Decayed Gods: Origin and Development of Georges Dumézil's "Idéologie Tripartie"

276 Pages·1991·20.538 MB·English

by  Wouter W. Belier

DECAYED GODS
STUDIES
IN GREEK AND ROMAN
RELIGION
EDITED BY H.S. VERSNEL
IN CO-OPERATION WITH F.T. VANSTRATEN
VOLUME 7
DECAYED GODS
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF
GEORGES DUMEZIL'S "IDEOLOGIE TRIPARTIE"
BY
WOUTER W. BELlER
E.J. BRILL
LEIDEN • NEW YORK • K0BENHAV N • KOLN
1991
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Com
mittee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Belier, Wouter W.
[Feiten, fouten en fabels. English]
Decayed gods : origin and development of Georges Dumezil's
"ideologie tripartie" I by Wouter W. Belier.
p. cm.-(Studies in Greek and Roman religion, ISSN
0169-9512 ; V. 7)
Translation of: Feiten, fouten en fabels, originally presented as
the author's thesis (Ph. D.)-Leiden.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 90 04 09487 3 (alk. paper)
1. Indo-Europeans-Religion. 2. Indo-Europeans-Civilization.
3. Dumezil, Georges, 1898- I. Title. II. Series.
BL660.B4513 1991
291' .089'034-dc20 91-18815
CIP
ISSN 0169-9512
ISBN 90 04 09487 3
© Copyright 1991 by E.]. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
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use is granted by E.]. Brill provided that
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PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
CONTENTS
Preface ......................................................................................................................... xi
Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ xiv
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1
Indo-Europeans ....................................................................................................... 1
The term "Indo-European" ............................................................................... 1
Indo-European "Urheimat" and culture .......................................................... 3
Dumezil's view of the "Urheimat" and Proto-Indo-European culture ....... .4
Tripartition: a general introduction ...................................................................... 7
The pre-1930 period. ........................................................................................... 7
"La prehistoire indo-iranienne des castes" ...................................................... 8
"La prehistoire des flamines majeurs" ............................................................. 9
The system: a synopsis ...................................................................................... 10
The "sociale" tripartition ............................................................................. 10
General principle of classification .............................................................. 12
Tripartition in the pantheon ........................................................................ 13
The discussion ........................................................................................................ 15
Indifference ........................................................................................................ 15
Acclaim ............................................................................................................... 16
The pioneers .................................................................................................. 16
Academic respectability ............................................................................... 16
Elaboration .................................................................................................... 17
Criticism ............................................................................................................. 17
Criticism and rejection of (secondary) interpretations ............................ 17
Criticism of the conclusion ........................................................................... 19
Criticism by providing better models .......................................................... 19
Criticism of the explicit or implicit political implications ........................ 19
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 20
VI CON1ENTS
2 METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 21
The methodological concepts .............................................................................. 21
Typological versus genetic. ............................................................................... 21
"Ensembles". ...................................................................................................... 21
Myth as an entity ........................................................................................... 22
The world of the gods as an entity. .............................................................. 24
Religion as an entity ...................................................................................... 26
"Centre propre" ................................................................................................ 27
"Ideologie, conception, fonction" ........................................................... ,. ...... 28
Summary: The methodological concepts .............................................................. 31
The auxiliary hypotheses ....................................................................................... 31
Auxiliary hypotheses preceding the origin of the tripartite model. ............ .31
Auxiliary hypotheses in connection with the tripartite model ..................... 33
Historicisation ............................................................................................... 34
Summary: Historicisation .............................................................................. 43
The G ermaru. c s hift : t h e "gl"t ssement guerrt.e r" ......................................... . 44
Summary: The Germanic shift: the "glissement guerrier" ........................... 46
The reforms of Zarathustra ......................................................................... 46
Summary: The reforms of Zarathustra ........................................................ .49
The Celtic shift .............................................................................................. 50
The Indian shift ............................................................................................. 50
Disappearance of the functional structure ................................................. 51
Summary: The Celtic shift; The Indian shift;
Disappearance of the functional structure .................................................... 52
Summary: The auxiliary hypotheses ...................................................................... 52
The paradigmatic framework ............................................................................... 52
Culture/the supernatural .................................................................................. 53
First response ................................................................................................ 53
Second response ............................................................................................ 54
Third response ............................................................................................... 55
Summary: Culture/the supematural .................................................................. 55
Conscious/unconscious ..................................................................................... 56
Summary: Conscious/unconscious ................................................................... 57
CONTENTS vii
3 THE TRIPARTITE SYSTEM ........................................................................... 58
Tripartition in India. .............................................................................................. 58
Social tripartition ............................................................................................... 58
Tripartition in the pantheon. ............................................................................ 59
Summary: Tripartition in India ............................................................................. 67
Tripartition in Iran ................................................................................................ 67
Social tripartition in ancient Iran .................................................................... 67
Scythian tripartition .......................................................................................... 68
Summary: Scythian tripartition ......................................................................... 71
Tripartition among the families of the Nartes ............................................... 72
Summary: Tripartition among the families of the Nartes ................................ 75
Tripartition in the "pantheon" ......................................................................... 75
The post-Zoroastrian period ....................................................................... 75
n
The Amesha Spentas ....................................................................................
Summary: Tripartition in the ''pantheon" ........................................................ 79
Tripartition in Rome ............................................................................................. 79
Social tripartition in ancient Rome ................................................................. 79
Summary: Social tripartition in ancient Rome ................................................. 86
Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus .............................................................................. 86
Summary: Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus .............................................................. 95
Romulus and his companions and the Roman kingship cycle ..................... 95
Summary: Romulus and his companions and the Roman
kingship cycle .................................................................................................... 100
Tripartite German material ................................................................................ 101
Odhinn, Thorr and Freyr ................................................................................ 101
The problem ................................................................................................ 101
The "glissement militaire" .......................................................................... 102
The gods ofUppsala ................................................................................... 103
The curse of Egill ........................................................................................ 105
The sons of Mannus .................................................................................... 106
Other evidence and "bilan" ....................................................................... 107
Summary: Odhinn, Thorr and Freyr ............................................................... 109
Social tripartition ............................................................................................. 109
Celtic tripartition ................................................................................................. 110
Social tripartition ............................................................................................. 110
The Tuatha De Danann .................................................................................. 112
Greek tripartition ................................................................................................ 113
Summary: Celtic tripartition; Greek tripartition ................................................. 113
viii CONTENTS
4 THEMITRA-VARUNACONCEPT ............................................................ 114
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 114
Mitra-V aruna .................................................................................................... 116
Summary: Mitra - Varuna ................................................................................... 121
Mithra-Ahura Mazda ....................................................................................... 123
Summary: Mithra - Ahura Mazda ...................................................................... 125
Vohu Manah-Asha ........................................................................................... 126
Summary: Vohu Manah -Asha .......................................................................... 129
Romulus-Numa ................................................................................................. 130
Summary: Romulus - Numa ............................................................................... 135
Jupiter-Dius Fidius/Fides ................................................................................ 135
Summary: Jupiter-Dius Fidius/Fides ................................................................ 138
Odhinn-Ullr/Mithotyn!I'yr .............................................................................. 139
Odhinn/Othinus-Ullr/Ollerus, Mithotyn ................................................... 139
Odhinn-Tyr .................................................................................................... 141
Summary: Odhinn - Ullr/Mithotyn/Tyr .............................................................. 143
Greek bipartition ................................................................................................. 144
SUMMARY: THE MITRA-VARUNA CONCEPT ......................................... 144
5 BIPARTITAMINORA ..................................................................................... 146
"Le Borgne"-"Le Manchot" ............................................................................ 146
Odhinn-Tyr .................................................................................................... 146
Horatius Codes-Mucius Scaevola .............................................................. 148
The Celtic "Le Borgne" - "Le Manchot" .................................................... 151
Bhaga and Savitr .............................................................................................. 153
Cyclops - 100-handed giants .......................................................................... 154
Taxrnoruw-Ahriman ..................................................................................... 155
Summary: "Le Borgne"-"Le Manchot" ........................................................... 156
Concepts related to the bipartition ................................................................... 156
The "polytechnicien" versus the "grand magicien" .................................... 156
The "mauvais roi temporaire" ............................................ 157
1• •••••••••••••••••••••••••
The "grimace herolque" ................................................................................. 158
Summary: Concepts related to the biparlition .................................................... 159