Sogolon Condé
Sogolon Condé, also called Sogolon Kedjou, is the mother of Sunjata Keita and one of the central women of the epic. A hunchbacked and outwardly repellent maiden of Dò, she is claimed by the hunters who slay the buffalo-woman and given in marriage to King Naré Maghann Konaté in fulfilment of the prophecy that she will bear a great king. Sogolon carries the occult inheritance of the buffalo-woman of Dò, whose living double she is said to be, and it is by her tenacity and hidden power that the infant Sunjata, born unable to walk, is protected through years of humiliation by the rival queen Sassouma Bereté. Driven into exile with her children, she sustains the family until her son rises, and her death in a foreign land becomes the price Sunjata must pay for the right to bury her there. She is regarded in the tradition as the true source of her son's greatness.
Children
Domains
- sorcery
- motherhood
Powers
- wields protective sorcery on her son's behalf
Epithets
- Sogolon Wulen — Sogolon the Ugly / the buffalo-woman's doubleConrad, David C. (2004). Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples. Indianapolis: Hackett. (primary)
Relations
- spouse: Naré Maghann KonatéSecond wife of the king of the Manden.Niane, D. T. (1965). Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. London: Longman, pp. 10-13. (primary)
- companion: Dò KamissaKinswoman and living double of the buffalo-woman of Dò, whose power she carries.Conrad, David C. (2004). Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples. Indianapolis: Hackett, pp. 22-38. (primary)
Sources
- Sogolon Condé, the hunchbacked princess of Dò and heir to the buffalo-woman's power, is the mother of Sunjata Keita.: Niane, D. T. (1965). Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. London: Longman, pp. 5-22. (primary); Conrad, David C. (2004). Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples. Indianapolis: Hackett, pp. 38-55. (primary)