Ananasesem, literally translated "Spider stories" is associated with almost all ethnic groups in Ghana. Under the moonlight, in all villages, Anansesem is told to entertain and teach both the young and old after a hard day's work out in the field. Stories of Ananse's cunning attitude is told and retold several times. But are we not mistakenly confusing ourselves and making wit synonymous to dupery? The origin of Ananse and Anansesem is very complex and intriguing as the character itself. Dr J. B. Danquah, in his book the Akan Doctrine of God, suggests that "the identification of Ananse, the mythic personage, with Ananse, the spider, is an aetiological mistake, arising from a confusion of names". According to Dr Danquah, the name Ananse is derived from the Babylonian mythic personage of folktales called Oannes, or Lannes or Eunanes who is supposed to have taught mankind wisdom. The hypothesis rests further on research findings that the name Akan is linked to the Babylonian name, Akkad or Akara or Agade, and the Akan language is similar to the language spoken by the people of Somer and Akkad. It was viewed by Dr Danquah that Ananse was originally a person not a spider and was transferred from the Babylonian world. But Kwesi Yankah, in his paper, The Akan Trickster Cycle: Myth or Folktale? seems to disagree to some extent with the hypothesis of Dr Danquah and questions why the latter's views seem to be unable to "account for the near ubiquity of the spider, as the trickster in several areas in Africa and in other parts of the world". According to Yankah, the people of the West Indies refer to Ananse as Miss Nancy or Aunt Nancy, "which constitutes a direct derivation from Akan and are apparently a carry over from West Africa during the transatlantic slave trade". Yankah also states that Ananse is "the trickster among the Azande where he is known as Ture, the same vocabulary for the animal spider; he is the trickster among the Ngbandi of the Congo, and exists in Hausa tales as the hero (gisso)." Ananse has always been associated with trickery and mischief, traits which are sometimes glorified and/or punished at the end of every Anansesem. But even on occasions when his trickery is punished either physically or by a loss of prestige, his method or use of shrewdness is always applauded. The ability to use wit and trickery as a means to an end, does not justify the end whatsoever that end is. Anansesem has unconsciously shaped our basic ideas of fairness, greed, wit and shrewdness. Without us knowing, we are applying some, if not all of Ananse's traits, even when some of these (traits) are seen to have been punished at the end of the Anansesem. We admire Ananse's use of trickery even if it leads to an awful end. A story is told of how Ananse got Aso (his wife) in marriage. It was said that Akwasi, the-jealous-one, lived with his wife Aso. He was impotent. God ruled that he who would impregnate her might take her over as his wife. Ananse took up the challenge, contrived to get large quantities of meat and took it to the couple's house. As they ate together, Ananse put a purgative in the man's food. Meanwhile, Ananse had given his name as Rise-up-and-make-love-to-Aso. At bedtime, the medicine took effect on the man, and he suffered, crying out Ananse's name (Rise-up-and-make-love-to-Aso) for help. On hearing that, Ananse drew the woman's attention to her husband's orders. The woman obliged and Ananse made love to her. That happened several times that night. The woman got pregnant and the begotten child is cut into pieces and scattered, spreading jealousy all over the world. This story illustrates Ananse's use of trickery to get to an end. This trait is copied, albeit unknowingly. How many times have we not heard of unscrupulous people selling all manner of items to the unsuspecting public in the name of making ends meet? Swindlers using trickery and feeding on the ignorance of their victims extort money from the masses. Stories are told of how some pastors prey on the trust of their congregation and use trickery to amass wealth at the expense of the latter. Each and every one of us plays the role of Ananse to survive; though we may not take an Ananse story book to read everyday; it is in our sub-conscience. Anyone who reads the Daily Graphic editorial of August 13, 2007 would have felt the frustration of the then editor. Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh. He was complaining about the "everybody chops from the work side" attitude of Ghanaians. Each one wants to be "smart". takes what he can gives back nothing. Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh made a very good analysis, "when as construction workers we begin to steal some of the materials such as iron rods, cement or any of the items needed for quality work we would end up destroying the reputation of our firm and consequently the capacity of the company to continue to keep us in gainful employment". The Ananse attitude seems to be at work in our offices, construction sites, schools and streets. Unless we as a people put on selfless attitudes and do not see dupery as shrewdness or being witty, we stand the risk of creating a society with no morality whatsoever. Source: Moses Tekper/Daily Graphic