Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J50 — Attempt to resurrect the dead.
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 father or mother of twin heroes dies or is killed. An attempt to revive the deceased fails.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
J50 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedJ50. The father or mother of twin heroes dies or is killed. An attempt to revive the deceased fails.
J50a. The mother dies when her sons push or embrace her.
J50b. The father (alone or with his brother) is only partially resurrected and is unable to live among people (he cannot be a warrior). The hero leaves him (in another world) or allows him to die completely.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J29 | 99.37% | Murdered parents themselves inform their children about the circumstances of their death. |
| M76 | 98.67% | A woman cuts off a man's leg when he climbs a tree; a man cuts off a woman's leg when she climbs a tree. See K13A motif. |
| E23 | 98.35% | A handful of fleas or lice must be thrown at the character; only this will make him or her move, which is necessary for revival or for the existence of people. |
| D4G | 96.83% | Hummingbird steals, finds or spreads fire. See motif D4A. |
| M8 | 96.81% | Some characters (not humans) are struggling to break a strong barrier that prevents access to the desired location or to a high-value object. See also M8A - M8D motifs; they are included in the M8 motif in the correlation tables. |
| B28E | 96.47% | The Moon (alone or together with the Sun) transforms the original "incorrect" world into the one in which people now live. |
| D4A1 | 96.47% | A certain character possesses fire or steals it. His attention is attracted or distracted by singing, music, dancing, unusual gifts, indecent or strange behaviour, offers of sex, food and/or alcohol. |
| K13C | 94.50% | The cannibal's daughter takes revenge on her husband for her mother's death and manages to cut off his leg. See motif K13A. |
| A24 | 93.62% | 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. |
| J8 | 93.25% | A woman or girl sets out in search of a husband (fiancé, etc.). Bird feathers left on the trail, at a crossroads or near a dwelling mark the right or wrong path. See motif J7. |
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
35 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 35 traditions: Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Plains Ojibwa, Pomo, Sierra Miwok, Lake Miwok, Plains Miwok, Coastal Miwok, Serrano, Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Tewa (San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe; Hano), Tiwa (Taos, Picuris; Sandia, Isleta), Towa (Jemez), Diegueño: Ipai, Tipai, Kamia (Kumeai), Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa, Papago, Huichol, Tepecano, tarasques, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Tepehua, Totonac, Chol; pre-Columbian Mayan iconography outside of Yucatan, Chorti, Cuna; XVI century data on Eastern Panama, Wayapi, Emerillon, Karijona, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena , Yuracare, Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Caraja, Guarani of Paraguay and Brazil: Caygua, Mbia, Apapocuva, Nyandewa, Chiripa
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