*Dyēus

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Dyēus
)
Not to be confused with Deus.
The sky over the feather grass-covered steppe in Ukraine. *Dyḗus ph₂tḗr has been translated as "father daylight-sky-god".

*Dyḗus (

Earth Mother
, in a relationship of union and contrast.

While its existence is not directly attested by archaeological or written materials, *Dyēus is considered by scholars the most securely reconstructed deity of the Indo-European pantheon, as identical formulas referring to him can be found among the subsequent Indo-European languages and myths of the Vedic Indo-Aryans, Latins, Greeks, Phrygians, Messapians, Thracians, Illyrians, Albanians and Hittites.[3][2]

Name

Etymology

The divine name *Dyēus derives from the stem *dyeu-, denoting the "diurnal sky" or the "brightness of the day" (in contrast to the darkness of the night), ultimately from the root *di or dei- ("to shine, be bright").[1][4] Cognates in Indo-European languages revolving around the concepts of "day", "sky" and "deity" and sharing the root *dyeu- as an etymon, such as Sanskrit dyumán- 'heavenly, shining, radiant',[5] suggest that Dyēus referred to the vast and bright sky of the day conceived as a divine entity among Proto-Indo-European speakers.[1][4]

A

Dies, goddess of the day and counterpart to Greek Hemera, Hittite siwat ("day"), Palaic Tīyat- ("Sun, day"), Ancient Greek endios ("midday"), Old Armenian tiw (տիւ, "bright day"), Old Irish noenden ("nine-day period"), Welsh heddyw ("today").[13][14]

While the

Moon Goddess Selene,[15] her name still preserves the root *di-/*dei-, meaning "to shine, be bright".[16]

Epithets

The most constant epithet associated with *Dyēus is "father" (*ph₂tḗr). The term "Father Dyēus" was inherited in the Vedic

Jupiter (*Djous patēr), even in the form of "dad" or "papa" in the Scythian Papaios for Zeus, or the Palaic expression Tiyaz papaz.[17] The epithet *Ph₂tḗr Ǵenh1-tōr ("Father Procreator") is also attested in the Vedic, Iranian, Greek, and perhaps the Roman ritual traditions.[18]

Role

*Dyēus was the Sky or Day conceived as a divine entity, and thus the dwelling of the gods, the Heaven.

*H₂éwsōs), *Dyēus was a prominent deity in the Proto-Indo-European pantheon.[19][20] He was however likely not their ruler or the holder of the supreme power like Zeus and Jupiter.[7]

*Dyēus was associated with the bright and vast sky, but also to the cloudy weather in the Vedic and Greek formulas *Dyēus' rain.

*Perkʷūnos.[22]

Due to his celestial nature, *Dyēus is often described as "all-seeing" or "with wide vision" in Indo-European myths. It is unlikely however that he was in charge of the supervision of justice and righteousness, as it was the case for Zeus or the Indo-Iranian Mithra–Varuna duo, but he was suited to serve at least as a witness to oaths and treaties.[23] Proto-Indo-Europeans also visualized the sun as the "lamp of Dyēus" or the "eye of Dyēus", as seen in various reflexes: "the god's lamp" in Euripides' Medea, "heaven's candle" in Beowulf, "the land of Hatti's torch" (the Sun-goddess of Arinna) in a Hittite prayer,[24] Helios as the eye of Zeus,[25][26] Hvare-khshaeta as the eye of Ahura Mazda, and the sun as "God's eye" in Romanian folklore.[27]

Consort

*Dyēus is often paired with

*Perkʷūnos than of *Dyēus.[30]

While Hausos and the Divine Twins are generally considered the offsprings of *Dyēus alone,

Divine Twins, sons of *Dyēus).[31] Another reflex may be found in the Mycenaean Greek Diwia, possibly a feminine counterpart of Zeus attested in the second part of the 2nd millennium BC and which may have survived in the Pamphylian dialect of Asia Minor.[34][35][36] The reconstruction is however only based upon the Greek—and to a lesser extent the Vedic—tradition, and it remains therefore not secured.[31]

If the female goddesses Hera, Juno, Frigg and Shakti share a common association with marriage and fertility, Mallory and Adams note however that "these functions are much too generic to support the supposition of a distinct PIE 'consort goddess' and many of the 'consorts' probably represent assimilations of earlier goddesses who may have had nothing to do with marriage."[37]

Evidence

Laurel-wreathed head of Zeus, c 360–340 BC.

Cognates deriving either from the stem *dyeu- ("daylight, bright sky"), the epithet *Dyēus Ph2ter ("Father Sky"), the vṛddhi-derivative *deiwós ("celestial", a "god"), the derivative *diwyós ("divine"), or the back-formation *deynos (a "day") are among the most widely attested in Indo-European languages.[2][3]

Descendants

"Sky-Father" epithet

Jupiter
(Iovis-pater), 1811.

Ritual and formulaic expressions stemming from the form *Dyēus Ph2ter ("Father Dyēus") were inherited in the following liturgic and poetic traditions:

Other reflexes are variants that have retained both linguistic descendants of the stem *dyeu- ("sky") alongside the original structure "Father God". Some traditions have replaced the epithet *ph2ter with the nursery word papa ("dad, daddy"):

Other variants are less secured:

  • Hittite: attas Isanus, "Father Sun-god"; the name of the sky-god was replaced with a Hattic sun-god loan, but the original structure of the formula left intact,[19]
  • Latvian: Debess tēvs, "Father of Heaven",[2]
  • Old Norse: Óðinn Alföðr, "Odin, All-Father" or "Odin Father of All",[76][77]
  • Russian: Stribogŭ, "Father God",[2]
  • Proto-Albanian *dźie̅u ̊ a(t)t-, "heavenly father";[78] although the etymology *w(i)tš- pati-, "lord of the house", has also been proposed),[79]
  • Tokharian B: kauṃ-ñäkte, 'sun, sun-god'.[71]

"Celestial" derivations

The Germanic god Týr, 1895.

Cognates stemming from *deywós, a vṛddhi-derivation of *dyēus (the sky-god), are attested in the following traditions:[80]

Other cognates are less secured:

"Divine" derivations

Other cognates deriving from the adjective *diwyós (*dyeu "sky" + yós, a thematic suffix) are attested in the following traditions:[120]

Other cognates are less secured:

Legacy

As the pantheons of the individual mythologies related to Proto-Indo-European religion evolved, attributes of *Dyēus seem to have been redistributed to other deities. In Greek and Roman mythology, *Dyēus was the chief god, while the etymological continuant of Dyēus became a very abstract god in

Vedic mythology, and his original prominence over other gods largely diluted.[19][3]

In Albanian tradition

Mount Tomorr in central Albania
is considered as a continuation of the ancient sky-god worship.

After the first access of the ancestors of the

Christ).[128] In Albanian folk beliefs the peak of the highest mountains like Tomorr in central Albania has been associated with the sky-god Zojz.[65][129] The enduring sanctity of the mountain, the annual pilgrimage to its summit, and the solemn sacrifice of a white bull by the local people provide abundant evidence that the ancient cult of the sky-god on Mount Tomorr continues through the generations almost untouched by the course of political events and religious changes.[130]

In Slavic tradition

At one point, early Slavs, like some Iranian peoples after the Zoroastrian religious reformation, demonized the Slavic successor of *Dyēus (abandoning this word in the sense of "heaven" at the same time, keeping the word for day, however, and abandoning many of the names of the other Proto-Indo-European gods, replacing them with new Slavic or Iranian names), while not replacing it with any other specific god, as a result of cultural contacts with Iranian peoples in the first millennium BC. Hence, after the process of demonization by the Slavs, *Dyēus is considered to have originated two continuations: *divo ("strange, odd thing") and *divъ ("demon").[131] The result of this demonization may be Pan-Slavic demons, e.g. Polish and Czech dziwożona, or Div occurring in The Tale of Igor's Campaign.[132][133]

According to some researchers, at least some of *Dyēus's traits could have been taken over by

Svarožič – earthly fire, Svarog – heaven, lightning).[134][135] Helmold recalls that the Slavs were also supposed to believe in a god in heaven, who only deals with heavenly matters and commands other gods.[136]

In non-Indo-European traditions

Various loanwords of *deiwós were introduced in non-Indo-European languages, such as Estonian taevas or Finnish taivas ("sky"), borrowed from Proto-Indo-Iranian into these Uralic languages.[1][137]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i West 2007, p. 167.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 431.
  3. ^ a b c d e West 2007, pp. 166–171.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Mallory & Adams 2006, pp. 408–409.
  5. doi:10.7592/MT2014.58.vainik
    .
  6. ^ Anthony 2007, pp. 78–79.
  7. ^ a b c West 2007, p. 168: "But in general we may say that MIE had *dyéus (Dyéus) for 'heaven (Heaven)' [...] In Anatolian the picture is a little different [...] The reflex of *dyeus (Hittite sius) does not mean 'heaven' but either 'god' in general or the Sun-god. [...] The Greek Zeus is king of the gods and the supreme power in the world, his influence extending everywhere and into most spheres of life. There is little reason, however, to think that the Indo-European Dyeus had any such importance."
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m West 2007, p. 120.
  9. ^ a b c d Orel 1998, p. 66.
  10. ^ Neri, Sergio (2021). "din". Wörterbuch – DPEWA. DPEWA - Digitales Philologisch-Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altalbanischen.
  11. ^ Dixon-Kennedy 1998, p. 227.
  12. ^ Máchal, Jan (1918). "Slavic Mythology". In L. H. Gray (ed.). The Mythology of all Races. III, Celtic and Slavic Mythology. Boston. p. 267.
  13. ^ a b West 2007, pp. 167–168.
  14. ^ de Vaan 2008, p. 170.
  15. ISBN 978-0-415-18636-0
    .
  16. ^ Fairbanks, Arthur. The Mythology of Greece and Rome. New York: D. Appleton–Century Company. 1907. p. 162. Regarding the meaning of "Pandia", Kerenyi (Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks. Thames & Hudson. 1951), p. 197, says: '"the entirely shining" or the "entirely bright"— doubtless the brightness of nights of full moon.'
  17. ^ a b c West 2007, p. 171.
  18. ^ Jackson 2002, p. 71.
  19. ^ a b c Mallory & Adams 1997, pp. 230–231.
  20. ^ a b Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 432.
  21. ^ West 2007, p. 169.
  22. ^ Green, Miranda J. (1990). "Pagan Celtic Religion: Archaeology and Myth". Transactions of the Honourable Society of the Cymmrodorion: 13–28.
  23. ^ West 2007, pp. 171–175.
  24. ^ West 2007, p. 195.
  25. doi:10.1163/1568527042500140
    .
  26. ISBN 978-1-316-67327-0.[page needed
    ]
  27. Bibcode:2012RoAJ...22..155I
    .
  28. ^ West 2007, pp. 180–181, 191.
  29. ^ West 2007, pp. 178–179.
  30. ^ Jackson 2002, pp. 80–81.
  31. ^ a b c West 2007, pp. 192–193.
  32. ^ Dunkel, George E. (1988–1990). "Vater Himmels Gattin". Die Sprache. 34: 1–26.
  33. ^ Jackson 2002, pp. 72–74.
  34. ^ Ventris, Michael; Chadwick, John. Documents in Mycenaean Greek. Cambridge at the University Press. 1956. p. 125.
  35. ISBN 978-0-7486-4289-2
    .
  36. JSTOR 26362678
    .
  37. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 124.
  38. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan 2008, p. 315.
  39. ^ a b c d e Lubotsky, Alexander (2011). "Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon". Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Project. Leiden University. s.v. dyáv-, divyá- and devá-.
  40. ISBN 978-8120807457
    .
  41. ^ a b Beekes 2009, pp. 498–499.
  42. doi:10.4000/kernos.666
    .
  43. doi:10.3406/cchyp.2009.929
    .
  44. S2CID 194725375
    .
  45. ^ Yon, Marguerite (1993). "La ville de Salamine. Fouilles françaises 1964-1974" [The town of Salamis. French excavations 1964-1974]. MOM Éditions (in French). 22 (1): 139–158.
  46. ^ a b c d e f g Wodtko, Irslinger & Schneider 2008, pp. 70–71.
  47. ^ de Vaan 2008, pp. 173, 315.
  48. ^ a b de Vaan 2008, p. 173.
  49. ^ West 2007, pp. 166–167.
  50. ^ Buck, Carl Darling. Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press. 1933. p. 203.
  51. ^
    doi:10.3989/emerita.1999.v67.i1.185
    .
  52. ^ Watkins 1995, pp. 214–216.
  53. doi:10.13109/hisp.2011.124.1.250
    .
  54. S2CID 161694789
    .
  55. ^ Kloekhorst 2008, pp. 766–767.
  56. ^ a b c Kloekhorst 2008, p. 763.
  57. ISBN 978-975-17-4338-1
  58. ^ Ricl, Marijana (2013). "Current Archaeological and Epigraphic Research in the Region of Lydia". Collection de l'Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Antiquité. 1277 (2): 189–195.
  59. ISBN 90-5183-697-X
  60. ^ a b Martirosyan 2010, pp. 340, 612, 616.
  61. ^ a b De Simone 2017, p. 1843.
  62. ^ a b c West 2007, p. 166.
  63. ^ Hyllested & Joseph 2022, p. 232.
  64. ^ Mann 1952, p. 32.
  65. ^ a b Feizi 1929, p. 82.
  66. ^ West 2007, pp. 167, 243: "The Albanian Perëndi 'Heaven', 'God', has been analysed as a compound of which the first element is related to perunŭ and the second to *dyeus."
  67. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, pp. 408–409, 582: "It is argued that the underlying meaning here is not oak but rather that the Norse and Baltic forms are from *per-kw-, an extension on the root *per- 'strike' [...] These would then be related to *peruhxnos 'the one with the thunder stone' [...], and possibly Albanian peren-di..."
  68. ^ Treimer 1971, pp. 31–33.
  69. ^ Lubotsky, Alexander M. (2004). "The Phrygian Zeus and the problem of the "Lautverschiebung"". In: Historische Sprachforschung 117(2): 229-237. [1]
  70. ^ Witczak, K. T. (1992). "Two Bithynian Deities in the Old and New Phrygian Inscriptional Texts". Folia Orientalia. 29: 265–271.
  71. ^ a b c d e f g Hackstein 2006, pp. 96–97.
  72. ISBN 978-0-941694-62-9
    .
  73. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 130.
  74. ^ a b c Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 231.
  75. ^ a b c Delamarre 2003, p. 134.
  76. ISBN 978-0-520-01401-5
    .
  77. ISBN 978-0-8020-9801-6
    .
  78. ^ Treimer 1971, pp. 31–33; Mann 1977, p. 72; Demiraj 1997, pp. 431–432; Demiraj 2011, p. 70; Curtis 2017, pp. 1746, 1757, 2254
  79. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 348; Orel 1998, p. 526
  80. ^ a b Ringe 2006, p. 14.
  81. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 536.
  82. ISBN 978-04-15340-18-2
  83. ^ Kim 2017, p. 1980.
  84. ^ a b c Derksen 2015, p. 128.
  85. ^
    ISBN 978-963-9116-42-9
    .
  86. ISBN 978-1-59339-266-6
    .
  87. doi:10.7592/FEJF2006.32.moon
    .
  88. ^ Jasiūnaitė, Birutė (2006). "Maldelės į jauną mėnulį rytų Lietuvos folklore: etnolingvistinis aspektas". Baltistica (in Lithuanian). 41: 473–488.
  89. ^ a b c d Kroonen 2013, p. 519.
  90. ^ a b West 2007, p. 167 n. 8: "But he does not seem to be the old Sky-god, and it is preferable to suppose that he once had another name, which came to be supplanted by the title 'God'."
  91. ^ a b West 2007, p. 120 n. 1.
  92. ^ a b Simek 1996, p. 337.
  93. ^ Marold 1992, p. 714.
  94. ^ Lecouteux 2016.
  95. ^ a b c d e f g h i de Vaan 2008, p. 167.
  96. ^ Lehmann 1986, p. 352.
  97. ISBN 978-1-107-15354-7
  98. ISBN 978-2-321-00013-6
    .
  99. ISBN 978-1-107-02240-9
  100. ISBN 3-11-016294-6
  101. ^ a b c d Matasović 2009, pp. 96–97.
  102. ^ a b c d Delamarre 2003, pp. 142–143.
  103. ^ a b c Delamarre 2003, p. 142.
  104. ISBN 978-1-108-07909-9
    .
  105. JSTOR 554934
    .
  106. ^ James, Alan G. (2014). The Brittonic Language in the Old North: A Guide to the Place-name Evidence (PDF). Vol. 2: Guide to the Elements. p. 139. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-11.
  107. JSTOR 20557350
    .
  108. S2CID 161532105
    .
  109. S2CID 119211760
    .
  110. ^ West 2007, p. 216.
  111. ^ Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina gadelica: hymns and incantations with illustrative notes on words, rites, and customs, dying and obsolete. Edinburgh; London: Oliver and Boyd. 1928. pp. 316–317.
  112. ^ Rudnyckyj 1978, p. 79.
  113. ^ Gołąb 1992, p. 52.
  114. ^ a b Sakhno 2017, p. 1577.
  115. ^ a b Derksen 2008, p. 108.
  116. ^ Jakobson 1962, p. 228.
  117. OCLC 46456548
    .
  118. doi:10.36707/palaeohispanica.v0i9.217 (inactive 31 January 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link
    )
  119. hdl:10316/90494
    .
  120. ^ a b c Ringe 2006, pp. 62–63.
  121. ^ Ringe 2006, p. 76.
  122. ^ a b c Beekes 2009, p. 338.
  123. ^ West 2007, p. 192.
  124. ^ de Vaan 2008, pp. 173–174.
  125. ^ de Vaan 2008, p. 168.
  126. ISBN 978-0-521-85158-9
  127. ^ a b Chelariu 2023, p. 359.
  128. ^ Demiraj 2011, p. 70.
  129. ^ Mann 1948, p. 583.
  130. ^ Cook 2010, p. 1171.
  131. ^ Gieysztor 2006, p. 74.
  132. ^ Szyjewski 2003, p. 171.
  133. ^ Gieysztor 2006, p. 72.
  134. ^ Szyjewski 2003, p. 95.
  135. ^ Gieysztor 2006, p. 175.
  136. ^ Szyjewski 2003, p. 99-100.
  137. ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 143.

Bibliography

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=*Dyēus&oldid=1218113722"
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article: Dyēus. Articles is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.Privacy Policy