myth, he has been linked to the chameleon
through the elusive, unpredictable, and fateful/
fatal power both seem to have. As his name,
Elegbara, suggests, he is a problematic encounter
difficult to fathom because no one knows for cer-
tain the outcome of his or her fate, which Esu
manifests from moment to moment, hence the
persistent attempt made through divination, ritual
sacrifice, or prayer by the Yorubas to determine
what fate (Esu) has in store. This entry looks at his
origins and attributes and how he is represented
and worshipped.
OriginsAlthough Esu is generally regarded as a super-
natural entity, there are attempts, supported by
various myths, to document his obviously anthro-
pomorphic roots. In this regard, researchers and
informants differ as to the exact place of origin in
Nigeria. Some say a village in Badagry or Iworo in
the vicinity of Lagos; others locate him on top of
a mountain near Igbeti, close to River Niger.
Other places suggested are Ofa-Ile, Ife-Wara, and
Ketu. In the so-calledorixa(orisha) cults in the
New World (Voodoo, Candomble, Santeria), his
most common name, Legba or Papa Legba, prob-
ably originated from his worship among the
people of Dahomey, now the Republic of Benin.
Other variations of Esu’s name in the New World
include Exu (Brazil) and Elegua (Cuba). There is
also a female identity in Brazil—Pomba Gira.
Although Esu replicates the attributes of trick-
ster figures found in world cultures, he is
uniquely central to the Yoruba notion of man’s
relationship with God in terms of order and
man’s destiny on Earth. He has been erroneously
identified with the Christian devil by Western
missionaries and early ethnographers probably
based on stories of him asenfant terrible; how-
ever, the deity embodies the complimentary forces
of good and evil, which, in the Yoruba mind,
coexist in every human.
Furthermore, parallels of the god have been
made with the Greek Hermes in terms of both trick-
sters and messenger gods and their presence at
crossroads and the market. This notion, as well as
Catholic influences, account for the syncretic bind
that often expresses some of the literature about him
and other gods in the New World black cultures.
Esu’s tricks seem to differ from Hermes in at least
one significant respect—they are levied to force
awareness and as warnings of human shortcomings
or crimes; Hermes’ are imposed for the fun of it.Attributes
Variousorikior praise chants suggest Esu’s elu-
siveness, stature, fateful/fatal complex, and trick-
ster qualities—in short, all that evoke his
inscrutable power and presence. For instance, of
his physical and mysterious size:Esu sleeps in the house
But the house is too small for him
Esu sleeps on the front yard
But the yard is too constricting for him
Esu sleeps in the palm-nut shell
Now he has enough room to stretch at large.His skin color is likened to that of the
chameleon (alawo agemo), suggesting their art of
camouflage and dissembling. In fact, the agemo
(chameleon) phenomenon, anojiji firifiri, a shad-
owy creature, now visible now invisible, is perti-
nent to Esu. Often hailed in chants as Esu Odara
(the dissembler) by his devotees, they warn of his
difficult encounter (T’Esu Odara lo so soro),
that is, the balance of good and evil forces that
he embodies, but that they (the devotees) or any
human for that matter constantly seek to main-
tain. He is also the “child of the unmitigated
curse,” attesting to his fatal, satiric power of the
Word (ase), suggested in references such as
“Having thrown a stone yesterday/he kills a bird
today” or, its reverse, “Having thrown a stone
today/He kills a bird yesterday.” Relating to the
ase or impact of his fateful/fatal actions on
mankind in the “drama of life,” Esu’s attributes
can be extended to include master of peripetiae
and satirist par excellence.
Esu’s representations as fate sometimes present
confusion with regard to other agencies of fate
in Yoruba belief, such as Ori (the metaphysical246 Esu, Elegba