Cattle, sacrifice, and the sun: A mythic cycle in Greece, Iran, and India

摘要

Cattle, sacrifice, and the sun figure prominently in myths of Greece, Iran, and India. The use of these myths in texts from these three cultures is investigated through a modification of the genetic model used by Bruce Lincoln and Georges Dumezil. The myths involved may indeed derive from one Proto-Indo-European ancestor, but this claim is less important to their correct interpretation than the examination of them in their respective cultural settings.;In the story of the cattle of the sun from Homer's Odyssey, cattle associated with Helios are stolen and sacrificed improperly by the crew of Odysseus. In the Rg Veda, the demon Panis, who refuses to offer sacrifices, withholds cattle from the Aryan peoples. With the recovery of these cattle by the god Indra, sacrifices commence and the sun (Surya) is created. In Avestan religious texts, the god Mithra acts as a protector of cattle and an enforcer of contracts, a role he usurped from the solar deity. The cow, stolen by the followers of the Lie, calls upon Mithra; this theft also prevents the conduct of the ritual of sacrifice. The interconnection of cattle, the sun, and sacrifice arises from the solar deity's function as an informant upon human actions. The sun watches for the proper use of the cattle in sacrifice and informs the gods if the cattle are used incorrectly.;The cattle in book twelve of the Odyssey are immortal in nature, as are the cattle stolen by Hermes in the Homeric hymn dedicated to that god. This conclusion can be confirmed by the comparative method. The Vedic trinaka-, or third vault of heaven, is the place to which the sacrificial victim and the dead are transferred. The name of the island of the sun in Homer--$Thetarhobariotanualphakappaacuteiotaeta$ is related linguistically to trinaka-. Both can be derived from a PIE root *neH$sb2$- 'to pound, press' and mean 'skin of heaven' (Cf. $rmnuacutealphakappa os/nuacutealphakappaeta$ 'skin').