Chameleons in the mythology of peoples

Chameleons in the mythology of peoples

Böhme, W., & Koppetsch, T. (2023)

A very nice interdisciplinary paper was published by german colleagues and friends. The full text is in German, but here, a large abstract is enclosed.

Abstract

Since the antiquity, chameleons were the subject of superstitions and fear, resulting in numerous mythological imaginations and persecution by humans. Even the origin of the seemingly Greek name "chamai-leon" of these animals was and still is under debate. Our article addresses this latter question, but concentrates on the myths connected with chameleons in their countries of origin, from the ancient Egyptian time to the Greek and Roman antiquity, and up to the present day. In many countries where chameleons occur, particularly in Africa and Madagascar, they still play an important role in the mythology of the respective peoples. While they are regarded as highly poisonous in many countries, they are also traded, especially on West African markets, for magic or ethnomedical purposes. In sub-Saharan Africa, the fear against chameleons can be traced back to a general, widely distributed basic myth, the myth of the so-called presumptuous message: The sun god instructed his messenger, the chameleon, to bring the message of immortality to the humans. The snake had heard this, was faster to reach the humans and brought them the presumed, but wrong message, namely that they would be mortal. Similar footrace myths with various counterparts of the chameleon are common in Africa. In Madagascar, the greatest hotspot of chameleon diversity, this myth is only known in the parts populated by originating from the African mainland. Madagascar's first immigrants of Indo-Malayan origin, however, where no chameleons occur, are completely relaxed and fearless when meeting these lizards. An observation of a Gambian scared women displaying in panic her breasts and squirting her milk against a chameleon when confronted with the animal leads us to a cultural-historical digression. This remarkable human behavioral trait (here with appeasement function) was documented also in completely different functions and purposes which can, however, likely be derived, from a common basal pattern. 

Citation: Böhme, W., & Koppetsch, T. (2023): Chamäleons in der Mythologie der Völker. – Koenigiana, 17(1): 39–50.

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