Dyēus

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The sky over a field in Ukraine. *Dyḗus ph₂tḗr has been translated as "father daylight-sky-god".

*Dyḗus (lit. "daylight-sky-god"), also *Dyḗus ph₂tḗr (lit. "father daylight-sky-god"),[1][2] is the reconstructed name of the daylight-sky god in Proto-Indo-European mythology. *Dyēus was conceived as a divine personification of the bright sky of the day and the seat of the gods, the *deywṓs. Associated with the vast diurnal sky and with the fertile rains, *Dyēus was often paired with *Dʰéǵʰōm, the 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 stems from the root *dyeu-, denoting the "diurnal sky" or the "brightness of the day" (in contrast to the darkness of the night), ultimately deriving from *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 suggest that Dyēus was the vast and bright sky of the day conceived as a divine entity,[1][4] such as Sanskrit dyumán- 'heavenly, shining, radiant'.[5]

A vṛddhi-derivative appears in *deywós ("celestial"), the common word for "god" in Proto-Indo-European. In classic Indo-European, associated with the late Khvalynsk culture (3900–3500),[6] *Dyēus also had the meaning of "Heaven", whereas it denoted "god" in general (or the Sun-god in particular) in the Anatolian tradition.[7] The suffix-derivative *diwyós ("divine") is also attested in Latin, Greek and Sanskrit.[4][8]

The root *deynos ("day"), interpreted as a back-formation of *deywós, has descendant cognates in Vedic Sanskrit divé-dive ("day by day"), Latin 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"),[9][10] or Slavic Poludnitsa ("Lady Midday").[11][12]

While the Greek goddess Pandeia or Pandia (Greek: Πανδία, Πανδεία, "all brightness") may have been another name for the Moon Goddess Selene,[13] her name still preserves the root *di-/*dei-, meaning "to shine, be bright".[14]

Epithets[]

The most constant epithet associated with *Dyēus is "father" (*ph2tḗr). The term "Father Dyēus" was inherited in the Vedic Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́, Greek Zeus Patēr, Illyrian Dei-pátrous, Roman Jupiter (*Djous patēr), even in the form of "dad" or "papa" in the Scythian Papaios for Zeus, or the Palaic expression Tiyaz papaz.[15] The epithet *Ph2tḗr Ǵenh1-tōr ("Father Procreator") is also attested in the Vedic, Iranian, Greek, and perhaps the Roman ritual traditions.[16]

Role[]

*Dyēus was the Sky or Day conceived as a divine entity, and thus the dwelling of the gods, the Heaven.[7] As the gateway to the deities and the father of both the Divine Twins and the goddess of the Dawn (*H2éwsōs), *Dyēus was a prominent deity in the Proto-Indo-European pantheon.[17][18] 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.[19] Although several reflexes of Dyēus are storm deities, such as Zeus and Jupiter, this is thought to be a late development exclusive to Mediterranean traditions, probably derived from syncretism with Canaanite deities and the Proto-Indo-European god *Perkwunos.[20]

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 the Zeus or the Indo-Iranian Mithra–Varuna duo; but he was suited to serve at least as a witness to oaths and treaties.[21] 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' Medes, "heaven's candle" in Beowulf, "the land of Hatti's torch" (the Sun-goddess of Arinna) in a Hittite prayer,[22] Helios as the eye of Zeus,[23][24] Hvare-khshaeta as the eye of Ahura Mazda, and the sun as "God's eye" in Romanian folklore.[25]

Consort[]

*Dyēus is often paired with *Dhéǵhōm, the Earth goddess, and described as uniting with her to ensure the growth and sustenance of terrestrial life; the earth becomes pregnant as the rain falls from the sky.[26][18] The relationship between Father Sky (*Dyēus Ph2tḗr) and Mother Earth (*Dhéǵhōm Méhatēr) is also of contrast: the latter is portrayed as the vast and dark dwelling of mortals, located below the bright seat of the gods.[27] According to Jackson however, as the thunder-god is frequently associated with the fructifying rains, she may be a more fitting partner of *Perkwunos than of *Dyēus.[28]

While Hausos and the Divine Twins are generally considered the offsprings of *Dyēus alone,[29] some scholars have proposed a spouse-goddess reconstructed as *Diwōnā or *Diuōneh2,[30][31] with a possible descendant in Zeus's consort Dione. A thematic echo occurs in the Vedic tradition as Indra's wife Indrānī displays a similar jealous and quarrelsome disposition under provocation. A second descendant may be found in Dia, a mortal said to unite with Zeus in a Greek myth. The story leads ultimately to the birth of the Centaurs after the mating of Dia's husband Ixion with the phantom of Hera, the spouse of Zeus.[29] 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.[32][33][34] The reconstruction is however only based upon the Greek–and to a lesser extent the Vedic–tradition, and it remains therefore not secured.[29]

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."[35]

Evidence[]

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

Cognates stemming either from the root *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]