제주도 신화와 ‘고통’의 문제: <초공본풀이>를 중심으로

I have examined the problem of human suffering through the three pieces of shaman epic of Jeju Island. <Bepodoupchim> shows us the sufferings from nature itself. <Chonjiwang Bonpoori> is about the sufferings from man of power/wealth. The heroine of <Chogong Bonpoori> does not know the reason why she had to go through such a hardship or ordeal. It is the sufferings from existence. we all have the same kind of suffering from unknown cause.
These myths show us the sober assessment of the human situation by telling us that there will be always sufferings with us; as shown in the failure of punishing the villain ‘Soomyong Jangja’, and the insoluble and cascading suffering of the lady of <Chogong Bonpoori>.
Her face, moan, cry and lamentation talk to us. we can not help noticing and hearing her suffering. We become share her sorrow. The shaman and the audiences share the tears with the heroine. That way, it seems to be possible for us to understand the others, the weak, as Emmanuel Levinas, a French Philosopher, taught us.
I also have compared the aspects of human suffering with that of other Jeju shaman epic <Igong Bonpoori> and <Segyoung Bonpoori>. I have checked some contrast between <Chogong Bonpoori> and a Greek tragic myth <Niobe>, the ‘ignorance’ of the lady of <Chogong Bonpoori> and the ‘hubris’ of Niobe, the daughter of Tantalos.