Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

I99 — The Pleiades – boys or men.

136 Myths, legends and folktales

136 Unique narratives for motif I99

89 Cultures & traditions where I99 is told

0 Sub-motifs of motif I99

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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

Overview

The Pleiades – a group of boys, young men, men or people of different genders, but predominantly male.

Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations.

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny

Motif	Similarity	Motif summary
L40	94.85%	The character discovers (rarely: cannot discover) another person on a tree or rock, noticing their reflection or shadow. See motif L39.
F9C	93.08%	Snake (in Oceania – moray eel) in the vagina; vagina – snake's mouth; snake crawls out of a woman's mouth and bites off a man's penis during intercourse; woman with a toothy womb is associated with a snake.
I82A	91.92%	The Morning and/or Evening Star – a male character.
F30	91.39%	A girl or woman takes a snake, eel, moray eel, lizard or worm as a lover or spouse. People kill or maim the lover, the woman and/or their offspring, or she herself turns into a snake. Cf. motif K76B (the snake-husband becomes and remains a handsome man). See motif F29.
F18A	90.62%	The penis of a male character is much longer than normal or becomes so. During intercourse, it usually crawls towards the woman like a snake. (Only texts with a focus on authenticity are included, not anecdotes).
I100B	90.52%	The Pleiades - a group of people of any gender and age. See motifs i99 - i100A, aggregate data.
A12D	90.00%	Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12.
G23	89.91%	The origin of various (more than two) creatures or objects is explained by the metamorphosis of a living creature or part of its body. {Only texts of an aetiological nature are taken into account. For statistical purposes, all texts with motifs G23A and G23B are also included in motif G23}.
I72	89.56%	Stars – anthropomorphic beings. See motif K19 (marriage to a star). Cases where the Star is a unique object, e.g. Venus, rather than one of many Star-people, are not included.
F9	89.53%	For various reasons, sexual intercourse with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man, or so it seems to him: Teeth, blades or sharp stones in the vagina or on the inside of the thighs; the vagina is a toothy mouth. See motif F9A.

See the 100 most similar distributions →

Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

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Traditions

89 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 89 traditions: Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Berbers of Morocco and adjacent parts of Algeria, Malagasy, Trans-New Guinea and unclassified Papuan groups of Irian Jaya: Mejprat, Arandai-Bintuni, Inanwatan-Berau, Papua of Gelvink (Cenderawasih) Bay, Kamoró, Marind Anim, Sawi, Mafore; Korowai; Kwerba; Momina, Eipo, Yale, Awyu, Melanesians and Papuans of Northern Solomons: Buka, Bougainville (Siuai, Buin), Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands), Marshall Islands, incl Ailinglapalap, Arno, Jaluit, Kili, Lae, Maloelap, Majuro, Ratak, Wotho, Ujae, Jaluit (=Jalooj), Namdrik, Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Roti, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Batak (Toba, Dairi), Aceh (Acheh), Mentawai, Central Taiwan: Bunun (Vonum), La'arua, Tsou, Kanabu, Kanakanabu, Chin-Naga: Ao, Mao, Sema, Zeme, Kolren, Kom, Lhota, Rengma, Angami, Kabui, Tangkhul, Koirenf, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Bhils (incl Barela-Bhilala), France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Tajik, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Ossetians, Kumyk, Terekemen, Nogai, Tats, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mongols (Khalkha), Nganasans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, North Alaskan Inupiat, Netsilik, Haida, Lenape (Delaware), Menominee, Huron (incl Wyandot), Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arikara, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Shasta; Chimariko, Yurok, Caddo, Natchez (incl Avoyel), Alabama, Koasati, Cherokee, Chumash, Navajo, Jicarilla, Pima, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Makiritare (Yecuana), Locono, Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Siona, Secoya, Coreguaje, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Kofan, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena , Bora, Ticuna (Tucuna), Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Marubo, Kamayura, Nambikwara, Paresi, Caraja, Cayapo (incl. Kubenkranken, Pau d’Arco, Shikrin or Xikrin), Craho, Sherente, Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Mataco, Toba (incl Pilagá), Caduveo, Mbaya, Montenegro, Halkomelem (Snaymuk)

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