Cultural References
The Bight of Benin is known for its fearsome tides and has a long association with slavery, its shore being known as the Slave Coast.
An old rhyme says:
- Beware, beware the Bight of the Benin, for few come out though many go in.
A variation goes:
- Beware beware, the Bight of Benin: one comes out, where fifty went in!
This is said to be a slavery jingle or sea shanty about the risk of malaria in the Bight. A third version of the couplet is
- Beware and take care of the Bight of Benin. There's one comes out for forty goes in."
The author Philip McCutchan has written a book titled "Beware, beware the Bight of Benin."
A short story by Elizabeth Coatsworth, "The Forgotten Island" (1942), deals with a treasure from Benin. A variation of the rhyme is also mentioned.
In Patrick O'Brian's novel The Commodore (1996), Dr. Maturin recites the rhyme when he learned of his ship's destination. Commodore Aubrey checks him, telling him it is bad luck to say that out loud on the way in.
The rhyme is also partially quoted in chapter Context(6) of John Brunner's novel Stand on Zanzibar. The Bight of Benin (as well as the fictional republic of Beninia) is mentioned throughout the novel.
In 2007, a collection of short stories entitled The Bight of Benin: Short Fiction by Kelly J. Morris was published by AtacoraPress.com. The stories are set in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
Avant-garde musician Buckethead's song "The Bight of Benin" off the album Albino Slug (2008) is named after this area.
Read more about this topic: Bight Of Benin
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“The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)