*Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not explained

Type:Indo-European
God Of:Sun deity
Abode:Sky
Planet:Sun
Symbol:Chariot, solar disk
Day:Sunday
Roman Equivalent:Sol
Greek Equivalent:Helios
Etruscan Equivalent:Usil
Equivalent1:UTU-liya
Equivalent1 Type:Hittite
  • Seh₂ul
Equivalent2 Type:Lithuanian
Equivalent2:Saulė
Hinduism Equivalent:Surya
Equivalent3 Type:Zoroastrian
Equivalent3:Hvare-khshaeta
Equivalent4 Type:Germanic
Equivalent4:Sowilō
Celtic Equivalent:Sulis
Albanian Equivalent:Dielli
  • Meh₁not
Type:Indo-European
God Of:Moon deity
Abode:Sky
Planet:Moon
Day:Monday
Roman Equivalent:Luna
Greek Equivalent:Mene (Selene)
Equivalent1:Kašku
Equivalent1 Type:Hittite
Equivalent2 Type:Phrygian
Equivalent2:Men
Equivalent3:Mah
Equivalent3 Type:Zoroastrian
Equivalent4 Type:Latvian
Equivalent4:Mēness
Equivalent5 Type:Germanic
Equivalent5:Máni
Slavic Equivalent:Myesyats
Albanian Equivalent:Hëna

The daily course of *Seh₂ul across the sky on a horse-driven chariot is a common motif among Indo-European myths. While it is probably inherited, the motif certainly appeared after the introduction of the wheel in the Pontic–Caspian steppe about 3500 BC, and is therefore a late addition to Proto-Indo-European culture.

The Sun deity

In Albanian the Sun – worshiped as the god of light, sky and weather, giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye[3] – is referred to as Albanian: [[Dielli (Albanian paganism)|Dielli]], a name that is considered to have been a word taboo originally meaning "yellow, golden, bright/shiny one" used to refer to the Sun due to its perceived sacred nature.[4]

In the mythologies of the daughter languages (namely, Baltic, Greek and Old Indic), the sun deity crosses the sky in a horse-driven chariot or wagon. However, Mallory and Adams caution that the motif is not exclusively Indo-European, and mention evidence of its presence in Mesopotamia.

Sun-maiden

A character related to the Sun deity is the 'Sun-maiden'. Examples are 'Saules meita', the daughter of Saulé in Baltic tradition, and Sūryā, daughter to Indic Sun god Sūrya. Scholars also posit Helen of Troy, from Greek mythology, was another example of the 'Sun-maiden'.

In Albanian tradition there is E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit, "the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun", who is a light divine heroine, referred to as pika e qiellit ("drop of the sky" or "lightning"), which falls everywhere from heaven on the mountains and the valleys and strikes pride and evil. She defeats the kulshedra, the archetype of darkness and evil in Albanian mythology. In some Albanian traditions the Sun (Dielli) and the Moon (Hëna) are regarded as husband and wife, and in others as brother and sister. In the case of E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit the Sun is her father and the Moon is her mother.

The Moon deity

Alternative myth

Although the sun was personified as an independent deity, the Proto-Indo-Europeans also visualized the sun as the "lamp of Dyēws" or the "eye of Dyēws", as seen in various reflexes: "the god's lamp" in Medes by Euripides, "heaven's candle" in Beowulf, or "the land of Hatti's torch", as the Sun-goddess of Arinna is called in a Hittite prayer; and Helios as the eye of Zeus,[10] [11] Hvare-khshaeta as the eye of Ahura Mazda, and the sun as "God's eye" in Romanian folklore.[12] The names of Celtic sun goddesses like Sulis and Grian may also allude to this association: the words for "eye" and "sun" are switched in these languages, hence the name of the goddesses.[13]

Albanian solemn oaths are taken "by the eye of the Sun" (Albanian: për sy të [[Dielli (Albanian paganism)|Diellit]]), which is related to the Sky-God worship (Zojz).

Egyptian mythology is unrelated to Indo-European mythology so there is unlikely any historical link, but the metaphor of Eye of Ra was used in it too.

See also

Sources

Notes and References

  1. O'Brien, Steven. "Dioscuric Elements in Celtic and Germanic Mythology". In: Journal of Indo-European Studies 10:1–2 (Spring–Summer, 1982), pp. 117–136.
  2. Book: Meagher, Robert E. . The Meaning of Helen: In Search of an Ancient Icon . 2002 . Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers . 978-0-86516-510-6 . 46ff . en . registration.
  3. ; ; .
  4. .
  5. Lurker, Manfred. The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons. Routledge. 2004. p. 123.
  6. Keneryi, Karl (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. Thames & Hudson. pp. 196–197; Hammond, N.G.L. and Howard Hayes Scullard (editors), The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Second edition. Oxford University Press, 1992. "SELENE" entry. pp. 970–971.
  7. Beekes . Robert . 1982 . Gav. må, the Pie word for 'moon, month', and the perfect participle . Journal of Indo-European Studies . 10 . 53–64.
  8. York . Michael . August 1993 . Toward a Proto-Indo-European vocabulary of the sacred . WORD . 44 . 2 . 235–254 . 10.1080/00437956.1993.11435902 . free.
  9. Lurker, Manfred. The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons. Routledge. 2004. p. 115.
  10. Sick . David . 2004 . Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the Sun . Numen . 51 . 4 . 432–467 . 10.1163/1568527042500140.
  11. Book: Bortolani, Ljuba Merlina . Magical Hymns from Roman Egypt: A Study of Greek and Egyptian Traditions of Divinity . 2016 . Cambridge University Press . 9781316673270 . en.
  12. Ionescu . Doina . Dumitrache . Cristiana . 2012 . The Sun Worship with the Romanians . Romanian Astronomical Journal . 22 . 2 . 155–166 . 2012RoAJ...22..155I.
  13. MacKillop, James. (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press pp.10, 16, 128

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