Brazilian soccer star Pelé
Credit: © Nelson Antoine, Shutterstock

World-renowned soccer star, Pelé passed away in São Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday, December 29th. Despite retiring in 1974, Pelé still held world records for the sport. Pelé a Brazilian athlete, won fame as the greatest soccer player of his time and the most recognized athlete in world sports.

A forward, Pelé electrified crowds with his daring dribbling, perfect passing, and accurate shooting. He holds every major scoring record in Brazil, and scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games during his professional career. Pelé is the only professional soccer player to score 1,000 goals in a career.

Pelé, a Brazilian athlete, won fame as the greatest soccer player of his time and became one of the most recognized athletes in the world. A forward, Pelé thrilled crowds with his daring dribbling, perfect passing, and accurate shooting.
Credit: © AFP/Getty Images

Pelé was born on Oct. 23, 1940, in Tres Coracoes, Brazil. His real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento. Pelé joined the Santos (Brazil) Football Club in 1956 and led Santos to world club titles in 1962 and 1963. He is the only soccer player to have played on three world championship teams, leading the Brazilian national team to World Cup championships in 1958, 1962, and 1970. Pelé is the only player in the world who has won three World Cup championships.

In the 1958 World Cup, Pelé was 17 years old. He scored six goals in the tournament, including two in the final to defeat Sweden. His skill landed Brazil their first of five World Cups.

Pelé retired as a player in 1974 but returned to competition in 1975 with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (N.A.S.L.). Pelé retired again after leading the Cosmos to the N.A.S.L. championship in 1977. He is known for popularizing soccer in the United States. He wrote a children’s book about his life in soccer, For the Love of Soccer! (2010).

May 29. 2017

This week, Mythic Monday turns to the vast Pacific Ocean and the fiery Polynesian goddess Pele. The passionate, volatile, and capricious goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes, Pele (PEH leh) is easily one of the most entertaining characters in the mythology of Hawaii and other Pacific Islands. There are many stories where Pele’s famous fury is ignited—usually from jealousy or arrogance—resulting in spectacular volcanic eruptions or fiery lava flows that leave death and destruction in their wake. But Pele is also known as the “Goddess of the Sacred Land” and “She-who-shapes-the land” for her role in the creation of new land through volcanic eruptions.

The fire goddess Pele, shown here in a wooden sculpture, was worshiped on many islands of Polynesia. The Hawaiians believed she lived in the volcano Kilauea. When the goddess became angry, the volcano erupted. Credit: Wood sculpture with beaten bark cloth, 22 1/2 inches (57 centimeters) high; Museum of Man, Paris

According to Hawaiian myth, Pele resides within Kilauea (kee loh WAY ah), a large active volcano on the island of Hawaii. She is not always home, and the ground shakes whenever she moves from one location to another to visit members of her large family. Pele sometimes appears as an ugly hag with rough skin and red eyes and other times as a beautiful woman. Legends claim that Pele’s face can sometime be seen in Kilauea’s explosive eruptions caused by her furious wrath.

Pele is famous for her fickle temper, and most myths in Hawaii portray her as jealous and spiteful. In one myth, Pele saw the lovely snow goddess, Poli’ahu  (poh lee AH hoo), and became jealous of her beauty. Pele opened up the ground and hurled fire and lava at Poli’ahu. With her snowy cloak on fire, Poli’ahu fled to the top of Mauna Kea, a large volcano neighboring Kilauea. As she ran, Poli’ahu threw snow to cool and harden the lava that Pele threw. Eventually, Pele’s temper cooled and she surrendered Mauna Kea to Poli’ahu and settled in Kilauea herself. This explains why Mauna Kea has a cap of snow while snowless Kilauea spews lava to this day.

In another myth, Pele sent her sister, Hi’iaka (hee ee AH kuh), to retrieve Pele’s lover, a prince from the island of Kauai. Hi’iaka agreed, but only if Pele promised not to harm her beloved lehua (leh HOO uh) groves or her friend Hopoe (HO PO eh). (The lehua is a tree with clusters of bright-red flowers.) Pele agreed, but Hi’iaka was delayed upon discovering that Pele’s lover had died. Hi’iaka spent days chanting over the lover’s body to bring him back to life. Convinced that her sister had stolen her lover, Pele burned the lehua groves, killing Hopoe as well. Upon returning with Kauai’s prince, Hi’iaka was furious to discover her sister had broken her promise. The sisters eventually made peace, and it is said that, as a result, lehua flowers are among the first things to grow on the island’s hardened lava flows.

Even today, tourists to Hawaii must beware the wrath of Pele. According to a popular legend, any visitor who takes a piece of volcanic lava from the Hawaiian Islands risks angering the goddess. The legend warns that anyone who does take a bit of rock from Hawaii as a souvenir will suffer bad luck until the rock is returned to Hawaii and Pele is appeased.