One of the most famous myths in Hispanic culture is La Llorona, commonly known as the wailing or weeping woman. As legend maintains, this malicious spirit wanders the waterways looking for the souls of her children as part of her eternal punishment for their deaths. Although her fate is relatively universal among each retelling, the events that led to it are not: some renditions claim the woman drowned her children after her husband abandoned her for his mistress, others uphold that the jilted woman murder her children after her forbidden relationship with an upper-class man was dismantled, and a few contend the jealous woman drowned her step-children in retaliation to her new husband’s affections toward them.[1] Additionally, the origins of the legend are also debatable. Some argue it can be traced back to the sixth of eight omens witnessed by the Aztecs ten years before the conquest of Hernán Cortés, where a woman was seen weeping in the streets of Tenochtitlan over the death of her children. Others, in turn, claim the woman was La Malinche, the Nahuan women who served as Cortés’ translator and potential paramour.[2] Despite the disputable origins and details, the legend of La Llorona, Gloria Duarte claims, serves a universal purpose in Hispanic culture, warning young women not to transcend their social class, scaring children into returning home before dark, and cautioning men about being unfaithful.[3] Yet, the legend and its lessons are not limited to just Hispanic culture. In the Philippines, the Weeping Woman, a mermaid whose child was killed by a fisherman, drowns children in retaliation.[4] In Germany, the ghost of a peasant girl who killed her child and the nobleman who impregnated her is said to lurk in the night searching for children to replace her own.[5] In Greece, Lamia, whose children were killed by Hera when it was discovered the father was Zeus, hunts and devours the unattended children of oblivious mothers. And, in the Hebrew faith, Lilith, who was cast out of Eden for challenging her role and replaced by Eve, enacts her vengeance on mankind by preying on the souls of the innocent, particularly children.[6]
Works Referenced
Ausubel, Nathan, ed. A Treasury of Jewish Folklore. New York: Crown Publishers, 1948.
Duarte, Gloria. “La Llorona’s Ancestry: Crossing Cultural Boundaries.” Folklore: In All of Us, In All We Do. Ed. Kenneth Untiedt. Denton, TX: Texas Folklore Society, 2006. 107-113.
Perez, Domino Renee. There Was a Woman: La Llorona from Folklore to Popular Culture. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2008.
Vidal, Soledad. “La Llorona.” Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2006. 362-362.
West, John. “The Weeping Woman: La Llorona.” Legendary Ladies of Texas. Ed. F.E. Abernethy. Dallas, TX: E-Heart Press, 1981.
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[1] Vidal, 362.
[2] Perez, 16-19.
[3] Duarte, 107.
[4] Duarte, 109-110.
[5] West, 31.
[6] Ausubel, 593-594.
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