These trickster deities add some humor and mischief to many myths. Some have good results other very grave.
One of the laws of physics states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Well for the actions of the gods there is an opposite reaction known as the trickster deity. These deities don't have a specific definition parse. They usually like to cause mischief for other gods. Many times through their troublemaking they end up being cultural heroes to man and other times they can cause an equal amount of grief. These deities are not always one particular gender. Loki the well-known trickster deity of the Norse religion managed to get himself pregnant in one story.
A classic example of what a Trickster can do is the story of Eris and the Apple of Discord. Eris is the Greek Goddess of strife and the companion/twin of Ares. According to the story the most eligible Goddess Thetis was getting married. All of the who's who of mount Olympus was invited. That is everyone except Eris. You see Eris' reputation of being a troublemaker preceded her. So she decided to crash the wedding anyway. When she showed up she brought with her the shiny golden apple of discord, which was engraved "To the fairest". She threw the apple between three Goddesses Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. They of course began fighting over it and when they could not reach a decision they went to Zeus. Being the smart male that he was said he wanted nothing to do with this mess and chose a boy by the name of Paris to make the decision. That's right THE Paris, the one that instigated the Trojan War. Because of Eris and her apple we have the Trojan War.
An example of a cultural hero trickster would be that of Anansi from West African mythology. In some of the stories Anansi finds a way to bring rain to stop fires and releases wisdom into the world (though he first tried to keep it for himself). Anansi though originating in West Africa is popular through out the Africa cultures. The Folktale of how Anansi became the King of all stories is the most popular story found among the majority of the African culture. In the myth Anansi approaches the Sky God (who is the chief God) and requests to be King of all Stories. The Sky God gives one of those near impossible tasks that most chief Gods do to blow off a request they have no interest in answering. He tells Anansi that if he captures a Jaguar with teeth like daggers, the hornets who sting like fire and a fairy that no man has seen then he would name him King of All Stories. So Anansi sets forth on his task. He finds the Jaguar, who is set on eating him by the way and talks him into playing a game that requires him to get tied up, He convinces the hornets that they are raining and they need to take shelter in his calabash (a large hard gourd) and tricks the fairy with some tar. They all come back to the Sky God and Anansi is named the King of All Stories.
