Mỳt
Kayapó · demigod · Kayapó traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Mỳt, the Sun, is the elder of the two great ancestors around whom a cycle of Kayapó tales turns. Ordering the daylight and the sky, he is the prudent and effective companion of the Moon, and in their joint adventures — over game, water, fire, night and the shaping of the world — it is characteristically Sun whose foresight prevails while his companion's rashness brings trouble. The pairing of a wise solar being with a foolish lunar one is shared broadly among the Northern Jê peoples, and Lukesch records it for the Kayapó under the heading of the two great ancestors. Scholarly transcriptions of the exploits differ in detail, but Sun consistently holds the senior, culture-establishing role.
Domains
- daylight
- celestial order
Powers
- governs the day and the sun's course
- outdoes his rasher companion
Epithets
- os dois grandes antepassados — the two great ancestorsAnton Lukesch, Mythos und Leben der Kayapó (1968) (primary)
Relations
- companion: MoonSun and Moon are the paired primordial ancestors whose exploits fill a cycle of tales.Anton Lukesch, Mythos und Leben der Kayapó (Vienna, 1968) (primary)
Sources
- Sun (Mỳt) is one of the two great ancestors of Kayapó myth, a solar culture-hero paired with the Moon in a cycle of adventures.: Anton Lukesch, Mythos und Leben der Kayapó (Vienna, 1968), chapter 'Die zwei grossen Ahnherrn' (primary); Johannes Wilbert & Karin Simoneau (eds.), Folk Literature of the Gê Indians (UCLA Latin American Center, 1978-1984) (secondary)