Atea

In the mythology of the Marquesas Islands

Marquesas Islands

The Marquesas Islands enana and Te Fenua `Enata , both meaning "The Land of Men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. The Marquesas are located at 9° 00S, 139° 30W...

, Atea is the giver of light. In one legend Atea and Tane are brothers, the sons of Toho. Another tradition relates that Atea (as light) evolved himself, and then brought forth Ono. Joining forces, they broke up the boundless darkness of the underworld (Po), where Tanaoa, lord of darkness, and Mutu-hei (silence) had lived for eternity. Atea and Ono made war on Tanaoa and Mutu-hei, and defeated them. They confined the gods of night within set boundaries. Out of the struggle came forth Atanua, the dawn. Atea then married Atanua

Atanua

Atanua , in Polynesian mythology . is the goddess of the dawn and wife of Atea . Their son is the first man, Tu-Mea. She created the seas after having a miscarriage and filling the oceans with her amniotic fluid....

, and their children include the lesser gods and humankind (Tregear 1891:29). (unsourced: Their son is the first man, Tu-mea).

Atea (Tuamotu Islands)

In the mythology of the Tuamotu islands, Atea is killed by Tane, his second son (Meletinsky 2000:421). (unsourced: Atea marries Fakahotu (or Fakahotuhenua). Their first son, Tahu, dies of starvation and the two gods switch sexes. Later, Atea tries to kidnap Tane, but Tane escapes to earth and eventually becomes so hungry that he eats a man, thus becoming the first cannibal. Tane declares war on Atea and kills him with the lightning bolts of Fatu-tiri, his ancestor).

Atea (Māori)

Friedrich Ratzel

Friedrich Ratzel

Friedrich Ratzel was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for first using the term Lebensraum in the sense that the National Socialists later would.-Life:...

 in The History of Mankind related in 1896 Māori belief

Maori mythology

Māori mythology and Māori traditions are the two major categories into which the legends of the Māori of New Zealand may usefully be divided...

 that creation commenced with the night then, after untold periods, desire awoke, then longing, then feeling. Thought followed upon the first pulse of life, or the first breath drawn; and upon thought, mental activity. Then sprang up the wish, directed to the sacred mystery or great riddle of life. Later, from the material procreative power of love develops the clinging to existence, permeated by a joyous sense of pleasure. Lastly, Atea, the universe, floated in space, divided by the difference of sex into Rangi and Papa

Rangi and Papa

In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world. In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui.-Union and separation:...

, Heaven and Earth; and individual creations then began.

See also

• Vatea
  Vatea
  In the mythology of Mangaia, Cook Islands, Vatea is father to gods and men. His mother is Varima-te-takere, who lives deep in Avaiki, the underworld. She plucks off a piece from her right side and it becomes Vatea or Avatea. A beautiful woman visits Vatea in his dreams, and he is certain that she...
  
  , a god from Mangaia
  Mangaia
  Mangaia is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga.-Geography:...
  
   in the Cook Islands
  Cook Islands
  The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
  
  .
• Wakea
  Wakea
  In Hawaiian mythology, Wākea is the eldest son of Kahiko , and lives in Olalowaia. Wākea is the ancestor of the aristocracy, the ali‘i. The priests and common people come from his brothers. In another legend, Wākea lives in Hihiku and marries Pāpā, also called Pāpā-nui or Pāpā-nui-hanau-moku, who...
  
  , a god from Hawaii
  Hawaii
  Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
  
  .
• Rangi and Papa
  Rangi and Papa
  In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world. In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui.-Union and separation:...
  
  , primordial parents in Māori tradition.