The Mythology Book

320

W

hen he was a youth,

Maui, the great hero of

Polynesian mythology,

was given the task of guarding the

path to the Underworld. Maui lived

in the upper world, where humanity

resides. Buataranga, Maui’s mother,

spent most of her time in the

Underworld but sometimes visited

her son in the upper world. The

food she gave him was always cold,

whereas the meals she brought for

herself were always hot, thanks to

the (closely guarded) secret of fire

that was kept in the Underworld

and unknown to the upper world.

One day Maui stole some of

his mother’s meal while she was

sleeping. Maui preferred the cooked

IN BRIEF

THEME

The gift of fire

SOURCE

Myths and Songs from

the South Pacific, William

Wyatt Gill, 1896.

SETTING

Polynesia at the beginning of

time; the Underworld.

KEY FIGURES

Maui A trickster god.

Buataranga Maui’s mother;

a goddess.

Tane The forest god.

Akaotu Tane’s favorite red

pigeon.

Mauike The fire god.

Ru Maui’s father and a god.

Tama-nui-te-ra The “great

god of the sun,” called Ra.

BUT THE

REDOUBTABLE

MAUI WAS

NOT TO BE

DISCOURAGED

MAUI OF A THOUSAND TRICKS

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321

See also: Prometheus helps mankind 36–39 ■ Fire and rice 226–27 ■ Ta’aroa gives birth to the gods 316–17 ■ Tane and

Hine-titama 318–19

food and resolved to discover how

she heated it. For that, he knew

he had to gain access to the

Underworld. Following his mother

as she returned to her home, Maui

saw her speaking to a black rock,

which opened up when she recited

a poem.

So that he, too, could visit the

Underworld, Maui committed the

poem’s words to memory. He knew

that getting in unnoticed would

require trickery, so Maui visited his

friend Tane, the forest god, who

owned many pigeons. Maui

demanded Tane’s most prized bird,

a red pigeon called Akaotu who

was tame and well-trained. Tane

lent Maui the bird but made him

promise to return it unharmed.

Taking the pigeon with him, Maui

returned to the rock where his

mother had entered the Underworld.

He recited the poem and the portal

opened. Using his trickster powers,

Maui then put himself inside the

bird and flew into the Underworld.

As he darted past the demons, they

could only grab at Akaotu’s tail,

pulling off a few of his feathers.

Buataranga’s warning

Maui flew to where his mother

Buataranga lived whenever she was

in the Underworld. Because there

were no red pigeons living in the

lower realm, Buataranga knew that

something was amiss and quickly

deduced that her son was involved.

Maui resumed his human form,

and the red pigeon settled on a

breadfruit tree.

Maui told his mother that he had

come to find out how to kindle fire.

She told him that she did not know

the secret herself and that whenever

she needed to cook she went to the

OCEANIA

Tane is known as Tane Mahuta (“King

of the Forest”) in Maori legend. The

largest Kauri tree in Waipoua Forest,

New Zealand, over 1,000 years old,

bears this name in honor of the god.

Maui in Polynesian mythology

Tales of the trickster god

appear throughout Polynesian

mythology, although the god’s

name may vary; Maui’s Samoan

equivalent is called Ti’iti’i. In

Maori mythology, Maui is said

to be a human, miraculously

saved from death by ocean

spirits when he was very young

after his mother threw him into

the sea. The exact details of his

exploits tend to vary with

location. Common elements

include the stories of Maui

pushing up the sky, snaring the

sun, and gaining the secret of

fire, but accounts of Maui’s end

differ. In the Cook Islands, he

is believed to have ascended

to the heavens. In some

Hawaiian myths, he has his

brains dashed out. The other

gods tire of his tricks and hurl

him against the rocks after he

tries to steal a banana they are

roasting. In Maori mythology,

Maui is a mortal killed by the

goddess of death as he tries to

win eternal life. Maui’s most

recent incarnation is in the 2016

Disney animation Moana, where

the eponymous heroine, a chief’s

daughter, searches for Maui in a

bid to save her people.

fire god Mauike, who gave her

lighted sticks. Buataranga warned

her son, however, not to approach

Mauike because of his violent temper

and great strength.

Playing with fire

Undeterred, Maui went straight to

Mauike’s house and asked him for

a firebrand. When he was given ❯❯

The fire god, confident

in his own prodigious

strength, resolved

to destroy this

insolent intruder.

Myths and Songs from

the South Pacific

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