In the following Navajo ritual, a young girl (age 13 or so) will undergo, through ritual, a transformation into Changing Woman, a nature goddess who will mate with the Sun in the spring, thereby engendering anew the earth. For traditional song cultures, the mechanism of ritual (as encapsulated and transformed by song) is closely allied with myth: myth becomes a reality, for the duration of the song.
For this particular ritual, and this particular song, the Navajo girl really does become Changing Woman. Compare the description of Patroklos at 16.777: Then Patroklos sprang like Ares with fierce intent and a terrific shout upon the Trojans, and thrice did he kill nine men; but as he was coming on like a daimôn, for a fourth time, then, O Patroklos, was the hour of your end approaching, for Phoebus [Apollo] fought you in fell earnest.
We've seen how the ritual of arming caused Patroklos to be like a daimôn; similarly, the ritual of Changing Woman has transformed this Navajo girl into a daimôn. This transformation, incidentally, signals the girl's successful re-integration into her community (cf. Bar/Bat Mitvahs or baptism ceremonies). Heroes, by contrast, always have botched re-integrations while alive -- only at death do they become synchronized with their communities.
