Ono
Marquesan · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
The light-and-darkness cosmogony summarized by Dixon is disputed: Handy (1923, pp. 328–329) argues that its Fornander/Lawson text is a European fabrication. 'Ono (Marquesan reflex of pan-Polynesian Rongo/Lono) personifies Sound in the cosmogony: arising from Atea (Light) after the conquest of Tanaoa, he destroys Mutu-hei (Silence); from these two struggles the dawn-goddess Atanua arose. In legendary tradition 'Ono (as 'Ono-tapu) defeats the god Tohetika. Handy notes that, like Tane, 'Ono was not a major cult-god of Hiva but a prominent figure of the oral narratives (Native Culture p. 247).
Variant accounts
- source review correctionHandy explicitly disputes the authenticity of the Fornander/Lawson light-and-darkness cosmogony. Its narrative claims must be attributed rather than presented as an uncontested account.E. S. C. Handy, The Native Culture in the Marquesas (1923), pp. 328–329 (primary); E. S. C. Handy, The Native Culture in the Marquesas (1923), pp. 165,245–247 (primary)
- source review correctionHandy explicitly disputes the authenticity of the Fornander/Lawson light-and-darkness cosmogony. Its narrative claims must be attributed rather than presented as an uncontested account.E. S. C. Handy, The Native Culture in the Marquesas (1923), pp. 328–329 (primary); E. S. C. Handy, The Native Culture in the Marquesas (1923), pp. 165,245–247 (primary)
Domains
- sound
Powers
- Bringing of sound into the world
Relations
- enemy: Mutu-heiDestroyed Mutu-hei (Silence).Dixon 1916, ch. I — Ono destroyed Mutuhei. (primary)
- ally: AteaArose from Atea and joined forces with him to break up the darkness of the Po.Handy 1923; Dixon 1916, ch. I — Atea brought forth Ono and the two joined forces against the powers of the Po. (primary)
- enemy: TohetikaDefeats the god Tohetika in legend.Handy 1923 — Ono defeats the god Tohetika. (primary)
- equated with: RongoReflex of the same ancestral Polynesian deity (*Rongo), cognate across the island groups.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
- equated with: LonoReflex of the same ancestral Polynesian deity (*Rongo), cognate across the island groups.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
- equated with: Ro'oReflex of the same ancestral Polynesian deity (*Rongo), cognate across the island groups.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
- equated with: RongoReflex of the same ancestral Polynesian deity (*Rongo), cognate across the island groups.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
- equated with: RongoReflex of the same ancestral Polynesian deity (*Rongo), cognate across the island groups.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
- equated with: RongoReflex of the same ancestral Polynesian deity (*Rongo), cognate across the island groups.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)