom. |
| A23C | 95.83% | Birds argue about which of them will fly higher or arrive first. The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely (he hides in the feathers of a strong bird and flies away with it). |
| I41B | 95.76% | The rainbow drinks (draws into itself) water (and living creatures). |
| F54E | 95.66% | Not knowing who is in front of him, a young man kills his father. |
| K99A | 95.51% | A young man or woman (often after having a dream) declares that a great future awaits him or her (usually that his or her father, parents, brothers, or sisters will show him or her signs of respect). The young man or woman is expelled, but the prophecy comes true. |
| K14E | 95.50% | The sons do not care for their elderly father (rarely: the daughter-in-law does not care for her mother-in-law). He pretends to be hiding something. The sons believe that these are valuables that their father will leave them, and they begin to care for him. |
| L23 | 95.42% | Trying to free himself, the captured character successively transforms into various substances, materials or animals, or (Urarina, Setebo) orders various dangerous animals to successively attack the person who captured him. (In some cases, only one variant of transformation is mentioned, but in the same context as in typical variants with a series of transformations). |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Traditions
53 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 53 traditions: Yemen, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Marquesas, Kapingamarangi, Nukuoro, Ulithi, Ngulu, Truk, Eastern Fayu, Losap, Pulap, Puluwat, Mortlock (incl. Satawan), Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Malay; Temuan (incl Mantra or Mentra), Jakun (Moken), Bidayuh (incl. Maloh), Iban (Sea Dayak), Sakarram; Brunei, Khmer, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Gujarati, Konkani (incl Goa), Ireland, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Czech, Czechs, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Finns, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Armenians, Gagauz, Anatolia Turks, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Arabs of Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, Emirates, Oman,, Icelanders, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Early Russian written sources, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Sundanese, Greece, Yemen, Russian Federation
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