PROTO-PARIS AND PROTO-ACHILLES IN INDO-EUROPEAN CONTEXT Armen Petrosyan

To the memory of Vladimir Toporov (1928-2005)

In Indo-European mythology a prominent place is taken by the myth of the thunder god and his adversary the serpent (osnovnoj mif basic myth according to V.V. Ivanov and V.N. Toporov)1. In Vedic mythology, the thunder god Indra is the king of the devas (gods) while his arch-adversary the serpent Vtra is the leader of the Asuras, another class of deities opposed to the devas. The Asuras are composed of two family groups: the Dnavas, the children of Dnu (a female demon), and the Daityas, the children of Dnus sister Diti. Vtra is a Dnava (< *dnawo-). In the Iliad, the opposing groups are the Trojans and the Greeks (Achaeans). There are striking parallels between the Indian and Greek traditions. The Greeks are frequently called Danaans (< *danawo-). This ethnonym is apparently comparable with the Dnavas. Indra fights against the Dnavas, ravishes and weds the most voluptuous ac (a daughter of a Dnava), and kills the leader of the Dnavas Vtra, while Paris fights against the Greek Danaans, ravishes and weds the most beautiful woman, the Greek Helen, and kills the greatest Greek hero, Achilles (). Indra is a thunder god, while the name of Paris is reminiscent of a truncated anagram of the Indo-European thunder god *Per(kw)u-no- (cf. Ind. Parjanya, Russ. Perun, Lith. Perkunas). Indra performs many manly deeds and is called manly and most manly (e.g., nare naryya ntamya nnm manly man, manliest of men, RV IV.25.4; ntama occurs elsewhere: I.29.1; III.30.22; IV.22.2; VI.18.7; VII.6.4; VIII.24.1; X.29.1, etc). These words are derived from IndoEuropean *h2ner- virile strength; man; moreover, Indras name, too, according to an opinion, is derived from * h2ner-, gen. *h2nro-2. In one of the hymns of the Rigveda (I.174.1), he is invoked to protect the men (rak nn). Paris second name is Alexandros () Protector of men (Apoll. III.12.5), which etymologically coincides with rak nn (in Indo-European context: *h2lek- & *h2ner-)3. Vtra is called ahi serpent, snake. This word is derived from one of the variants of the IndoEuropean stem for snake (*h1egwhi-, h2engwhi-, etc). Remarkably, Toporov, considering the genealogy and certain serpentine characteristics of Achilles, concludes that his name represents a dialectal or non-Greek reflex of the same stem4. In this context Achilles epithet destroyer of men is notable (Il.VII.228; XIII.324, etc). This makes possible the reconstruction of the formula *h2lek- & *h2ner- : *h1egwhi-/ *h2engwhi-.
Indra ParisAlexandros *h2lek- & h2ner*h2lek- & h2nerAdversary of Dnavas Adversary of Danaans Abducts ac Abducts Helen Kills serpent Vtra Kills serpent Achilles

Thus, the relationship of Paris-Alexandros : Achilles would correspond to that of Indra : Vtra5. In Indo-European context, the Iliad represents an inversed myth, where the hero-eponym of the
1 2

For the aspects of this myth, see especially Ivanov and Toporov 1974. In the context of comparative mythology, see Lincoln 1986: 97, 122, with bibliography; this etymology is disputed, see Mayrhofer, M. 1992: 193. 3 Alexsandros was the epithet of Hera (wife of the thunder god Zeus) under which she was worshiped at Sicyon. 4 Toporov 1986; idem 1990. 5 These correspondences show that the name of Indra, with its Iranian parallel, despite the etymological difficulties, is derived, probably, from *h2nro-. Note also that Indra is the leader of the Devas against the Asuras, like the Norse Njrr (< *h2ner-), who is the leader of the Vanir deities against the sir, counterparts of the Asuras. The irregular epenthesis d

goodies, Danaans/Achaeans, is derived from the serpent (note the consonance of the ethnonym of the Achaeans with Achilles), while the baddie, his murderer, is associated with the thunder god. Dnu represents Indo-European *deh2nu- (*dnu-) river, a suffixed form of *deh2- to flow, and Dnava (< *dnawo-) is a derivative of dnu-. In several Indo-European myths the counterparts of the mythic Dnus (Dnavas) seem to be conflated with a real tribe who bore a similar ethnonym (cf . Danunians: inhabitants of Adana in the first millennium BC; Danites: one of the twelve tribes of Israel). The *h2ner- gods/heroes fight against them and abduct their women. The serpent, leader of the mythic Danus, is replaced by the West Semitic god Baal. Judging from the myths, some IndoEuropeans neighbored the West Semites and even could have been absorbed them 6. Danaos, the eponym of the Danaan Greeks was the son of Blos (Baal). It might be inferred there was a Semitic ethnic element absorbed in the Greeks who they owed the tradition of the Danaans. In one of the variants of the Anatolian weather god myth, the god defeats the serpent Illuyanka with the help of his daughter Inara7. The Hittite text is represented as a speech of a priest of the weather god of the city of Nerik at the Purulli festival. Nerik was originally one of the most important Hattian (pre-Hittite, non-Indo-European) sacral centers. The weather (thunder) god of Nerik, Taru, was the head of the early local Hattian pantheon whose homophony with Tarhun(t)-, the Anatolian (originally Luvian) Indo-European thunder god, seems not to be coincidental8. However, the Purulli ritual text is considered in the context of the Indo-European thunder god myth9. Under the figure of the Taru/Tarhunt- the early Indo-European thunder god is probably hidden10, while the second part of Illuyanka is derived from *h2engwh- snake11. It would seem that the Purulli ritual myth was influenced by a non-Anatolian Indo-European tradition as well. In a special study, Toporov claimed that Purulli would represent a Thracian borrowing (*puhr- fire)12. Some related (Proto-Thracian?) elements could be sought in Tarus milieu as well13. The two names of the city of Troy, Troia and Ilios/Ilion, are considered to be derived from the two ancient place names attested to in Hittite sources: Taruisa and Wilusa. The historic counterpart of Paris-Alexandros Alaksandus was a king of Wilusa who sealed a treaty with the Hittite king Muwattalli II. According to one opinion, the Thracians and the Luvians were the major ethnic groups in Troy14.
may be regarded as a result of the influence of another Indo-European language (cf. Greek andros) or a tabooistic transformation. 6 Petrosyan 2007. 7 See Hoffner 1990: 11 f. 8 Nikolaev and Strakhov 1987: 150 f., n. 3; Watkins 1999: 12. 9 Ivanov and Toporov 1974: 122 ff.; Lincoln 1981: 117 ff.; Watkins 1995: 321f. 444 ff. 10 Toporov supposes that it was the god Pirwa (derived from the Indo-European thunder god *Per-u-) who was replaced by Tarhunt / Taru, see Toporov 1977b: 53 f. 11 Katz 1998: 320 ff. Illuyanka is regarded as the same compound as Lat. anguilla and Gk. eel, but with the elements reversed. However, cf. the names of Achilles and Acheloos (), who Toporov considers as the predecessor of the serpantine figure of Achilles. 12 Toporov 1977a. Notably, the land Purulumzi/Purulimzi is attested to in the 12 th century BC in connection with the Eastern Mukians in the area of the sources of the Tigris River (Arutyunyan 1985: 161 f.). Muku coincides with the appellation of the Phrygians in Assyrian sources and is considered to be connected with the ethnonym of the Thracian Mysians, see Diakonoff 1984: 119; Petrosyan 2002: 140 f., 152 ff. 13 The Indo-European (non-Anatolian) associations of Taru cannot be ruled out; Inara is reminiscent of an archaic nonAnatolian reflex of *h2ner, while Nerik/Nerak might be derived from a later or alien form of the same stem (cf. the names of the Danubian kingdom of Noricum and its main goddess Noreia, eponym of the capital city, considered in the context of the mythologem of *h2ner- by Toporov (1977b: 44 ff.)); the first part of the name of Tarus father uli(n)katte king (of) uli (Hatt.) seems also to be Indo-European (non-Anatolian), cf. *kuh-l- sharp, Arm. slak < *sul-ak arrow, javelin, sur sword, Ind. la javelin, etc. (thus the theonym would mean Sword -king; ulikatte was identified with the Mesopotamian Ugur/Nergal who was equated with the Akkadian word for sword; in Anatolia the sword god represented Nergal or his local counterpart, see Wiggermann 1999: 224 f.). 14 See especially Gindin 1993: 25 ff. (the book edited by Toporov); for the ethnic situation in Western Anatolia during early periods, see Yakubovich 2008: 91 ff., with bibliography.

Nevertheless, in the presumable predecessor of the Iliad, the local thunder god would eponymize Troy, thus Proto-Paris and Proto-Achilles would represent the near relations of Taru/Tarhunt and Illuyanka, respectively15.
Armen Petrosyan Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography Charents Str. 15, 375025, Yerevan, Armenia [email protected]

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arutyunyan, N.V. 1985, Toponimika Urartu (Toponyms of Urartu), Yerevan. Diakonoff I.M. 1984, The Pre-History of the Armenian People, Delmar, New York. Gindin L.A. 1993, Naselenie gomerovskoj Troi (Population of Homeric Troy), Moscow. Hoffner H.A. 1990, Hittite Myths. Tr. by H.A. Hoffner, Atlanta. Ivanov V.V., N. Toporov 1974, Issledovanija v oblasti slavjanskix drevnostej (Studies on Slavic Antiquities), Moscow. Katz J. 1998, How to be a Dragon in Indo-European: Hittite Illuyankas and its Linguistic and Cultural Congeners in Latin, Greek, and Germanic, Mr Curad. Studies in Honor of Calvert Watkins, Innsbruck: 317 334. Lincoln B. 1986, Priests, Warriors, and Cattle. A Study in the Ecology of Religion, Berkeley and Los Angeles. Mayrhofer M. 1992, Etymologisches Wrterbuch des Altindoarischen, B. I, Heidelberg. Nikolaev S.L. and Strakhov, A.B. 1987, K nazvaniju boga gromoverca v indoevropejskix jazykax (On the Name of the God Thunderer in Indo-European Languages), Balto-slavjanskie issledovanija 1985, Moscow: 149-163. Petrosyan A.Y. 2002, The Indo-European and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic, Washington DC. Petrosyan A.Y. 2007, The Indo-European *H2ner(t)-s and the Danu Tribe, Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 35, 3 & 4: 297-310. Petrosyan A.Y. 2009 (forthcoming), Forefather Hayk in the Light of Comparative Mythology, Journal of Indo-European Studies. Toporov V.N. 1977a. Xettsk. Purulia, lat. Parlia, Pallia i ix balkanskie istoki (Hitt. Purulia, Lat. Parlia, Pallia, and Their Balkanic Sources). Balkanskij lingvistieskij sbornik, Moscow: 125-142. Toporov V.N. 1977b, K drevnebalkanskim svjazjam v oblasti jazyka i mifologii (On Ancient Balkanic Connections in the Sphere of Language and Mythology), Balkanskij lingvistieskij sbornik, Moscow: 40-58. Toporov V.N. 1986. K rekonstrukcii proto -Axilla (On the Reconstruction of Proto-Achilles). In: Ivanov, V.V., et al. (eds.), Balkany v kontekste Sredizemnomorja. Problemy rekonstrukcii jazyka i kultury, Moscow: 25 -37. Toporov V.N. 1990, Ob arxainom sloe v obraze Axilla: Problemy reconstrukcii elementov prototeksta (On the Archaic Layer of the Figure of Achilles: Problems of Reconstruction of the Elements of Proto-Text), In: Akimova, L.I. (ed.), Obraz smysl v antinoj kulture, Moscow: 64-95. Tuite K. 1998, Achilles and the Caucasus, Journal of Indo-European Studies, 3&4: 289-343. Watkins C. 1995, How to Kill a Dragon, New York, Oxford. Watkins C. 1999, A Celtic Miscellany, Proceedings of the Tenth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, Washington DC: 3-25. Wiggermann F.A.M. 1999, Nergal, RLA 9, 3/4: 215-226. Yakubovich I.S. 2008, Sociolinguistics of the Luvian Language, Vol. I (A Dissertation), Chicago.

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According to Watkins (1995: 144 ff.), a Luvian song or epic lay could have anticipated the Iliad. Toporov thinks that the source of the reconstructed Proto-Achilles, which was later associated with the historic Trojan War, is to be sought in the area of Asia Minor and Southwest Caucasus. For the Caucasian associations of Achilles, see Tuite 1998; for the Armenian associations of the Iliad: Petrosyan 2002: 152 ff. Note that Paris kills Achilles with an arrow in the same way as the forefather of Armenia Hayk, epicized version of the thunder god, kills his adversary Bel (for the figure of Hayk and the associations of Bel and his troop with Blos and Danaans, see Petrosyan 2007; idem 2009).