Iconographic Analysis of Yoruba Deity Narratives in Oral Tradition: Case Study of Sango Mythology

Yoruba deity narratives constitute a rich mythological corpus that encodes cosmological beliefs, moral imperatives, and historical consciousness within a symbolic and iconographic register. This study conducts an iconographic analysis of Sango mythology within the Yoruba oral tradition, drawing data from communities in Oyo State, South West Nigeria. Using a qualitative ethnographic approach, oral narratives about Sango were collected through recorded interviews with babalawo priests, Sango devotees, and oral tradition specialists in Oyo Town, Ibadan, and Ogbomoso. The study applies myth analysis theory and structural anthropology, drawing particularly on the work of Claude Levi-Strauss and African mythology scholars, to decode the iconographic symbols embedded in Sango narratives. Reviewed literature identifies Sango narratives as among the most extensively documented Yoruba oral traditions, yet iconographic analysis focusing on the intersections of lightning symbolism, thunder aesthetics, and royal authority has been insufficiently developed in academic literature. This study addresses that gap by interpreting selected narrative episodes through a systematic iconographic lens. The research investigates how objects, colours, gestures, and settings within Sango stories function as symbolic codes communicating cosmological and political messages to Yoruba audiences. Findings are expected to reveal a coherent symbolic system in which fire, double-headed axe motifs, and thunder imagery collectively communicate divine justice and sovereign power. Recommendations will address the preservation and interdisciplinary study of Yoruba deity narratives. Keywords: Sango mythology, iconographic analysis, Yoruba oral tradition, deity narratives, Oyo State.