The Magic Drum Myth

The myth “The Magic Drum” is a myth created by the Benga people of Africa around the “Golden Age” this was a time described in mythology as a period in which humanity had recently begun and everything was agreeable. The myth is important because of what it says about the Benga people and why they told it. The characters and what they mean to the story, both inside and outside, is also a key factor in why the myth is told. An important idea to remember about this myth is what the Benga people were experiencing when they told or composed this story.
One of the main purposes of the myth “The Magic Drum” is to explain why leopards reside on land and why turtles reside in water. The myth tells this story through a plot that has foreshadowing as well as conflict. In the beginning of the myth, there is a compare and contrast between the turtle and the leopard. They both live in the same town and both have two wives, however, there is some distance between the two because they live on opposite sides of a street, and both at each end (Powell 537.) This compare and contrast is expressing foreshadowing because in the end the leopard and the turtle will live in two opposite environments, being land and water. So in this metaphor, the town is the earth and the two ends of the street represent water and land. In the end, the ultimate reason why the turtle stays
In this myth the town is starving and “people sat down hopelessly and died of hunger” (Powell 537.) In Benga, Africa “there is never enough food” to feed everyone, this is still present today in Guinea where the Benga first arose (Powell 542.) So the Benga got creative and solved their problems through storytelling. Their solution? A magic drum that makes food appear from nowhere. This myth was written/told because it was likely a distraction from the reality of starvation and hunger for both the teller of the story and the