Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
A24 — First sunrise.
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
OverviewThe first ancestors live in twilight. When they first find themselves in the rays of the sun, they (spontaneously or by someone's will) perish, turning into animals, spirits, or stones.
Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.
A24 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedA24. The first ancestors live in twilight. When they first find themselves in the rays of the sun, they (spontaneously or by someone's will) perish, turning into animals, spirits, or stones.
A24a. At the moment of the first day or the first night, people transform into supernatural characters.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L58 | 97.60% | A man refuses to give food to his closest relatives or spouse; as punishment, he or his food changes its nature. |
| D4G | 97.54% | Hummingbird steals, finds or spreads fire. See motif D4A. |
| L26 | 96.49% | During the (first) initiation, supernatural beings teach boys rituals and kill them for violating rules related to the consumption and distribution of food. |
| M121 | 96.49% | A louse or other similar creature (flea, tick, firefly) is sent to follow a certain character. |
| J24 | 96.35% | The hero, ground into powder, is reborn. |
| K16A | 95.99% | In an effort to show that he is a good hunter, a man regularly walks in front of a girl, pretending to carry prey. Once he slips, and the imaginary prey turns out to be a scarecrow stuffed with ashes or a bundle of termites. |
| F36 | 95.78% | (Adopted) children of a woman or man kill the lover (or spouse of non-human nature) of their father or (adoptive) mother. |
| A23 | 95.74% | The first ancestors come together to choose who will become the sun, to raise the sun to the sky, to see the sun rise for the first time, and to name the sun correctly. See motif A22. |
| D4D | 95.48% | The opossum obtains fire for humans. See motif D4A. |
| G14 | 95.33% | A man swallowed by a water monster is carried away to an underwater or overseas world, obtains plants, and returns to people. |
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
37 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 37 traditions: Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Tenda (incl Bedik, Basari), Biafada, Nalu, Pajadinka, Badyara (Badiaranke), Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands), Western Ukrainians, Asiatic Eskimo (Sirenek, Naukan, Chaplino), Tutchone, Tagish, Inland Tlingit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Heiltsuk (Bellabella), Oowekeeno, Sierra Miwok, Lake Miwok, Plains Miwok, Coastal Miwok, Chumash, Luiseño, Juaneño, Jicarilla, Chiricahua, Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa, Pima, Mayo, Yaqui, Sinaloa, Huichol, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Gulf Nahuatl, Paez, Guambia, Pijao; Ilama culture, Yaruro, Cañari, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Aimara, Chipaya, Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Toba (incl Pilagá), Matses (Mayoruna), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians
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