The Mythology and Folklore Database
H12C - Orpheus: bringing back his dead wife.
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Source Data from Berezkin's Analytics Catalogue, if using this data please acknowledge and link to it here:
Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of Motif
The husband follows his dead wife into the afterlife, but cannot bring her back, or brings her back but loses her again.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects
H12 has 3 other sub-motifsH12. The living visit the afterlife to bring back the dead (except for texts about a shaman bringing back the soul of a sick person), or, without a specific goal, go there accompanied by or following in the footsteps of the recently deceased. H12a. The wife dies, the husband comes for her, or he kills her himself for adultery; she turns into a monster and haunts him. H12b. In the afterlife, the dead or demons feed on excrement. H12c. The husband follows his dead wife into the afterlife, but cannot bring her back, or brings her back but loses her again. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H12's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K3 | 96.52% | The hero climbs a tree or rock to get bird eggs, chicks, fruit, honey, etc. He cannot climb down because another character makes the tree (rock) very tall or makes the tree trunk thick. See motif K1A. |
| H12 | 95.93% | The living visit the afterlife to bring back the dead (except for texts about a shaman bringing back the soul of a sick person), or, without a specific goal, go there accompanied by or following in the footsteps of the recently deceased. |
| H20 | 92.74% | All the fish or (rarely) molluscs were concentrated in one place. A certain character allows them to escape or deliberately releases them into rivers or the sea. {In some cases, the theme of the spread of fish concentrated in a small container is difficult to separate from the theme of the spread of water. In any case, neither of these exist in Africa}. |
| F45B | 92.17% | A woman gives birth to a son conceived by (the rays or light of) the sun. |
| H32A | 92.06% | A young woman is the embodiment of fertility; she comes to live with people, and food becomes readily available. The woman is wronged, she leaves, and the superabundance ends. |
| B14 | 92.05% | In order to regulate the flow of the river in a certain way, the character creates rapids and waterfalls. |
| F94 | 92.00% | A man ascends to the upper world, where he can choose a wife associated with either life or death. |
| M63 | 91.39% | Before reaching the part of the body that is most suitable for certain purposes, others are named or tried. (Cf. Motive F22: The enumeration is related to finding the partner's genitals). |
| A34 | 90.87% | The jackal, coyote or fox are associated with the moon (usually with the appearance of lunar spots). |
| I75 | 90.46% | Before the emergence of the present world or present humans, there were others (at least two worlds or races). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 50 traditions: Papua-NewGuinea Highland Papuans:Trans New Guinea & unclassified:Chimbu,Gimi,KaugelHuli,Gadsup,Kuman,Kutubu,Foi (Foe),Kyaka,Kamano (Kafe),Mawatta,Kukukuku (=Anga,=Sambia;Manki,Nauti,Ejuti),Baruya,Kewa,Tembregak,Menya,Melpa,Wiru,Pondoma, Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Melanesians and Papuans of Bismark Archipelago: New Britain (Paparatava, Lakalai, Kuni, Sulka, Gazelle peninsula), New Ireland, St Matthias Group, Mioko (Melanesians between New Britain and New Ireland), Southern Solomons: southern part of Santa Ysabel (Bughotu), Guadalcanal, San Cristobal, Malaita, Ulawa, Central Vanuatu: Espiritu Santo, Araki, Aore, Maewo, Malekula, Vao, Efate (Vate), Nguna, Mae, Ambrim, Pentecost, Oba (=Aoba, East Ambae, Lepers'), Omba, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, Mindanao and Sulu: Blaan (Bilaan), Bagobo, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Hiligáynon, Binukid, Magindaan (=Magindanao: main Muslim population), Mandaya, Mansaka, Manobo (Agusan, Ata, Dibabawon, Sarangani, Ilianen), Maranao, Samal, Subanon (=Subanun), Subanen, Tboli, Mon, Early Chinese written sources, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, Ancient Greece, Western Sami, Nivkh, Inland Tlingit, Lenape (Delaware), Blackfoot, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Yuchi, Pawnee, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Quinault, Shasta; Chimariko, Karok, Yurok, Sierra Miwok, Chumash, Yokuts, Northern Foothills Yokuts (Chukchansi, Dumna, Kechayi), Tubatulabal, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Serrano, Gabrielino (Tongva), Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Tewa (San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe; Hano), Tiwa (Taos, Picuris; Sandia, Isleta), Towa (Jemez), Huichol, Tepecano, Western Mexico Nahuatl, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Lacandon, Guajiro, Yaruro, Waiwai, Machiguenga, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Papua-New Guinea Northern Lowland Papuan groups (Trans New Guinea and unclassified): Komba, Gimi, Susure, Orokaiva, Bogadjim, Ngain, Sentani, Bargam, Imonda, Nankina, Yupta Valley, Urawa Valley, Warupu (Barupu), Pondoma (Anam)