FIRE AS AN AGENT IN HUMAN CULTURE 157 



European. Mythopoetic, imaginative. Folk, imaginative, but 

 not much invention. 



Throughout the world there appears a similarity in episodes form- 

 ing the lire-origin story. The difference between the classic Greek 

 and the lowly Ute is the polish of progress. Prometheus steals fire 

 from heaven and Coyote steals it from an old woman. Which is the 

 older myth? The answer may be that they are equally old and 

 arrive at different places and degrees of culture from some common 

 focus where the myth can be translated into terms of actual happen- 

 ings. It is evident that the best types of fire myths are accretions, 

 reflecting culture development. This is shown by the classification 

 of North American fire myths following. As a preliminary statement, 

 American fire myths have the advantage of the isolation of the new 

 continent and have not been subjected to the dislocations effected 

 by the movement of peoples in the Old World since the earliest 

 times. 



ANALYSIS OF FIRE MYTHS 



Order Methods 



1. Preservational. Perhaps refers to the earliest stage of 



use of fire. 



2. Raptorical. Seems to presuppose the knowledge 



of fire. Naive clew of soot and prepa- 

 ration of tinder among Ute and Pahon- 

 icki Miwok. Also loss and recovery. 



3. Causational myths. Early philosophy dealing with origins, 



sometimes observational generaliza- 

 tions. Probably later developments. 



5. Benefaction myths Culture heroes giving fire direct (pres- 



ervational) or teaching method of mak- 

 ing fire artificially (artifactural) . 



6. Renewal myths. Opening up the immense field of fire 



customs, demonstrating man's attitude 

 to fire. 



Critical examination of the myths shows that many of them are 

 accretions on some basic feature, as the acquisition of fire, and the 

 additions follow a natural sequence. The philosophic element is 

 doubtless later, undoubtedly added at a more mature period. 



An analysis of a complete myth shows first the stealing of fire 

 with all its exciting episodes, and naive philosophy explains how 

 at that time fire was placed in various substances. This period 

 would correspond to the stage of preservation of fire, when naturally 

 some groups would have fire and others would not. It is so with all 

 arts which have in ancient times been kept in secret. In this class 

 many of the myths introduce the episode of the loss of fire by theft 

 or accident and the struggle to regain it, often introducing the arti- 

 factural element promoted by the exigency. There appears to be 

 no question that fire myths exibit the primitive zest of achievement, 



