There are, as it happens, multiple renditions of both the Trisiras slaying and the Vritra slaying to be found within the Vedic canon. And there are a few reasons for that. Partially it is the result of having multiple Rsis drawing from the underlying mytheme in order to evocatively express Their take on it. But … Continue reading ON THE INDO-EUROPEAN TYPOLOGY OF IOLAUS – THIRD DRAGONSLAYER Part Four – Ritual Renditions and Mythic Memorializations : The Underlying Yet Obscured Ritualine Sense Of The Myth
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ON THE INDO-EUROPEAN TYPOLOGY OF IOLAUS – THIRD DRAGONSLAYER Part Three – Academics And Anaryas : The Wrongful Reconstruction Of The Myth
Amongst the Zoroastrians, the dragon-slayer is known as Fereydun, or more archaically as Thraetaona. Who is, curiously, the son of the Zoroastrian figure of Tritas / Thrita. Now, for the Zoroastrians, there is no Indra - except in their lists of demons. As is well known, when they began their heresy against the previously prevalent … Continue reading ON THE INDO-EUROPEAN TYPOLOGY OF IOLAUS – THIRD DRAGONSLAYER Part Three – Academics And Anaryas : The Wrongful Reconstruction Of The Myth
ON THE INDO-EUROPEAN TYPOLOGY OF IOLAUS – THIRD DRAGONSLAYER Part One – Indra And Iolaos : Hydras, Helpers, Heroes, Hercules
If you were to ask somebody the question "Who slayed Vritra", you would be presented with quite a simple answer. "I don't know, who's Vritra", probably. But for those even cursorily aware of the Indo-European mythology - more specifically its Vedic formulation - the reply would almost certainly come "Indra". And that is not (necessarily) … Continue reading ON THE INDO-EUROPEAN TYPOLOGY OF IOLAUS – THIRD DRAGONSLAYER Part One – Indra And Iolaos : Hydras, Helpers, Heroes, Hercules
The Transcendent Indo-European Typology Of The God Of Masks – The Sky Father Dances On [ On The Indo-European ‘Interpretatio’ Of Dionysus Part Dieux ]
In my previous piece upon the subject, I asserted that Dionysus is a facing of the Indo-European Sky Father; and sought to illustrate this via the illumination of a range of connections of Dionysus to a range of figures from the broad Indo-European mythology - both Greek and of further afield. This article shall go … Continue reading The Transcendent Indo-European Typology Of The God Of Masks – The Sky Father Dances On [ On The Indo-European ‘Interpretatio’ Of Dionysus Part Dieux ]
On The Indo-European ‘Interpretatio’ Of Dionysus – A Roaring Exaltation Of The Sky Father Comparatively Considered
Dionysus is a deservedly fascinating figure. And also a badly misunderstood one. As are many Greek deities, especially in their comparative Indo-European situation. I have written upon the linkages of Dionysus to various facings - dramatic masques, we may perhaps say - in other Indo-European pantheons in the past, and shall not seek to repeat … Continue reading On The Indo-European ‘Interpretatio’ Of Dionysus – A Roaring Exaltation Of The Sky Father Comparatively Considered
THE WAGES OF SIN – NEMESIS Coin from the reign of Marcus Aurelius – Arte-Facts #8
Every so often, I see a coin of the Ancient World - and something about it resonates with me strongly. They may or may not be the most aesthetic or best-preserved numismatic … but it always turns out that there's something powerful to them which is worth sharing to a broader audience. This particular drachma … Continue reading THE WAGES OF SIN – NEMESIS Coin from the reign of Marcus Aurelius – Arte-Facts #8
The Gryphon – Indo-European Guardian of the Golden Realm
One of the more seizing figures to have captured the imagination - both ancient and modern - is the Griffin (occasionally, and to my mind superiorly, spelled 'Gryphon'). Almost everybody knows it - a creature that is simultaneously leonine and aquiline. Part Lion, part Eagle. And usually pictured by us in its heraldic form, something … Continue reading The Gryphon – Indo-European Guardian of the Golden Realm
Hail Hydra-Slayer: On The Mythic Combat Of Herakles And Athena – Indra And Vak Saraswati, Against The Demon-Dragon Of The Water
Herakles against the Hydra, Indra against Vritra - these are surely some of the best-known mythic combats in each of the Greek/Classical and Vedic/Hindu legendariums. Similarities immediately begin to suggest themselves - clearly, each is a fight of the Thunderer/Striker against a Demon-Dragon that is to be found 'midst waters. However, there is another, less … Continue reading Hail Hydra-Slayer: On The Mythic Combat Of Herakles And Athena – Indra And Vak Saraswati, Against The Demon-Dragon Of The Water
Dyaus; Deva, Deus, Tyr: Many Gods, One Sky Father
Despite His centrality to our mythology, the Indo-European Sky Father is probably one of the most misunderstood Gods of our pantheon(s). You will semi-regularly hear people make all manner of outlandish claims about Him. The most common of which tend to be either that the Sky Father 'withered away' and was superceded by another God or … Continue reading Dyaus; Deva, Deus, Tyr: Many Gods, One Sky Father
The Radiant Queen of the Heavens – On Scythian Tabiti As Template For The Greater Indo-European Solar Goddess [Part 4 – The Moon, Mirrored, And Her Daughters]
A further support for the 'inversion' possibility is granted via looking at the actual mythology of the main Greek figure - Selene. As aforementioned, Selene is usually identified as one of the Daughters of Hyperion and Theia, although with two other possibilities which occasionally come up - the paternity of Pallas (a name that does … Continue reading The Radiant Queen of the Heavens – On Scythian Tabiti As Template For The Greater Indo-European Solar Goddess [Part 4 – The Moon, Mirrored, And Her Daughters]