Journal Phasis - Greek and Roman Studies

Chogoshvili, Irine

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011
Irine Chogoshvili (Tbilisi)
THE LANGUAGE OF GODS AND THE USE 
OF FOREIGN WORDS WITH HOMER
One of the interesting problems in the studies of Homer's language is the 
language of gods, a notion encountered in his epic. According to the 
mythic tradition, Old Greeks believed that gods spoke a language 
different from that of ordinary mortals. Of course, people treated this 
language with special esteem and respect. Such an opinion is clearly 
expressed in Plato's Cratylus, where Socrates says: oƒ ge qeoˆ kaloàsin 
prÕj o¸qÒthta ¥per Ÿsti fÚsei ÑnÒmata ("Gods must clearly be supposed 
to call things by their right and natural names").1
Thus, the language of gods or, in our terminology, the meta-language 
is a language spoken by gods. Homer was the first to make an attempt to 
translate words of the meta-language into Greek. There are two categories 
of words in his epic: first, derivatives that are translated and second, 
words that cannot be translated. As a rule, words in the language of gods 
have equivalents in the language of mortals in Homer's epic. However, 
there are two exceptions, which will be considered in more detail below.
There are not many words from the language of gods mentioned by 
Homer. It is possible to regard no more than seven or eight of them as 
                                                
1 Bader G., Die Emergenz des Namens, Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Theo-
logie, Tübingen 2006. 
http://books.google.ge/books?id=MtesocD5JeEC&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=Dion
ymien&source=bl&ots=Krknd9onVz&sig=8bf08hlTWUxCuSK2HSz78kKKI8E&hl=ka
&ei=OPfuTdnrMs_o-gaPk8z-
Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage
&q=Dionymien&f=false
Irine Chogoshvili148
such, but they belong to various spheres, denoting geographic, mytho-
logical, botanical, and other notions. For example, gods' name in their own 
language of one of the mythological Hecatonchires giants, specifically 
A„ga…wn, is Bri£rewj (A, 403). Sk£mandroj a river in Troy, was called 
X£nqoj in the language of gods (Y, 74). The meaning of Plagkta… (M, 61), 
also a geographical name, is quite unclear. Bat…eia, a place name in Troy, 
is replaced with sÁma Mur…nhj (B, 813). There was a bird called kÚmindij, 
which gods named calk…j (X, 291). A kind of magic grass was called mîlu
(K, 305) in the language of gods, but the language ordinary people did not 
have a corresponding word at all. Divine blood is mentioned only as Šcwr
(E, 340, 416), but Iliad usually refers to human blood as aŠma.
Researchers have argued for a long time now about what Homer calls 
the language of gods. The first important thing to do is to establish 
whether these words are Homer's fiction or something that really existed. 
To clarify this issue it is necessary to look into the etymological studies of 
these words.
According to A. Heubeck, who studied in detail the language of gods 
with Homer, argues that the dionyms in the language of gods may be 
either ancient obsolete words linked to Indo-European stems or new 
poetic inventions.2 However, below we will consider a couple of words 
and their etymologies and parallels that show that they may have existed 
historically or may represent altered versions of ancient words. What is 
most important for us, some of them may belong to the Pre-Greek world. 
At any rate, the words that Homer regards as belonging to the language of 
gods, must be a reflection of the words that existed in his time. 
Considering below the etymology of each of the words, we will see that 
most of them are linked to the Pre-Greek world and some bear signs of 
being connected with Kartvelian languages.
The first word is Sk£mandroj usually considered with another word 
with identical meaning in the language of gods – X£nqoj. A lot of well-
known scientists have expressed their opinions on the pair. U. 
Wilamowitz believes that the name of the river was Barbaric and 
inconvenient, so some poets replaced it with a more convenient Greek 
name.3 P. Kretschmer divides non-Greek “Scamandros” in the human 
language from “divine” “Xanthos”, presuming that the phoneme X in the 
                                                
2 Heubeck A., Die Homerische Göttersprache 7 Würzburger Jahrbücher, für die 
Altertumswissenschaft, 4, 1949/50, 94.
3 Wilamowitz U., Die Ilias und Homer, Berlin Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1916, 381, I.
The Language of Gods and the Use of Foreign Words with Homer 149
word may be coming from sk- in X£nqoj.4 According to one opinion, the 
stem sk- initially meant "yellow", which is precisely one of the meanings 
of the adjective x£nqoj. According to S. Bugge,5 X£nqoj means "lustrous" 
and stems from Phrygian and Armenian.
P. Kretschmer cites in detail the history of the river that has two names 
with Homer. In the times of Hittites, a city situated on the river was called 
Arina. This is how the place is referred to in Hittite texts and it is called 
Arna in Lycian. At the same time, it is noteworthy that initially, Arina 
could have been a river – the Xanthos river, where the city of Arina then 
stood, particularly as Arina also denoted "spring, pool, and water". During 
first contacts between Greece and Lycia and before the start of the Greek 
colonization in Homer's era, when close cultural relations developed, the 
adjective x£nqoj was used together with the Lycian-Phrygian name of the 
river Sibros as its Greek synonym and translation, which explained the 
name of the river. X£nqoj developed later into an independent name.
Thus, there is no doubt that in Homer's time, the river already had a 
double (Lycian-Phrygian) name and it was after the river that the city was 
also called X£nqoj, like in the case of Arina. A. Heubeck concludes that 
Xanthos as a name of the river was invented by Homer, who used the 
double Lycian name of Xanthos-Sibros as a source. Correspondingly, 
Xanthos is a Greek translation of Sibros and Sk£manadroj corresponds to 
it in the human language.
It is noteworthy that the forms of Scamandros and Xanthos are regarded 
as being linked to each other. They are believed to be coming from a 
source in Asia Minor with a Hellenic ending, like in Maiandros, Myriandros, 
and others. According to H. Jacobsohn, Myriandros may comprise a 
‘theophoric’ element – mandroj.6
A. Heubeck gives examples of the Indo-European stems with initial s-. 
Many of the stems comprise s+guttural or guttural+s. For example, xhrÒj
(xerÒj), skhrÒj, schrÒj > chrsÒj, sk…foj, x…foj and so forth. H. 
Jacobsohn notes that the initial ‘sk’ sounds in ‘Scamandros’ could have 
replaced some phoneme, which existed before, but it is still unclear, which 
phoneme it could have been.7
A. Heubeck believes that both Sk£mandroj and X£nqoj may have the 
same root. He thinks that Sk£mandroj is definitely a Pre-Greek name, but 
                                                
4 Kretschmer P., Glotta 13, 1924, 266.
5 Bugge S. Lykische Studien, I, 1897, 39.
6 Jacobsohn H., Deutsche Literaturzeitung, Berlin 1912, 953.
7 Jacobsohn H., Hermes, 45, 1910, 81.
Irine Chogoshvili150
obviously refrains from maintaining the same regarding X£nqoj.8 It is 
noteworthy that R. Beekes also describes X£nqoj as being of unclear 
etymology, noting that it may be coming from Pre-Greek sources.9 It is 
noteworthy that X£nqoj can be found in Mycenaean sources in the form of 
ka-sa-to. According to one theory quoted by R. Beekes, it is linked to Greek 
xouqÒj with one of the meanings denoting ‘yellow’ and is represented in 
Mycenaean as -ko-so-u-to. Homer mentions it in connection with the 
wings of Dioscuri (Iliad, 33, 13). According to yet another opinion, Latin 
canus- is derived precisely from ‘Xanthos’.
It is noteworthy that W. Brandenstein links X£nqoj to Etruscan zamqic. 
Although H. Frisk rejects the opinion10 and R. Beekes also regards it as not 
very convincing, it should be taken into account that Etruscan zamqi ‘gold’ 
and zamqic ‘golden’ are indeed similar in meaning and can be linked to 
them also with their form.
At least one researcher believes that Scamandros and Xanthos are 
etymologically linked to each other, but the situation is quite different 
with Greek words aŠma and Šcwr encountered with Homer. Of the two, 
aŠma denotes blood of ordinary mortals and Šcwr blood of gods. It is 
believed that aŠma replaced in the Greek language the word Ÿar, which 
also denotes blood. According to one opinion, it is linked to Šcwr. Others 
link it also to Old Germanic *seim (Proto-Indo-European root *-sei) "honey 
of virgins" and Sanskrit -is- "renovation, restoration of forces". However, 
in this case, the etymology of Šcwr denoting "divine blood" is more 
interesting.
The word Šcwr denoting "blood, the liquid part of blood" has the form 
of Šcw in acc. sing. with Homer and with Strabo it means "the blood of 
giants" According to P. Chantraine, the word has no identical 
morphological parallels and is presumably a foreign word.11 Composed 
words like ‡cw(ro)rrorew – "bleeding" and others are derived from it.
According to H. Güntert, the two words meaning "blood" were used as 
synonyms in Proto-Greek. One was ‡cwr, which denoted the fluid part of 
blood, and the other was a‡ma denoting thicker blood. It is no surprise, 
that for Homer, gods should have had thinner blood than mortals. That is 
why it is possible that Homer used the word initially denoting thin blood 
                                                
8 Heubeck A., Op. cit., 99.
9 Beekes R., Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill Academic Publishers 2010, 1033.
10 Frisk H., Griechisches etymologisches, Wörtebuch 1966, 333.
11 Chantraine P., Grammaire homérique, Paris: C. Klincksieck 1942, 212.
The Language of Gods and the Use of Foreign Words with Homer 151
for "divine blood".12 It is interesting that we encounter ‡cwr "thin blood" 
with authors of later period (Aristotle, Plato, and others). It is used 
particularly frequently as a scientific term, but has never been widespread 
in the colloquial language. It is unlikely that scientists could have 
managed to establish the meaning of ‡cwr without any knowledge of 
Homer and the meaning of the word he used.
According to A. Heubeck's observation, it was the appropriate passage 
from Iliad, which could have made it clear that "divine blood" had special 
characteristics, that ‡cwr was later introduced in medicine and biology to 
denote lymphatic fluid and similar notions. It is common knowledge that 
‡cwr was a borrowed word in Greek, coming from Hittite išhar (ešhar)
"blood",13 which is for its part linked to Alat. aser and Greek Ÿar, e‡ar "id". 
Taking into account the Hittite language, it can also be linked to Tocharian 
ysar.
As H. Güntert notes, ‡cwr as well as another word from the language 
of gods alone – mîlu – is presumably an earlier form of a Greek word, 
which Homer knew from the religious language. In Odyssey (K 305), mîlu
means "magic plant with unknown force" and does not have a 
corresponding word in the language of mortals. There is an opinion that 
this plant is completely from the sphere of fantasies and is linked to the 
Pre-Greek world. Güntert believes that it is the same as the Old Indian 
mulam "root".14 However, A. Heubeck refers to P. Kretschmer, Walde-
Pokorny, and H. Güntert, noting that the word is Greek and was formed 
from Inro-European *mulo/mo(u)lo, which later developed into mèluza "a 
sort of garlic" like koru > kÒruza, knu > knàza, which must be derived 
from the name of a plant – kÒruza, and mèluza was formed on the basis of 
the model. It is possible that mîlu found with Homer is an earlier form or 
was restored by the poet on the basis of mèluza.15 According to G. 
Neumann, mîlu was borrowed from Hittite-Luwian. Albeit various 
opinions have been expressed in connection with mîlu, the assumption 
that the word is of Pre-Greek origin sounds most convincing.
The next two words with interesting etymology are kÚmindij and its 
equivalent in the language of gods – calk…j. With Homer (X, 291), 
kÚmindij denotes a bird of unknown origin. Aristophanes also uses the 
word. It was widespread in Greek in the form of kub»naij (kÚbindij) that 
                                                
12 Heubeck A., Op. cit., 109-110.
13 Friedrich J., Kurzgefaßtes hethitisches Wörterbuch, 1991, 33.
14 Güntert H., Op. cit., 92.
15 Heubeck A., Op. cit., 111.
Irine Chogoshvili152
was presumably borrowed by Latin, which has cybindis, cibinnus (‘hawk’). 
The word was regarded as having the same meaning as kikumw i ?j
(kikumwj) which gave rise to the tradition of regarding it as denoting 
‘owl’. R. Beekes believes that the word was borrowed from Anatolian or 
Pre-Greek, an opinion based first and foremost on the presence of the 
suffix nd.16 Its equivalent in the language of gods – calk…j – comes from 
calkÒj (‘ore’, ‘copper’, ‘bronze’) and is regarded as a polysemantic word 
of unclear origin. It can be found in Mycenaean documents in the shape of 
-ka-ko, ka-ke-u, denoting, in addition, a kind of fish.
Both Calk…j and kÚmindij are used by Homer, as well as 
Aristophanes, as the name of a bird. Given the colour, it later denoted a 
plant and a kind of lizard. R. Beekes regards calk…j as a word extant in 
ancient Indo-European languages with the meaning of ‘ore’ and ‘copper’ 
and as linked to Latin aes ‘copper’ and Sanskrit ayah. R. Beekes notes that it 
is no accident that it is similar to words denoting ‘purple’ – k£lch, c£lkh, 
c£lch. Initially they could have been used to denote red metals. The word 
is also linked to Baltic-Slavic words denoting ‘iron’, for example, 
Lithuanian geležis and Russian želézo, a comparison, which R. Beekes 
deems unconvincing phonetically, but adds that they may be independent 
borrowings from common oriental sources. In this case, c£lch could be 
the initial form, which is linked to a Hittite (Hattian, Hurrian) lexeme, 
which means ‘iron’ – hapalki-apalki.17
According to Homer, in the language of gods, A„ga…wn was called 
Bri£rewj (A, 403). There is no doubt that A„ga…wn is linked to the Aegean 
Sea and words related to it. In H. Güntert's opinion, the water demon 
bearing this name was later transformed into Poseidon, and some viewed 
him as Poseidon's son. In the appropriate passage with Homer, A„ga…wn
was closely linked to Thetis, the goddess of water, which is yet another 
proof that A„ga…wn was linked to water.
It is noteworthy that its divine name is Bri£rewj, who is a giant with 
hundred hands in Iliad. As we know, the adjective briarÒj means ‘powerful’, 
which Hesiod used in the form of Obri£rewj ‘the one, who damages’. The 
word briarÒj is derived from the root bri, which R. Beekes believes was Pre-
Greek.18 It is also encountered in Mycenaean in the form of pi-ra-ta-wo. The 
word frequently makes part of composites. E. J. Furnée assumes that the root 
                                                
16 Beekes R., Op. cit., 802.
17 Beekes R., Op. cit., 1611.
18 Beekes R., Op. cit., 239.
The Language of Gods and the Use of Foreign Words with Homer 153
found in briarÒj is also linked to brimÒj ‘hard, difficult’, which is also Pre-
Greek.19 The word Ûbrij is derived from the same root.
It would be interesting to see, whether the words from the language of 
gods encountered with Homer that obviously comprise a Pre-Greek 
substrate correlate with the opinion developed by E. J. Furnée and R. 
Gordeziani on the connection between Pre-Greek components and 
Kartvelian and whether it is possible that some of the aforementioned 
words comprise Kartvelian components.
For example, according to one theory mentioned above, Etruscan 
zamθi- ‘gold’ is linked to Xanthos. R. Gordeziani considers this Etruscan 
word, which could mean both ‘gold’ and ‘fibula’ or ‘jewellery’ and 
‘decoration’ in general. The inscription, where this word is found, is dated 
7th century and is made on a golden fibula. The inscription reads as 
follows: "I am Arath Velavesna's gold (fibula, decoration) I was given by 
Mamurke Tursikina". Interestingly, the word has the form of zamaθi in this 
text, while zamθi- may be linked to Old Georgian mzitev-/zitev-, which 
denotes a property that should be given to someone. This word may also 
be linked with Persian zatt and Armenian ozit. 20
R. Gordeziani21 links ‡cwr to the Kartvelian root *zisxl (Georgian sisxl-, 
Megrelian zisxir-, Laz dicxir/dincxir-, Svan zisx- ‘blood’). In his opinion, the 
Greek word could have been derived from it in the following manner: 
Kartvelian *zisxl- > Pelasgian *sisxl-/sisxor- > Greek ‡cwr > ‡cwr.
As regards mîlu, R. Gordeziani assumes that it is linked to Kartvelian 
*mol- (Georgian mol-, Svan muel-/melu- ‘grass, lawn’.22 Later, however, R. 
Gordeziani himself regarded it more convincing to link it to another 
Kartvelian root – *bol, which can be found in all three Kartvelian 
languages: cf. Kartvelian bol-k'o-, bol-ok'-; Georgian bol-kv-i ‘bulb’, 
Megrelian bul-ek'-i, Laz bul-ek'-i/bul-eč'-i, Svan bol-ek' ’radish’.
M. Chukhua found a Nakh correspondence – *bon – to the Kartvelian 
root. It also means "garlic". Ichkerian bo (pl. bon-aš), Ingush bo (pl. bon-aš/ž) 
"(mountain) garlic", Batsbi bo "garlic". The Nakh root is better preserved in 
the plural forms – bon-. The Kartvelian *bol- and Nakh *bon- show a 
                                                
19 Furnée E. J., Die wichtigsten konsonantischen Erscheinungen des Vorgriechischen, 
The Hague 1972, 168.
20 Gordeziani R., Mediterranean-Kartvelian Relations. Etruscan. Final Comments, Tbilisi 
2008, 306 (in Georgian).
21 Gordeziani R., Proto-Greek and Kartvelian, 1985, 60 (in Georgian).
22 Gordeziani R., Mediterranean-Kartvelian Relations, II, 2008, 235 (in Georgian).
Irine Chogoshvili154
regular correspondence and the semantic side is also comparable –
"radish" and "garlic".23
As regards Bri£rewj, E. J. Furnée expressed the opinion that in case of 
Proto-Greek bri- and briarÒj-, we have the root *ph with the added 
element r, which is found in Georgian proverbs priad- and upro- "more, 
very". Pelasgian probably had the root *bri and *briar.24
Given the aforementioned, we can assume that words from the 
language of gods found with Homer are often linked to the Pre-Greek 
world. Homer showed in his epic that people in his era believed that gods 
had their own language and he decided to use the words belonging to 
gods. Since the words were rarely used in the popular language in 
Homer's era, the poet could ascribe them to the language of gods.
                                                
23 Chukhua M., Comparative Grammar of Ichkerian-Iberian Languages, 2008, 288 (in 
Georgian).
24 Furnée E. J., Paläokartvelisch-pelasgische Einflüsse in den indogermanischen Spra-
chen, Leiden 1986, 33.


English

The Language of Gods and the Use of Foreign Words with Homer

Vergeti, Maria

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011 
 
 
Maria Vergeti (Komotini) 
WAVES OF IMMIGRATION OF GREEKS 
FROM THE FORMER SOVIET UNION IN THE 20TH CENTURY  
THE COLLECTIVE IDENTITY OF THE IMMIGRANTS  
AND THEIR CULTURAL IMPACT ON THE BROADER GREEK SOCIETY 
This paper attempts to present the collective identity of the immigrants of 
Greek origin from the former Soviet Union and to study their cultural 
impact on the broader social whole. 
The methodology combines: a) personal interviews with first 
generation immigrants, conducted in 1986-1992; b) personal or telephone 
interviews with representatives of Greek-Pontic cultural associations, 
conducted in 2011, and; c) participant observation of activities of Greek-
Pontic associations over the period 1985-2011. The 37 persons interviewed 
(4 from the first wave of emigration, in the 1920s, who came form the 
shores of the Black Sea, and 33 from the later influx from Central Asia) 
were selected by the snowball technique. The biographical approach was 
used in evaluating the data. Representatives of associations were selected 
on the basis of “an active association with a long cultural presence”. In 
Greece there are 460 associations of Greeks of Pontic origin (Greeks from 
Pontus and from regions of the former Soviet Union, primarily from the 
northeast coast of the Black Sea and Central Asia), of which only 238 can 
be described as active (cultural and intellectual activity known at least 
within the local society and with at least one hundred active members); 
and of these, fewer than 40 have an active history extending over several 
decades. A total of 25 interviews (7 personal, 18 by telephone) were 
conducted with representatives of associations from all across the country.  
 
Maria Vergeti 
 
436 
Waves of Emigration and Reasons for Emigrating  
There have been successive waves of emigration to Greece from the 
former Soviet Union since the beginning of the twentieth century; these 
have involved mainly people of Greek origin, born in the then socialist 
republics, whose mother tongue is the Pontic dialect.  
The first wave, which began in 1918 and continued throughout the 
1920s,1 involved a total of 47,091 persons, all Pontic Greek refugees who 
described themselves in the 1928 census, as reported in Greece‟s 1930 
statistics yearbook, as natives of the Caucasus region.2 The flow of 
emigration from the former Soviet Union into Greece continued after this 
initial wave, albeit with long pauses punctuated by new influxes, the most 
important being those of 1937-1939, 1965-1967 and the 1990s. 
The second great wave of emigration of Greeks from the Soviet Union 
was sparked by the persecution of a substantial sector of the population 
during the period 1937-1939. Roughly 20,000 Greek women and children 
emigrated from the Soviet Union to Greece in 1938.3 After 1939 only a 
limited number of families managed to secure exit permits for emigration 
to Greece, for leaving the Soviet Union was essentially prohibited.4  
                                                 
1  The emigrants were refugees from northern Anatolia (historic Pontus), who had fled 
to the Soviet Union to escape persecution at the hands of the Young Turks in 1914-
1924, and Greeks living in the Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. 
They came to Greece because of the poor prospects for the Greek communities in the 
wake of historic events such as the October Revolution (1917), the advance of Turkish 
troops into the Caucasus in 1918, the violence practised by the Armenian authorities 
in drafting them into the armed forces, the unsuccessful Entente campaign in the 
Ukraine against Bolshevik troops in 1919, and the nationalist policies of the Menshe-
viks in Georgia. See Βεργέτη Μαρία Κ., Παλιννόστηση και Κοινωνικός Αποκλεισμός 
3rd edition, Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis Brothers 2010, 72-73 [Vergeti M., Repatriation and 
Social Exclusion]. 
2  At least 230,000 Pontic refugees from northern Anatolia and the former Soviet Union 
came to Greece between 1918-1930. The 1928 census recorded 229,260 Pontic refugees, 
of whom 182,169 declared Pontus as their place of origin, while 47,091 said they came 
from the Caucasus. This number certainly falls short of the reality, not least because of 
the heavy mortality suffered by the refugees during the first post-emigration years.  
3  Ζαπάντης Ανδρέας Η., Ελληνο-σοβιετικές σχέσεις 1917-1941, Μετ. Άγγελος ΢. Βλάχος, 
Athens: Estia 1989, 341 [Andreas I. Zapantis., Helleno-Russian Relations 1917-1941, tr. 
Angelos S. Vlachos]. 
4  Few families came between 1946 and 1948. The families that acquired emigration 
permits in 1946 were residents of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and those who were al-
lowed to leave in 1948 were residents of the Uzbek city of Kokkan. In 1957 another 
one hundred families emigrated from Central Asia. See Vergeti M., Repatriation and 
Social Exclusion, 76-78. 
Waves of Immigration of Greeks from the Former Soviet Union... 
 
437 
A new wave of emigration, mainly from Central Asia, began in 1965; 
this was interrupted in 1967 by the coup d‟état which imposed a 
dictatorship on Greece from 1967 to 1974, but resumed after normalcy was 
restored.5 According to information supplied by Greek-Pontic 
associations, another 30,000 Pontic Greeks, mainly from Central Asia, 
settled in Greece between 1965 and 1988.6 
With the re-organisation of the Soviet Union that began in 1985 the 
borders were gradually opened and the barriers to emigration lifted. The 
groundswell of emigration that began in 1987 brought increasing numbers 
of people of Greek origin (mainly Pontic) to Greece. For most of these 
immigrants, what drove them to leave was the desire to live in their 
“native” land, coupled with a minority syndrome7: with the other Greeks 
leaving, they lost the sense of security provided by a community and felt 
the need to move to the place where their own people had to decided to 
settle. 
The period 1985-1991 was characterised by economic recession, 
nationalist unrest and local conflicts. This was followed by the collapse of 
existing socialism in 1991 and a further worsening of the economic crisis 
and nationalist troubles. The impact on the Greek communities was 
immediate and highly unfavourable. The wave of emigration to Greece 
swelled again over the period 1991-1993,8 substantially fuelled by a 
number of new considerations, including fear of nationalist upheaval and 
civil war, economic reasons, and the desire for “a better life for the 
children”.9 Of the total number of families recorded as having emigrated 
to Greece between 1987 and 2000 (48,980), for 42% the reason for 
emigrating was the desire to live in Greece, for 22% unemployment, for 
                                                 
5  In 1971 a limited number of families emigrated from the city of Kentau in Kazakhstan. 
See Vergeti Maria., Repatriation and Social Exclusion, 78. 
6  This number was first cited in 1988 by Theodoros Kiahopoulos in a paper presented to 
the Second World Congress of Pontic Hellenism on The Problems of New Arrivals from 
the Soviet Union and their Fellow-Countrymen Rhere. 
7  Βεργέτη Μ., (ed.), Ομογενείς από την πρώην ΢οβιετκή Ένωση 1985-1995, Thessaloniki: 
Kyriakidis Brothers, 1998, 79-83; 140-141 [Vergeti Maria, Ethnic Greeks from the for-
mer Soviet Union 1985-1995]. 
8  Γενική Γραμματεία Παλιννοστούντων Ομογενών, Τπουργείο Μακεδονίας-Θράκης 
(2000), Η ταυτότητα των παλιννοστούντων ομογενών από την πρώην Ε.΢.΢.Δ.: 
Απογραφικά στοιχεία Ελλάδας, Μακεδονίας, Θράκης, Αττικής, Thessaloniki, 46 
[General Secretariat for Repatriated Greeks, Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace, Identity of 
the repatriated Greeks from the former USSR: Census data for Greece, Macedonia, 
Thrace, Attica]. 
9  Vergeti M., Ethnic Greeks from the former Soviet Union 1985-1995, 79-83, 140-141. 
Maria Vergeti 
 
438 
19% civil war, for 8% the fact that family members were leaving, for 6% 
terrorism, while the remaining 3% cited various other reasons.10  
Over the period 1997-2000 the General Secretariat for Repatriated 
Greeks (a department of the Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace) made an 
effort to compile a list of all the immigrants from the former Soviet Union 
who had arrived and remained in Greece between 1987 and 2000, entering 
either with a tourist visa or with a visa for immigration. By the end of this 
period (December 2000), the total had reached 155,319 persons, while 
according to the records there were 1593 who did not declare their year of 
arrival. Between 1977-1986 the number of immigrants to Greece was 334; 
of the rest, 169 people arrived in 1987, 669 in 1988, 5195 in 1989, 16,716 in 
1990, 17,331 in 1991, 19,846 in 1992, 25,720 in 1993, 14,737 in 1994, 14,586 in 
1995, 14,298 in 1996, 12,381 in 1997, 5761 in 1998, 4676 in 1999 and 1307 in 
2000. 11  
This total figure of 155,319 is certainly short of the mark, largely 
because the census was not compulsory. According to the General 
Secretariat for Repatriated Greeks, 97,000 Greeks from abroad, or 63% of 
the total, had followed the proper legal procedures; the remaining 37%, or 
58,000 people, had entered Greece on tourist visas.12 The largest number of 
arrivals in any single year was 26,000 (1993).13  
Since the turn of the new century the flow of emigration has dwindled 
to a trickle, and there is thought to be no reason to expect any new surge 
in the rate of arrivals of Greeks from the former Soviet Union. 
Interaction Processes 
The focus of this paper is on the contribution of the immigrant population 
from the former Soviet Union to the broader social whole and not on 
problems of integration, although it must be said that numerous problems 
arose on the institutional and economic level, as well as in terms of social 
intercourse. The social marginalisation these immigrants experienced in 
Greece was possibly more painful than the economic. Emigrating to a 
country of fellow-nationals is not the same as emigrating to a foreign land. 
When that state and those people, their own country and their own fellow-
countrymen, failed to give them the expected sense of security, the 
problems of integration were perhaps even greater than for other groups 
                                                 
10  General Secretariat for Repatriated Greeks, Identity of the repatriated Greeks from the 
former USSR, 52. 
11  General Secretariat ..., 46. 
12  General Secretariat ..., 28. 
13  General Secretariat ..., 28. 
Waves of Immigration of Greeks from the Former Soviet Union... 
 
439 
of immigrants. This social exclusion operated most powerfully against the 
immigrants of 1965-1967. 
From the end of the 1980s and throughout the following decade the 
Greek state, with the assistance of numerous public and private 
organisations, did try to facilitate the economic, educational and cultural 
integration of Greeks from the former Soviet Union. But despite the 
multitude of organisations involved, there was no co-ordinated 
intervention that could have limited their deprivation of what constitutes 
the national way of life.  
From interviews with representatives of cultural associations it is clear 
that the Greeks from the former Soviet Union have played an important 
role in preserving and passing on to younger generations such basic 
elements of culture as dance, music and theatre. Interviewees regularly 
made statements like: “We Pontian Greeks ran the association, but the 
dance teacher and the lyrist were from the wave of 1939”. Suffice it to 
mention, in this connection, just two names: theatre director Polis Haitas, 
born in Pontus in 1902, who studied music and theatre in Russia and 
whose role in creating and preserving Pontic theatre in Greece is 
inestimable; and, in the field of letters, academician Theoharis Kessidis, 
born in Georgia in 1920, who was a regular member of both the Moscow 
Academy of Research in the Humanities and the St Petersburg Academy 
of Arts and, after 1987, a corresponding member of the Academy of 
Athens. Another area where the impact of these immigrants has been 
important is in the preservation of the Pontic dialect, especially in places 
where there are large communities of Pontic Greeks.  
Collective Identity 
Settling in Greece enabled the incomers to mix and interact with 
metropolitan Greeks whose roots lay in northeast Anatolia (Pontus). They 
became members of the broader group of Pontic Greeks, which is a 
diaspora population. Pontic Hellenism is characterised by its connection 
with a place that is no longer socially present. The social bonds with 
historic Pontus were shattered by violence, the local communities 
dispersed, and mass return made impossible by international treaty. The 
historic memory of Pontic Hellenism is the memory of a place, the historic 
and cultural particularity of a population, and the memory of a shared 
destiny of diaspora. 
It is important to remember that the immigrants from the former 
Soviet Union are a mixed population. Collective identity is shaped by a 
group‟s relation with its social environment, and the social environment of 
the Black Sea coast was very different to that of Central Asia. It is a feature 
Maria Vergeti 
 
440 
of this group that a significant proportion, most notably among the 
immigrants of the period 1965-1987, knew nothing of their historic 
connection with Pontus before arriving in Greece.  
Cited below are passages from two interviews, which show how 
different the Greek various populations from the former Soviet Union 
were, depending on their region of origin and the decade in which they 
arrived in Greece: “My grandfather, Georgios Makridis of Trebizond, had 
a little fleet of seven sailing vessels, with which he traded between Pontus 
and the Caucasus, via Novorossiysk. In 1877 many of the Greeks in Pontus 
left for Russia, because of the Russo-Turkish War. My grandfather was a 
Russian citizen, and all Russian citizens living in Turkey were expelled. In 
1878 he settled permanently in Krymskaya and continued to trade, as did 
my father, Christophoros Makridis. My family lived in Krymskaya until 
1921. As bourgeois, we suffered a great deal in the years 1917-1921. In the 
mountains there were guerrillas who raided the towns, killing Bolsheviks 
and seizing arms and other goods before disappearing again. Then the 
Bolsheviks started arresting people, priests, professional people and 
merchants. They held them as hostages, and some were killed. My father 
was imprisoned three times, as a hostage, in the basement of the Greek 
school in Krymskaya. Had we not fled in secret in 1921, he might have 
shared the fate of his friends, who were all executed later.”14  
“The first years were very difficult. In Kazakhstan they said that we 
were Greeks and had to go back to our own country. We came here, and 
they said we were “Pontii” (Pontic Greeks). I didn‟t know anything about 
Pontus when I came here, except that the Greek families came from there. 
Only, a classmate of mine, who had come to Greece as a tourist, told me 
when she got back to Kazakhstan that there is a difference between us and 
the Greeks from Greece: they speak differently, and they call us “Pontii” 
and themselves “Dopii” (natives, locals). Here things were pretty bad for 
me. I went to night school, and worked all day in a printer‟s shop to help 
my family. My parents didn‟t ask me to work, but my brother and I saw it 
as the only way we could help them. I was really upset, because I didn‟t 
understand why things should be like that, why we were in the Soviet 
Union when “Greece is our country”, why they called us “Pontii”. Our 
relatives and other Pontic Greeks from the Soviet Union, who had come 
years before, told me that things had been worse for them, we had no one, 
they said, and you‟ve got us, but that was no consolation to me. It was not 
                                                 
14  Mrs. Athena Makridi-Kalliga and her father and grandfather are identified by name 
with her permission. 
Waves of Immigration of Greeks from the Former Soviet Union... 
 
441 
until I met some kids and they told me about our history from Pontus and 
that we should be proud of who we were, that I began to feel better. Back 
in Kazakhstan there was no Greek school to tell us about our history, nor 
was there any Greek association, and my family didn‟t know how they 
had come to be in Georgia.”15  
The collective identity of the Greeks from the former Soviet Union in 
Greece is shaped by two determinant factors, namely the creation of a 
deeper historical awareness, which connects them to the other Pontic 
Greeks, and the changes consequent upon emigration. At the same time, 
the waves of emigration from the former Soviet Union have kept alive the 
memory of historic Pontus, and reinforced Pontic Hellenism in Greece 
with new bearers of their particular culture, as this has evolved from 
compact groups in different geographical reference spaces. 
 
                                                 
15  From an interview with an immigrant woman who came to Greece in the 1970s. 


Waves of Immigration of Greeks from the Former Soviet Union in the 20th Century

Kobakhidze, Ekaterine

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011 
 
 
Ekaterine Kobakhidze (Tbilisi) 
HEGELEUS THE TYRSENIAN IN CORINTH AND DEMARATUS 
THE CORINTHIAN IN TYRSENIA 
(THE ORIGINS OF GREEK-ETRUSCAN DIALOGUE) 
In Book II of his Description of Greece, Pausanias describes the temple of 
Athena in Temenus, which he visited, telling a legend about how it was 
founded: "A sanctuary of Athena Trumpet (S£lpigx) they say was 
founded by Hegeleus. This Hegeleus, according to the story, was the son 
of Tyrsenus (Tyrrhenus), and Tyrsenus was the son of Heracles and the 
Lydian woman [Omphale]; Tyrsenus invented the trumpet, and Hegeleus, 
the son of Tyrsenus, taught the Dorians from Temenus how to play the 
instrument and for this reason gave Athena the surname Trumpet."1 
The information in this passage requires special comments and 
analysis. We will focus on several important issues: 
I. Tyrsenus. Herodotus was the first to mention Hegeleus' father 
Tyrsenus. Believing that Tyrsenians (Lat. Etruscans) came from Lydia, the 
Greek historian says that because of famine caused by a harvest failure, a 
group of Lydians led by Tyrsenus, the son of their King Atys, "went down 
to Smyrna, and built themselves ships, in which, after they had put on 
board all needful stores, they sailed away in search of new homes and 
better sustenance. After sailing past many countries they came to Umbria, 
where they built cities for themselves, and fixed their residence. Their 
former name of Lydians they laid aside, and called themselves after the 
name of the king's son, who led the colony, Tyrsenians [Tyrrhenians]."2    
The format of this paper provides no possibility to discuss in more 
detail the opinions on Etruscans' origin in Antiquity and modern science.  
                                                 
1  Pausanias, Graeciae descriptio, II, 21, 3. 
2  Herodotus, Historiae (Historiae apodexis), I, 94. 
Hegeleus the Tyrsenian in Corinth and Demaratus... 
 
291 
The only thing we would like to mention is that the version described by 
the "father of Greek history" was regarded as quite trustworthy in the 
sources of all periods of Antiquity. Pausanias is no exception in this 
regard, as in the passage we are focusing on, he relies on the legend on 
Tyrsenus mentioned by Herodotus. 
II. Heracles. Thus, according to Pausanias' version, Tyrsenus was the son 
of Heracles and a Lydian woman – Omphale. Connecting Heracles with 
Lydians and then with Etruscans is a very noteworthy issue. It should be 
born in mind that in Etruscan mythology, Heracles, who corresponds to 
Greek Heracles, has a special place, and we have devoted a special report 
to Etruscan Heracles.3 
Etruscan Heracles has proved to consist of, so to say, two layers. One 
of them, which is chronologically younger, is an embodiment of Etruscan 
Heracles due to the growth of popularity of Hellenic mythology through 
the influence of the Greek colonizing movement and second Heracles is 
more archaic and shows no connection to his Greek analogue, being 
connected with conceptions widespread in the Mediterranean area in the 
Pre-Indo-European times. According to the latter, Heracles is a significant 
element of the Etruscan cult service of Haruspicy. He is the founder of the 
Etruscan race4 and the son of the goddess of sky. Correspondingly, 
Pausanias' version of Heracles being the father of Tyrsenus could be a 
reflection of a Greek modification of the Etruscan myth.  
III. Invention of Trumpet. The fact that Etruscans indeed invented this kind 
of trumpet is confirmed by Diodorus Siculus. His Bibliotheca historica says that 
"they were the inventors of the salpinx, as it is called, a discovery of the 
greatest usefulness for war and named after them the 'Tyrrhenian trumpet'."5 
Unlike Greek trumpet, Etruscan trumpet was cylindrical with one end 
bent. It was an instrument used in war, but they also had a straight 
trumpet, which was used for religious purposes.6 
It is noteworthy that this instrument is mentioned by all three ancient 
Greek tragedians. Συρσηνική σάλπιγξ is mentioned by Aeschylus in 
Eumenides, Sophocles in Ajax, and Euripides in Heracleidae. It is noteworthy 
that in the first two works, Tyrsenian trumpet is mentioned in connection 
with Athena. In particular, at the start of the fourth episode of Eumenides, 
Athena orders a herald: 
                                                 
3  Kobakhidze E., Italian Heracles., Tbilisi 2004, 174-182 (in Georgian). 
4  Strabo, V, 2, 2 [29], Dionys. Hall., I, 28, 5. 
5  Diodorus Sicullus, V, 40, 1. 
6  Cristofani M., Musica, In: Dizionario illustrato della civiltà etrusca, Firenze 2000, 182-183. 
Ekaterine Kobakhidze 
 
292 
Herald, give the signal and restrain the crowd; 
and let the piercing Tyrrhenian trumpet, 
filled with human breath, 
send forth its shrill blare to the people!7 
In the prologue to Ajax by Sophocles, where invisible Athena speaks to 
Odysseus, the Greek hero tells the goddess: 
Ah, Athena's voice, of the gods 
the one I cherish most. How clear you sound. 
I can't see you, but I do hear your words - 
my mind can grasp their sense, like the bronze call 
of an Tyrsenian trumpet (14-17). 
In our opinion, the connection between Tyrsenian trumpet and 
goddess Athena in the aforementioned passages by Aeschylus and 
Sophocles is a reflection of the legend mentioned by Pausanias. In 
particular, Tyrsenus' son invented this musical instrument, built a temple 
of Athena, and called it "Trumpet", which reflects a mythological 
connection between Athena and Tyrsenian trumpet (we will dwell on this 
connection again later). 
It is clear that Pausanias' legend is beneath all criticism chronologi-
cally. The temple of Athena was presumably founded in Corinth in the 
classical period, while mythical Hegeleus lived in the dawn of the Etrus-
can civilization. There are at least four centuries between these events. 
It is acknowledged by everyone today that Greeks must have 
familiarized themselves with Tyrsenian trumpet no earlier than 8th century 
BC, when the Greek colonization was making its first steps in Italy. The 
archaeological materials showing extensive relations between Etruscans 
and the Greek colony of Cumae confirm this.8 
Later, the peaceful coexistence of Etruscans and Greek colonists 
changed to military confrontation, which developed into the struggle for 
domination on the sea. There is no doubt that Etruscans made their war 
trumpets sound, leaving an indelible trace in Greek literature. 
IV. Temple of Athena in Corinth. We have already said above that in the 
legend quoted by Pausanias, like in mythological themes in general, it is 
hardly possible to fit chronology into historic reality. Correspondingly, the 
foundation of the temple of Athena in Corinth by Hegeleus can have only 
                                                 
7  Aeschylos, Eumenides, 569-572. 
8  Pallottino M., Etruscologia, Milano 1984, 353; Keller W., La civiltà etrusca, Milano 
1985, 387. 
Hegeleus the Tyrsenian in Corinth and Demaratus... 
 
293 
a symbolic value. Of course, the legend is a reflection of contacts between 
Etruria and Corinth, which could not have started earlier than the 8th 
century BC taking into account archaeological data. However, at the same 
time, we believe that it is no accident that the myth comprises information 
on Tyrsenian Hegeleus devoting the temple precisely to goddess Athena. 
In our opinion, the key to this problem is in special relations between 
Heracles and Athena. We do not mean support for the son of Zeus from 
Athena during the rivalry between Hera and Heracles (according to 
Pausanias, Hegeleus is the son of Heracles). In this regard, it would be 
interesting to take into account Etruscan mythology. Tyrsenian legends 
preserved in Roman sources show closer relations between Heracles and 
Menrva (Etruscan analogue of Athena) than Hellenic myths. In particular, 
Menrva is presented as Heracles' beloved woman or wife.9 
Thus, if we assume that Etruscan legends comprise information 
reflecting ancient connections between Heracles and Athena (or rather 
Minerva) as a mythological theme widespread among the ancient Pre-
Greek and Pre-Italian population, it may seem more logical that Tyrsenus' 
grandson Hegeleus pays special tribute to Athena and devotes a temple to 
her in the legend mentioned by Pausanias. 
Taking the aforementioned into account, it is possible to conclude that 
the myth mentioned by Pausanias seems to be an example of early cultural 
dialogue between Etruria and Greece. At this stage, Hellenes make more 
efforts to "import" more from the Etruscan culture. In particular, Greeks 
adopt Tyrsenian myths (transforming them to a certain extent) and 
innovations (for example, Tyrsenian trumpet), trying to create a 
mythological version of the origins of the Etruscan ethnos and find a place 
for them in their own genealogical grid: Tyrsenus is the son of Heracles 
and Hegeleus is his grandson. 
It is noteworthy that the first emergence of Etruscans in the ancient 
literature was linked precisely to an attempt to make them part of Greek 
mythology. At the end of Theogony, Hesiod writes: 
And Circe the daughter of Helius, Hyperion's son, 
loved steadfast Odysseus 
and bare Agrius and Latinus who was faultless and strong: 
also she brought forth Telegonus by the will of golden Aphrodite. 
And they ruled over the famous Tyrrhenians, 
very far off in a recess of the holy islands. 
                                                 
9  Cristofani M., op. cit, 136. 
Ekaterine Kobakhidze 
 
294 
We share the opinion of those researchers, that these lines are organic 
for Hesiod's poem and were not inserted in it in the 6th or 5th century BC, 
an opinion we substantiate in the article Circe and Italy.10 
The legend in Pausanias' work, which reflects relations between 
Tyrsenians and Corinthians, stems from the verge of the 8th and 7th 
centuries BC. These relations are not yet marred by confrontation and 
battles. 
It is known that Corinth was one of the pioneers of the Greek 
colonizing movement. Although "Etruscans were too powerful for Greeks 
to establish colonies on their territory",11 this did not restrict cultural 
contacts between Greece and Etruria. 
It is noteworthy that myths, like with Pausanias, reflect not only 
Etruscans' contribution to the Greek culture, but also the contribution of 
Greeks to the Tyrsenian civilization. In our opinion, Livy makes an 
interesting allusion. He presents, so to say, the second part of Pausanias' 
version, depicting the contribution of Corinthians to the Etruscan 
civilization. A passage in the well-known work by the Roman historian Ab 
Urbe Condita Libri (VII) reads: "He [fifth Roman King Tarquinius Priscus] 
was the son of Demaratus a Corinthian, who had been driven from home 
by a revolution, and who happened to settle in Tarquinia. There he 
married and had two sons, their names were Lucumo and Arruns" (I, 34, 
96-97). 
In our opinion, the fact that Corinthian Demaratus settles in Tarquinia, 
takes an Etruscan wife, leads an Etruscan lifestyle, and gives his sons 
Etruscan names points to a bridge between Corinth and Etruria, which the 
Greek refugee walked along. At the same time, it was Demaratus, who 
shared important achievements of his culture with Tyrsenians together 
with adopting Etruscan traditions. In particular, Tacitus writes in his 
Annals that Etruscans adopted their alphabet from Demaratus of Corinth 
(IV, 50). Scientists generally accept today that the Etruscan alphabet is of 
Greek origin. 
In our opinion, Tacitus' information may be close to reality. At the 
same time, it is indeed possible to assume that a Greek, who had learned 
Etruscan, could have created an alphabet adapted to the Etruscan 
language. Finally, it is noteworthy that the most archaic epigraph in 
                                                 
10  Кобахидзе Е., Кирка и Италия, Caucasica. The Journal of Caucasian Studies, vol. V, 
Tbilisi  2002, 70-79. 
11  Kavtaria G., Ancient Greece, Tbilisi 2005, 96 (in Georgian). 
Hegeleus the Tyrsenian in Corinth and Demaratus... 
 
295 
Etruscan dating back to the 8th or 7th centuries BC was found precisely in 
Tarquinia.12 
Taking the aforementioned into account, we believe that the so-called 
"Cumaean theory", which says that Etruscans adopted their alphabet from 
Euboean colonists living in a new settlement,13 needs to be revised. We 
believe that it would be more logical to assume that the Etruscan alphabet 
took shape precisely in this Etruscan city on the basis of contacts between 
Corinth and Tarquinia. 
We think that this Etruscan alphabet spread to Rome later in the era of 
Demaratus' son Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, who probably introduced this 
innovation, together with other ones, during his reign in Rome. It can also 
be assumed that the spread of literacy in Rome started by teaching 
Etruscan and later, the alphabet was adapted for Latin. 
A kind of confirmation of this opinion can be found in the following 
phrase by Livy: "There is authority for asserting that at that time Roman 
boys were, as a rule, instructed in Etruscan literature as they now are in 
Greek".14 
Thus, analyzing mythological data in ancient sources, archaeological 
materials and scientific literature, we can draw the following conclusions: 
First contacts between Greece and Etruria, which took the shape of 
genuine dialogue, were established on the verge of the 8th and 7th centuries 
BC. They became familiarized with each other much earlier than Greeks 
established close relations with Latium and Romans. Greek colonists 
familiarized themselves with Etruscan innovations, mythology and 
religion and interpreted and adopted Tyrsenian legends. Etruscans, for 
their part, familiarized themselves with the achievements of Hellenes in 
developing their writing system, which became the basis for the Etruscan 
alphabet. This was the start of Greek-Etruscan dialogue, which deepened 
and became more varied during the following centuries. 
It can be said that the dialogue between the Greek and Etruscan 
cultures contributed greatly to the development of these civilizations and 
their contemporary world and later, to the formation and development of 
modern European cultures. 
                                                 
12  Pandolfini M., Scrittura, In: Dizionario illustrato ... 263-264. 
13  Camporeale G., Gli Etruschi, storia civiltà, Torino 2000, 194. 
14  Livius, IX, 36, 3-4. 


Hegeleus the Tyrsenian in Corinth and Demaratus the Corinthian in Tyrsenia

Chotalishvili, Lela

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011
Lela Chotalishvili (Tbilisi)
MINOAN SA-RA2 AND MYCENAEAN TEXTS 
(One Instance of Linguistic Encounter)
In the Minoan texts, the most recurrent formative is ku-ro (found 37 
times). It can be found only in A linear economic texts, presumably, as a 
closing of a list of goods, weapons or manpower. It is generally 
interpreted as «sum».1
The second most recurrent formative of A-Linear texts is the 
combination of signs 31-76 (sa-ra2), which, like ku-ro, is used only in 
economic texts. It can be found 21 times (HT 11b, HT 18, HT 28a, HT 28b, 
HT 30, HT 32, HT 33, HT 34, HT 36a, HT 90, HT 93a, HT 94a, HT 99a, HT 
100, HT 101, HT 102, HT 105, HT 114a, HT 121, HT 125a, HT 130): 8 times 
before the ideogram 120 (presumably, "wheat"), 5 times before the 
ideogram 303, which V. Georgiev identifies with the Linear B ideogram 
125 ("cypress"). In other cases, the formative is used separately, while in 
HT 93a and HT 11b texts, it is immediately followed by the number 20 (see 
fig. 1).
HT 93a
1. 56-ni-na . 120-56 . 515 12 di-
2. ri-na 10 502 43 ki-di
3. ni 5< a-se . 28b
4. 574 26< sa-ra2 20 qa-qa-
5. ru . 28b 574 5 100/102-28b
6. 6 de-65-ku 1< ?-ti
7. [.] 3 da-ri-da 407 2 343 2
8. 56-ni-na [ ] pa-se-ja 20
                                                
1 See Chotalishvili L., The Aegean Writing Systems, Tbilisi 2003, 99-101 (in Georgian).
Lela Chotalishvili156
9. 100/102 107 [ ]- ka 4
Cosani and Negri identify sa-ra2 as a personal name.2 On the other 
hand, Fachetti finds it a non-onomastic term and while making no 
reference to its possible meaning, associates the formative with ration.3
A word sarapedo is attested in Linear B texts Un 718 and Er 880. A part 
of mycenologists believe that sarapedo refers to a characteristic feature of a 
particular type of land, while others consider it a place name.4 The 
majority of scholars find the tablet Er 880 to be the continuation of Er 312. 
According to the text Er 312+880, e-ke-ra2-wo (who scholars believe to be 
the king of Pylos) owns te-me-no + ki-ti-me-na + sa-ra-pe-do pe-pu2-te-
me-no.5 Referring to Furumark, Lindgren notes that sarapedo is a technical 
term stemming from sa-ra of Linear A texts and can be synonymous with 
the Greek tšmenoj that is, a plot in the possession of king and lavagetas.6 It 
should be noted that sarapedo can only be found twice in Linear B texts, 
while sa-ra2 , as mentioned, is the second most recurrent formative in 
Linear A texts. 
As known, Linear A and B economic records have the same structure. 
In Linear B texts the most recurrent word used before the ideogram 120, 
which is common for all series of Class E, is pe-mo / pe-ma (spšrma),7
while in Linear A texts sa-ra2 takes its position. Some scholars believe that 
the formula pe-mo GRA (120) or to-so-de pe-mo GRA must refer to the 
quantity of seed grain8 and was used as a measure of a plot size. It would 
be interesting to find out if sa-ra2 120 of Linear A texts can be described as 
having the same symbolic sense. The analysis revealed that in Linear A 
texts sa-ra2 is preceded by various words: de-nu, ru-si-ka, u-mi-na-si, i-ku-
                                                
2 Cosani C., Negri M., Testi minoici transcritti, Roma 1999, 297.
3 Fachetti G. M., Non-onomastic Elements in Linear A, Kadmos 38, 1999, 121-136, 122-
124.
4 Diccionario Griego-Español. Anejo I. Diccionario micenico. I-II. Redactado por F. 
Aura Jorro, Bajo la dirección F. R. Adrados, Madrid, II-1993, 282. 
5 Parousis M., Les listes des champs de Pylos et Hattusa et le régime foncier mycénien 
et hittite, Paris 1985, 30.
6 Lindgren M., The Interpretation of Personal Designations in Linear B. Methodical 
Problems, Colloquium Mycenaeum, 81-86, 1979, 85.
7 This idea was first expressed proposed by E. L. Benett in his The Landholders of Py-
los, American Journal of Archaeology, 1956, 119.
8 Benett E. L., 1956, 119; Parousis M., 1985, 44.
Minoan sa-ra2 and Mycenaen Texts 157
ri-na, a-du, ka-pa, ki-ri-ta.9 sa-ra2 120 is used independently before a list of 
different goods.
HT 90
i-ku-ri-na sa- ra2 120
20 ni 10 608 3 si-
ru-ma-ri-ta2-120 1 ni
1 622 1 304 1
On two occasions sa-ra2 follows a summarizing formative (ku-ro) (HT 
94a.3, 100.4). Besides, in the Mycenaean texts the pe-mo GRA (120) 
formula mainly is followed small figures, the largest being 42, or 94 in an 
incomplete version of the formula pe-ma 94.10 sa-ra2 120 is followed by 
quite big amounts (e. g. 976, 58, 40, 41...), which enables us suppose that in 
Linear A texts sa-ra2 120 did not indicate a plot size (see fig. 3).
HT 102
1. ka-pa- sa-ra2 120 976
2. 56-ni 574 33[
3. 100/102 574 33 di-ri-na 10 ma
4. 321 3 wi 10 i-ka 5
5. ku-ro 1060 [
As Linear A and B economic records are similar in terms of structure, 
in order to find out the possible meaning of sa-ra2, I attempted to rely on 
Linear B texts, which can be classed into the following groups:11 1. Lists of 
manpower and position holders, united by a human ideogram (Classes A, 
B), 2. The description of palace (goods) inventory including groups of 
cattle, plot statuses, (classes C, E, S, T), 3. The incomes and expenses of the 
palace. The latter group on its part can be divided into the following two 
types: a) manpower ration (Class F), which according to scholars, was 
sometimes given out in specified amounts in the form of a “salary”12; b) 
taxes and offerings to deities (Class U, Ma Series).
                                                
9 The interpretation of Linear A texts is presented taking into account the meanings of 
Linear B signs.
10 See Gordeziani L., DO-E-RO of Liner B Texts in the Context of the Social History of 
the Ancient World, Tbilisi 1999, 27-40 (in Georgian).
11 For the classification of B Linear texts, I used the Pylian texts (E. L. Bennett, J.-P. Olivi-
er, The Pylos Tablets Transcribed. Part. I, Texts and Notes, Roma 1973 and L. Gorde-
ziani 1999).
12 See Gordeziani L., 1999, 109-110.
Lela Chotalishvili158
I attempted to find out to which group of records we could assign 
Minoan texts containing sa-ra2. It can be observed that they are similar to 
the B Linear records that deal with the incomes and expenses of palace. 
The Mycenaean texts referring to manpower ration or a “salary” issued by 
the palace normally consist of two or three components – mainly grains or 
some other products. Though sa-ra2 most frequently precedes the account 
of economic goods, there is hardly any reference to a particular standard 
as sa-ra2 can be followed by a ligature denoting various kinds of dishware 
(HT 32, HT 33, HT 103), or a human ideogram (see fig. 4).
HT 103
1. ka-pa [ ]
2. 100/102 234
3. sa-ra2 . 100/102 235
4-5. ]
As concerns taxes and offerings to deities, scholars identify two types 
of state tributes attested in the Mycenaean texts: taxes and labour 
obligation.13 There are cases when the records include terms that must be 
indicative of the type of obligation. S. Shelmerdine assumed that there 
must have been various systems of duties: ta-ra-si-ja / a-pu-do-si, o-pa, 
wo-ze-e.14 Presumably, any tax or offering was designated by do-so-mo / 
a-pu-do-si, which sometimes were substituted by o-pa. The term for 
labour obligation must have been wo-ze-e, which, according to Levan 
Gordeziani, could be removed after receiving a special deed ta-ra-si-ja.15
The quantitative ratios of various goods recorded in series PY Ma and KN 
Mc are stable and more or less alike, which prompts J. P. Olivier to speak 
about “the Mycenaean tax law”.16 He believes that each tax had its 
respective ratio, which, if multiplied by the indicated amount, would give 
the number of the population concerned.
We cannot say that the Minoan texts allow us to establish the system of 
state obligations. However, the records that include sa-ra2 are closer to the 
Linear B texts describing taxes and offerings (e. g. Fg 253, Ma 120, Un 718). 
Un 718
1. sa-ra-pe-da , po-se-da-o-ni , do-so-mo
                                                
13 See Gordeziani L., 1999, 98.
14 Shelmerdine C. W.,  Industrial Activity at Pylos, Tractata Mycenaea, 1987, 333-342, 
337ff.
15 See Gordeziani L., 1999, 109.
16 Olivier J.-P., 1974, 23 ff. 
Minoan sa-ra2 and Mycenaen Texts 159
2. o-wi-de-ta-i , do-so-mo , to-so , e-ke-ra2-wo
3. do-se , GRA 4 VIN 3 BOSm 1
4. tu- ro2 TURO2 10 ko-wo , *153 1
5. me-ti-to , V 3 TURO2
6. vacat
7. o-da- a2 , da-mo , GRA 2 VIN 2
8. OVIS m 2 TURO2 5 a-re-ro , APERA V 2 *153 1
9. to-so-de , ra-wa-ke-ta , do-se,
10. OVIS m 2 me-re-u-ro , FAR T 6
11. VIN S 2 o-da-a2 , wo-ro-ki-jo-ne-jo , ka-ma
12. GRA T 6 VIN S 1 TURO2 5 me-ri[
13. vacat [ ] 1 V 1
The analysis undertaken revealed that in two cases sa-ra2 follows a 
summarizing formative (ku-ro). In some Linear A texts sa-ra2 can be found 
before or after an account of various goods, which is once again followed 
by a list of the same goods (e. g. HT 28b, HT 90). Besides, in two texts, sa-
ra2 is immediately followed by the numeral 20 (HT 93a, HT 11b). Especial 
attention should be paid to HT 11b text, where the combination sa-ra2 20 
precedes an account, but the value of sa-ra2 is not specified upon 
presenting the sum total. Consequently, the text can be understood as 
follows: 20 sa-ra2 = 40 ka + 30ka + 50ka + 30ka + 30ka = 180 (ka) (see fig. 5).
HT 11b
1. ] de-nu . sa-ra2 20
2. 86 ka 40 ka 30
3. ka 50 ru-79-na
4. ka 30 sa-qe-ri 
5. ka 30 ku-ro
6. 180
The above discussion may lead us to conclude that sa-ra2 was a 
conventional measurement for taxes (or for duties in general), which was 
not limited to a particular tax and in various texts is applied to different 
goods and labour.
Lela Chotalishvili160
    
Fig. 1
Minoan sa-ra2 and Mycenaen Texts 161
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Lela Chotalishvili162
Fig. 4
Fig. 5


Minoan sa-ra2 and Mycenaean Texts

Tsanava, Ana

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011 
 
 
Ana Tsanava (Tbilisi) 
ORESTES BY EURIPIDES 
AND MODERN CONCEPTIONS OF THRILLERS 
Orestes by Euripides is probably one of the most problematic works of the 
antique literature. Its problematic nature becomes evident not only in its 
genres, topics, text, and specific features of heroes, but also in heated 
debates the interpretation of every part of this text gives rise to in the 
contemporary scientific literature. In this study, we will concentrate on the 
genre of the tragedy, which has been debated back since antiquity. We will 
try to clarify whether it is possible to regard it in the context of modern 
thrillers. 
There were two mutually exclusive attitudes towards Orestes in 
antiquity. On the one hand, Orestes is one of the most popular plays 
among Greek tragedies of the Euripidean and following eras. M. L. West's 
well-known commentaries present impressive materials to prove this.1 
The play was quite popular also in the Roman and Byzantine eras.2 
On the other hand, commentators of the antique era and authors of 
scholia and hypotheses are not so benevolent regarding the tragedy. This 
seems to be a result of direct influence of Aristotle, whose works contain 
numerous quotations from Orestes.3 The philosopher mentions the drama 
twice in his Poetics and in both cases, his critical remarks are linked to 
                                                 
1  Euripides, Orestes, ed. with translation and commentary by M. L. West, Warminster 
1987, 28. 
2  See: Biehl W., Euripides' Orestes, Berlin 1965, 108-33. On the popularity of Orestes in 
the Byzantine era and late antiquity see: Euripides Orestes, ed. with translation and 
commentary by M. L. West, Warminster 1987, 33-34. 
3 Poet., 1454a 28-29, 1461 b19-21, EN 1169 7.8. (Or.; 667), Mag. Mor., 1212 b 27-28, Rhet., 
1371 a 26-28, (Or., 234). EE 1235 a 16, EN 1154 b 28-29 1405 b 20-23 (Or., 1587-88). Rhet., 
1397 a 19-30. The latter can be a replication of lines 538-539 in Orestes. 
Ana Tsanava 
 
394 
Menelaus as a hero with an "unjustifiably" bad character.4 Aristotle 
regards the concrete and unchanged nature of characters as a norm for 
genuine tragedies, Aeschylus and Sophocles providing numerous examp-
les to support the assumption. Given this, the inconsistency of Menelaus 
in Orestes was regarded as inappropriate for the standards of the genre.5 
As said above, commentators of the later period, whose opinions are 
represented in the scholia and hypotheses of the drama, effectively follow 
the tradition of Aristotle and his school, focusing on the imperfect nature 
of the characters. The author of a hypothesis went even farther than 
Aristotle, noting that all characters except Pylades are inappropriate for a 
tragedy.6 
As regards the genre, opinions differ. In his 3rd hypothesis, Thomas 
Magistrus classifies the tragedy as a tragicomedy. He relies on the authors 
of old hypotheses, who classified Orestes and Alcestis as a series of satirical 
dramas, because at a glance, the text had a happy end. The author of the 
scholium believes that after the Phrygian slave appears on the scene, the 
tragedy runs back and the dialogue between them is comic rather than 
tragic.7 The same is true of the end of the drama, which is contrary to the 
demand that a tragedy should definitely have an unhappy end, as Poetics 
draws a clear line between tragedy and comedy. Aristotle does not deem it 
possible to allow a precedent of mixing up the two types of information 
(although, in my opinion, they are not at all mutually exclusive).8 
For the same reason, commentators of the Hellenistic era removed 
both plays from the so-called canonical lists of great tragedies. In their 
opinion, Orestes and Alcestis were to be represented at theatre festivals as 
satirical dramas. Philologists of the post-classical era concluded that the 
genre of Orestes is something new. However, they believed that this was 
indicative of the drama's defects rather than its positive innovative 
aspects. It is noteworthy that modern researchers have not advanced 
much in studying problems of genre either. In the 19th c. and the first half 
of the 20th c., philologists, like commentators of antiquity, were under the 
                                                 
4  Arist., Poet., 1454 a 28-29. 
5  In this connection see: Dale A. M., Ethos and Dianoia: Character and Thought in Aris-
totle's Poetics, AUMLA 11, 1959, 3-16. 
6  It is noteworthy that the author of the hypothesis uses Aristotle's term faàloi,which 
denotes a character appropriate to a comedy and is opposite in content to the term 
spouda‹oj which denotes a character appropriate to a tragedy. 
7  Detailed review of scholia and hypotheses of Orestes can be found in: Porter, Studies 
in Euripides Orestes, Leiden 1995, 16-44. 
8  Porter, Studies in Euripides Orestes, Leiden 1994, 15. 
Orestes by Euripides and Modern Conceptions of Thrillers 
 
395 
influence of Aristotle's views. They were mostly occupied with searching 
for shortcomings in the plot and concept of the drama.9 
A new stage in the critical studies of Orestes started in the second half 
of the 20th c. The interest in the drama doubled in the aforementioned pe-
riod. Fundamental studies by Reinhardt, Greenberg, and Wolf were 
published in the same period. These works had a major impact on the 
directions of and methodology for philological research in the tragedy in 
general. They partially resolved problems arising in the interpretation of 
the main plots, structure, and content of the text. 
However, differences persisted regarding the genre.10 Everyone agreed 
that the drama was a metaphoric image that reflected the moral and socio-
political problems of Sophist Athens in the late 5th c. It is the culmination 
of prolonged experiments by Euripides, who tried to adjust form and 
content. However, it is still debated what the form itself is: a tragicomedy, 
melodrama, pure tragedy, or thriller. Latacz was the first to point to the 
possible connection of the genre of Orestes with thrillers. The researcher 
deemed it possible to consider the drama in the context of a thriller.11 
To expand on this view, I would like to revert to the popularity of 
Orestes in antiquity. In fact, if not the element of thriller, the play couldn‟t 
achieve such level of popularity among the spectators. The genre scheme 
of character and action developing represents the novelty suggested by 
Euripides to his audience and much more important is the fact, that his 
genre novelty was required by the Euripides‟ audience itself. In fact, this is 
the classical example of the self-replective nature of Ancient Greek 
Theatre. Within the liminal space, theatre always reflects the socio-political 
perturbations of its era and moral and psychological changes under way 
within society.12 Voluntarily or absolutely intuitively, high-class authors 
offer spectators what the spectators demand from them also absolutely 
intuitively. Thus, Orestes can partially be regarded as a product ordered by 
the public. 
                                                 
9  Porter, Studies in Euripides Orestes, Leiden 1994, 17. 
10  See: Vellacott Ph., Ironic Drama: A study of Euripides‟ Method and Meaning, Cam-
bridge University Press 1975. The researcher believes that the drama is full of historic 
allusions. Lines 1,167-1,171 of the text describe Athens' nostalgic feelings for the he-
roic era of Pericles. The fatal enmity between Atreus and Thyestes is interpreted as an 
allegory of the confrontation between Athens and Sparta. This interpretation trans-
forms Helen into beauty, culture, and grace destroyed by war and the grave psycho-
logical condition of Orestes reflects the depressive condition of society in general. 
11  Latacz J., Einfuhung in die Griechische Tragodie, Gottingen 1993, 382. 
12  Latacz J., Op. cit., 376. 
Ana Tsanava 
 
396 
Paradoxically, Athens that was tired of the 20 years of Peloponnesus 
War wanted to see on the scene a performance, which would constantly 
keep it in expectation of horror. This is qualitatively the same as taking 
tragic pleasure in seeing one's own misfortunes on the scene. Orestes was 
popular on the scene on the one hand, due to the coincidence of the 
emotional conditions of spectators and protagonists, similarity between 
the situations around them (I mean the post-war periods, which is very 
difficult for the public to survive psychologically – Athens/Peloponnesus 
war and Orestes/Troy war), the insane aspiration of protagonists to resort 
to any method to save their own lives, which seems to reflect the pathos of 
Euripidean era, and on the other hand, due to the spectacular visual side 
of the drama. 
This correspondence with the contemporary era and its so-called 
"thriller" aesthetics, which emerged due to absolutely concrete causes and 
did not exclude the text's tragic nature, proved to be completely alien to 
the opinions on tragedy held by Aeschylus and Sophocles. However, it 
was something new in genre and content, which remained partially 
unclear to philologists of antiquity, and is clear and acceptable to us, 
because there is no difference between the spectators of the Euripidean 
theatre and spectators of our era as regards world views and tastes. 
Human beings' natural inclination towards physical or psychological 
violence and their particular desire to observe violence on the scene and 
take tragic pleasure from it seems to have been inherited, together with 
other aesthetic categories, by the modern Western European culture from 
the antique era. Thrillers have proved to be the best form of showing 
protagonists' violence against each other and others in the literature and 
cinema of the 20th century. 
It is quite difficult to describe thrillers within one framework of defini-
tions. This genre is at the same time complex and devoid of any structural 
or stereotype frames, which provide authors with major opportunities of 
improvisation. It comprises both written and modern audiovisual texts. It 
can be defined as the unity of certain features. The most important feature 
of them is to give spectators the feeling of horror, constant tension, 
uncertainty, fear, and expectation while the story unfolds. This is achieved 
by means of the quick alternations and completely unexpected 
turnarounds of events. 
Crime, murders, revenge, political conspiracies, psychological anoma-
lies, paranoia and so forth are the main themes in thrillers. Thrillers were 
probably most perfectly represented in cinematography. Although the list 
of novelists, who worked in this genre, is quite long, Alfred Hitchcock's 
Orestes by Euripides and Modern Conceptions of Thrillers 
 
397 
films are believed to be classical examples of thrillers, as they served as 
models for filmmakers of the following generation such as Martin 
Scorsese, David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, Darren 
Aranofsky and others, who created very high-class thriller films. It is also 
noteworthy that one of the most high-profile films of Hitchcock – Psycho – 
is a very interesting interpretation of the Orestes story. 
Greek mythology and specifically the final episode in the story of 
Pelopides is an excellent material for a classical thriller. The Orestes story 
provides an opportunity for the artistic interpretation of crime and 
violence as independent socio-political and psychological phenomena, 
while crime and psychological anomalies are major components that bring 
closer the Euripides theatre and the concept of modern thrillers. 
I think that it would be most appropriate to study Orestes in its 
juxtaposition with psychological and criminal thrillers, which are one of 
the quite numerous subgroups in the genre. So what is a psychological 
thriller? Conflicts between protagonists in these types of narratives are 
rather mental and emotional in nature rather than physical. Due to 
absolutely accidental and predetermined circumstances, heroes find 
themselves in hopeless situations, which they are unable to emerge from 
independently. Their mind is in the constant process of searching. The 
search for a way out of the situation that has taken shape and the instinct 
of self-preservation force them to become oppressors and extremely cruel 
towards others and even themselves.  
Like in case of thrillers in general, we cannot speak about models or 
patterns of plots in psychological thrillers. The general concept is that the 
perception of reality, its acceptance and the complicated and contradictory 
path to self-perception, which often lead protagonists to self-destruction, 
are coordinating features that unite psychological thrillers in one circle. 
General standards of thrillers are observed at the level of unfolding 
events. What is most important, psychological thrillers differ from other 
sub-genres in one essential feature: the supremacy of action and the 
nominal nature of characters are reversed in psychological thrillers. Plots 
are of minor importance in them. Events are to unfold in the stories, 
because they are to describe the psychological conditions of characters and 
enable them to show their features. In the meantime, the minor 
importance of myths is one of the features of Euripides' dramatic vision 
and Orestes is the most prominent work among such tragedies. 
The essential Euripidean novelty in the seemingly exhausted Orestes 
problem lies precisely in the completely new vision of the mental state of 
the hero. Orestes is effectively a tragedy, where everyone and everything – 
Ana Tsanava 
 
398 
even the most insignificant detail – runs on one central problem of 
showing the psychological condition of a desperate person, who killed his 
mother, and this is achieved due to the events that unfold in an absolutely 
unexpected and quick manner like in thrillers. If we take a look at the 
tragedy from this angle, the seemingly chaotic text will become more or 
less ordered semantically, as Euripides wanted to present the spiritual 
condition of the protagonist not only statically, but also dynamically. 
The change in Orestes' spiritual condition marks the beginning of an 
essentially new phase of the tragedy. In this case, I share Conacher's 
theory of dividing the tragedy into three parts: psychological, rhetorical, 
and "violent", although making the division, researchers mainly rely on 
elements of the plot rather than the hero's mental state, which prevents 
them from resolving the problem of inconsistency.13 However, if we rely 
on Orestes' mental state as a criterion, we will see that events unfold in the 
manner they should unfold in accordance with the rules of thrillers, 
which, in this case, are very liberal. Visually, they are as unexpected and 
horrific as possible and, at the same time, absolutely logical and motivated 
intrinsically. 
Two-sided relations between the myth and ethos take shape in the 
tragedy. On the one hand, the plot is given and Clytemnestra is killed, 
which makes Orestes such as he is at the start of the drama, but later, the 
protagonist creates a plot himself. It is this type of relation that should 
take shape in any text to enable us to consider it as a psychological thriller. 
Orestes is a tragedy about a hero, who feels the crime he has committed to 
the full extent and makes a certain attempt to perceive this crime in a 
rational manner. It is not essential for Euripides to clarify whether 
Apollo's appeal is just or unjust. It is much more important for him to 
clarify how a person can bear the heavy burden of killing his mother and 
what changes take place in his mind against this background. Thus, it is 
possible to say that Euripides is a kind of paradigmatic author not only for 
the leaders of the post-classical drama, but also representatives of the 
genre, which is regarded for now as a priority of the 20th c. cinematogra-
phy. 
                                                 
13  Conacher D. J., Euripidean Drama: Myth, Theme and Structure, Toronto 1967, 234. 


"Orestes" by Euripides and Modern Conceptions of Thrillers

Berikashvili, Svetlana

Συντακτικά στοιχεία της αντιπαραβολικής ανάλυσης Ελληνικής και Γεωργιανής

Schmitt-Brandt, Robert

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011
Robert Schmitt-Brandt (Heidelberg)
BERGE, TÜRME UND TEMPEL IN ALTORIENTALISCHEN UND 
MEDITERRANEN KULTUREN
Bei der Suche nach Kultstätten der Vorgeschichte stellen wir fest, dass der 
Mensch sich als Orte der Verehrung der Überirdischen vorwiegend Plätze 
ausgesucht hat, die sich durch irgendeine Besonderheit von der sie 
umgebenden Landschaft abhoben. Dabei spielten, neben Quellen, Grotten 
und Höhlen, Berggipfel eine ganz besondere Rolle. Am stärksten 
beeindruckten den Menschen einzelne, mitten in der Ebene stehende 
Berge. Das typischste Beispiel ist der Ayers Rock im Outback Australiens, 
der religiöse Mittelpunkt der Aborigines. An zweiter Stelle steht der 
Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka, wo ein menschlicher Fußabdruck im Gestein je 
nach Glaubensgemeinschaft Adam oder Buddha zugeschrieben wird. Um 
all dies zu verstehen, müssen wir uns als erstes die Frage stellen, was den 
Menschen überhaupt bewog, an Götter, Geister und Dämonen zu glauben 
und warum er sie gerade an solchen Orten lokalisierte.
Als der Homo Sapiens auf Grund der Vergrößerung seines Gehirns die 
geistigen Fähigkeiten erwarb, mit deren Hiefe er die Eindrücke aus seiner 
Umwelt immer klarer differenzieren und ordnen konnte und als er lernte, 
sich einer Sprache zu bedienen, um zu kommunizieren und damit auch 
begann, abstrakt zu denken, versuchte er als erstes, die Welt zu verstehen, 
in der er lebte. Er begann – wie heute noch ein kleines Kind – zu fragen: 
"Warum fällt die Sonne nicht vom Himmel?", "Warum sind die Blumen 
von gestern verblüht?"
Er bemerkte, dass er klüger war, als die anderen Lebewesen um ihn, 
dass er aber mit anderen Menschenarten konkurrieren musste und dass es 
in der Natur Kräfte gab, die stärker waren als er. Er sah die Sonne am 
Horizont versinken und wenn er eine Nacht in Kälte und Dunkelheit 
verbracht hatte, erlebte er voller Freude, wie sie sich aus dem Meer oder 
Berge, Türme und Tempel in altorientalischen und mediterranen Kulturen 81
hinter den Bergen erneut erhob. Er fürchtete sich, wenn plötzlich grelle 
Blitze mit lautem Donner aus schwarzen Wolken zur Erde fuhren und 
gelegentlich einen hohen Baum trafen, der in Flammen aufging. Er 
erschrak, wenn es tief in der Erde grollte, wenn sie bebte und wenn die 
Berge Feuer spieen und ihr Rauch die Sonne verdunkelte. Dann suchte er 
unter Felsvorsprüngen und in Höhlen Schutz vor den Elementen und 
auch vor den großen Raubtieren, denen er in der Ebene hilflos ausgeliefert 
war. Und er suchte Erklärungen für das Geschehen in dieser Welt, in die 
er sich geworfen fühlte.
Bald hatte er gelernt, den Mond als Zeitmesser zu benutzen. Es 
dauerte sieben Tage, bis er sich halb gefüllt hatte, sieben weitere Tage zum 
Vollmond und danach wieder jeweils sieben Tage bis zum Halbmond der 
anderen Seite und zu seinem völligen Verschwinden. In den meisten indo-
europäischen Sprachen benutzt man für Mond bzw. Monat ein Wort, das 
sich von der Wurzel *mê- "messen" ableitet, z.B. lat. mêns, got. mênôt, 
altarmen. amis und russ. mesjaz. So wurde der Mond neben der Sonne zu 
einem wichtigen Bestandteil seiner geistigen Welt.
In der Natur unterschied er beseelte und unbeseelte Wesen. Alles was sich 
bewegte, Mensch und Tier, aber auch Sonne und Mond, Quellen und Flüsse 
und der bewölkte Himmel über ihm, gehörten für ihn zur beseelten Welt. 
Einige Sprachen haben Reste dieser Differenzierung noch lange erhalten, z.B. 
das Hethitische, andere unterschieden später noch zusätzlich zwischen 
männlich und weiblich, z.B. deutsch die Sonne und der Mond, griechisch 
umgekehrt ho hêlios und hê selênê. In allen Kräften der Natur sah er das Wirken 
von übermenschlichen Personen. Auch die großen Tierherden, Antilopen, 
Büffel und die gewaltigen Mammuts schienen einem Geist zu folgen, der 
ihnen den Weg wies. Alle diese Geister, die die Natur beherrschten, wollte er 
sich untertan machen. So malte er ihre Bilder an die Wände der Höhlen, die er 
bewohnte und später wurden einige dieser Höhlen zu Kultstätten, die er nur 
noch betrat, um diese Geister zu beschwören.
Ein ganz besonders enges Verhältnis hatte der nordeurasische Mensch 
zum Bär, der wie er in Berghöhlen hauste, ein gutmütiges Tier, das sich 
aber zu wehren wusste, wenn man ihm seinen Lebensraum streitig
machte. Der Teddybär ist vielleicht nicht zufällig das Lieblingsspielzeug 
unserer Kinder. Die Völker Sibiriens entschuldigten sich noch in 
historischer Zeit bei dem Geist des Bären, den sie erlegt hatten. Die Ainu 
auf Hokkaido und Sachalin haben diesen Geist vergöttlicht. Kamuy heißt 
bei ihnen noch heute "Bär" und "Gott". Für manche Völker war sein Name 
tabu. So nannten ihn die Germanen *bero "der Braune" und die Slaven 
*medu-êdu "Honig-esser".
Robert Schmitt-Brandt82
Die furchtbarste Erfahrung für den frühen Menschen war gewiss der 
Tod, der Tod seiner Eltern und älteren Verwandten und Sippengenossen, 
die er geliebt hatte und die plötzlich einschliefen, um nicht mehr 
aufzuwachen, die sich zersetzten und ein furchtbares Aussehen annah-
men, so dass man sie begrub und den Ort mit Steinen beschwerte oder sie 
gar verbrannte, weil man sie nun fürchtete. Bald bemerkte man, dass 
niemand diesem Schicksal entging, außer jenen Wesen, die jeden Tag neu 
und unverändert ihre Bahn am Himmel zogen, die das lebensspendende 
Wasser aus den Quellen strömen ließen, die die Flüsse lenkten und die 
Richtung des Windes bestimmten. Doch auch die Geister der Tiergattun-
gen starben nicht. So wählte sich mancher Stamm ein Totemtier als 
Schutzgeist. Man begann, zu den Überirdischen zu sprechen, um sie sich 
gewogen zu machen. Manche Menschen konnten das besser, als andere. 
Sie waren es, die die Bilder der Geister und Götter in den Höhlen an-
bringen ließen, die wir noch ganz frisch im Kakadu-Nationalpark in Nord-
australien besichtigen können. So war die Klasse der Priester geboren.
Sie sollten die Verbindung zu den Unsterblichen herstellen, nach ihren 
Wünschen fragen, die der Mensch erfüllen musste, um sie zu besänftigen. 
Da man sie sich als Übermenschen vorstellte, unterstellte man ihnen auch 
menschliche Wünsche und Begierden. So begann man, ihnen Opfer zu 
bringen, einen Teil der erlegten Tiere, aber auch Menschen, die ihnen im 
Jenseits dienen sollten, vor allem Frauen. Dies beweisen die 33 Schädel der 
Ofnethöhle bei Nördlingen, die man in konzentrischer Lage mit Blick nach 
Westen in großen Zeitabständen in einer Höhle abgelegt hatte, die man 
danach jeweils wieder verschloss. Es waren fast alles Frauen und Kinder, 
von denen man glaubte, sie würden der Sonne nach Westen folgen, um so 
die Unterwelt zu erreichen. An einer Höhlenwand findet sich sogar die 
Darstellung eines solchen Opfers, wo eine Frau und zwei Kinder neben ihr 
inmitten eines Raumes sitzen und von allen Seiten von Männern mit 
Pfeilen beschossen werden.
Vermutlich dienten die vielen Frauenstatuetten aus der Altsteinzeit, 
die man weit über ganz Europa verstreut gefunden hat, als Opferersatz 
für solche Frauen, die man gern behalten wollte, so wie die Griechen und 
Römer später nur einen kleinen Teil der geschlachteten Rinder und Schafe 
wirklich für die Götter verbrannten und den Rest lieber selber aßen. Einige 
dieser Statuetten sind mit gefesselten Händen dargestellt und einige 
weisen Brandspuren auf, d.h. man hatte sie statt lebender Frauen ins Feuer 
geworfen. 
Der wichtigste Gott war für viele Völker der Wettergott, der Gott mit 
dem tödlichen Blitzstrahl in der Hand. Seine Bedeutung wuchs noch, als 
Berge, Türme und Tempel in altorientalischen und mediterranen Kulturen 83
die Menschen den Ackerbau erfanden und noch abhängiger vom Wetter 
wurden als zuvor. Dieser in den himmlischen Gefilden waltende Gott 
musste, da man sich ja die Götter in menschlicher Gestalt vorstellte, einen 
festen Sitz haben. So dachte man sich ihn an einem möglichst hohen, 
möglichst himmelsnahen Ort, eben auf dem Gipfel oder zwischen den 
Gipfeln des höchsten Berges, den man kannte. Dies gilt für die Kassiten, 
Elamer, Churriter, Hatten und Hethiter und – wie wir sehen werden –
auch für die Griechen und ihre Vorgänger auf der ägäischen Halbinsel 
und auf den sie umgebenden Inseln.
Auch die Hebräer empfingen durch Moses auf dem Berge Sinai die 
Gebote Jahves, unter welchen dieser, ihr Stammesgott, an erster Stelle alle 
anderen Götter verdrängte. Über das Christentum und den Islam wurde 
dieser Gott Israels später zum einzigen Gott auch der großen 
Weltreligionen von heute.
Als die Sumerer um 3000 vor Christus sich im Schwemmland der 
Euphrat und Tigris niederließen und sich ihre Kultur über das ganze 
Zweistromland ausbreitete, entstanden auch inmitten der Städte, die sie 
gründeten, hohe Stufenpyramiden, auf denen sie ihren Göttern Tempel 
errichteten. Da es im Tiefland Mesopotamiens keine Berge gab, schufen 
die Menschen sich künstliche Berge. Sie verehrten den Himmelsgott AN, 
den Sonnengott UTU, die Mondgöttin NANA, die Kriegs- und 
Liebesgöttin INNANA und jede Stadt war einer dieser Gottheiten 
geweiht. Je mächtiger die Stadt wurde, desto höher stieg das Ansehen 
ihres Gottes. Als die Sumerer längst in den ostsemitischen Akkadern 
aufgegangen waren und Hammurabi im 17. Jh. v. Chr. die Stadt Babylon 
zur Hauptstadt seines Reiches machte, baute man immer noch diese 
Stufenpyramiden. So hatte diese Stadt zur Zeit der babylonischen 
Gefangenschaft der Juden einen Ziggurat, so nannte man diese 
Gebetstürme, von 100 m. Höhe, unterteilt in sechs Stufen, auf deren 
höchster der Tempel stand. Den Juden verdanken wir die Legende vom 
Turm von Babel, den die Menschen bauten, um den Himmel zu erreichen.
Jedes Jahr feierte man in diesem Tempel die "Heilige Hochzeit" zu 
Frühlingsbeginn, d.h. Die Wiederkehr des jugendlichen Gottes Dumuzu 
aus der Unterwelt, in die er den Winter über verbannt worden war und 
seine Vereinigung mit der Göttin der Liebe und Fruchtbarkeit. Die 
Gottheiten wurden bei diesem Fest von der Hohen Priesterin und dem 
König vertreten. Für sie wurde im Tempel die Liegestatt ausgebreitet. Ihr 
Beischlaf garantierte die Wiedergeburt der Natur. Auch bei anderen 
Völkern wurden um diese Jahreszeit Feste gefeiert, z.B. bei den Germanen 
das Fest der Frühlingsgöttin, altengl. "Eostrae", deutsch "Ostern". Im 
Robert Schmitt-Brandt84
ältesten uns erhaltenen Epos der Menschheit, dem Gilgamesh Epos wird 
das Schicksal des Königs von Uruk, Gilgamesch und sein Verhältnis zur 
Göttin INNANA, akkad. Ischtar geschildert. Auffällig ist in diesem Epos 
die negative Darstellung der Götter als wankelmütig, genusssüchtig, 
boshaft und unzuverlässig, während Gilgamesch, ein sterblicher 
Übermensch und sein Freund Enkidu, ein argloser und ihm treu erge-
bener Hominide äußerst sympathisch wirken. Gilgamesch ist zuverlässig, 
wahrheitsliebend und voller Tatandrang. Er möchte durch seine Taten 
unsterblich werden. Doch niemand versteht dieses Begehren.
Als Enkidu stirbt, ergreift ihn das Grauen vor dem Tod und er beginnt 
das Kraut zu suchen, aus dem man die Speisen der unsterblichen Götter 
bereitet. Er besucht Ut-Napischti, das sumerische Vorbild für den Noah 
des Alten Testaments, doch alles misslingt. Die Tragik des Menschen, der 
sich stets bemüht und doch keine Erlösung findet, weil die Mächte, die 
das Schicksal bestimmen, blind und taub sind für seine Gebete, findet hier 
zum ersten Mal seinen literarischen Ausdruck.
Die griechische Mythologie enthält einige wesentliche Paralellen zu 
der des Alten Orients. Es beginnt mit der Sintflut, vermutlich eine ferne 
Erinnerung an die Überschwemmungen am Ende der letzten Eiszeit, die 
auch den Durchbruch des Mittelmeeres zum Schwarzen Meer und dessen 
plötzlichen Anstieg bewirkt haben dürften. Deukalion und seine Frau 
Pyrrha entgehen ihr auf einem Schiff ganz wie Ut-Napischti, der biblische 
Noah, auf seiner Arche. Beide landen natürlich auf einem Berg, der 
Sumerer auf dem Ararat (5156 m.) in Armenien, persisch Kuh-i-Nukh 
"Berg des Noah", der Grieche auf dem Parnass, dem höchsten Berg 
Mittelgriechenlands in Phokis (2459 m.). Das Schiff des Deukalion hat 
Prometheus "der Vorsorgende" gebaut, derselbe, der den Menschen gegen 
den Willen der Götter das Feuer gebracht hatte. Dafür schmiedete ihn 
Zeus an einen Hang des Kaukasus, wieder ein Berg der Mythologie, 
unweit von Kolchis, woher Medea kam.
Die Vereinigung von Gott-König und Göttin der Fruchtbarkeit bei den 
Urgriechen ist an der Etymologie von Poseidon und Demeter abzulesen. 
Mykenisch hießen sie noch Poseidâôn und Dâmâtêr aus *Poti-gdâ- "Herr, 
Gemahl der Erde" und *gdâ-mâtêr "Erdmutter" (*gdâ-, phryg. Entsprechung 
zu gr. *khthô- "Erde" nach Heubeck). Zu jener Zeit war er der höchste Gott 
der Griechen, viel wichtiger als Zeus. Die Linear B Texte liefern einen 
weiteren Hinweis auf die Heilige Hochzeit bei den Frühgriechen, nämlich 
den Monatsnamen lekhestoreion zu lekhos "Lager" und stornyein "aus-
breiten", also die "Bereitung des Lagers".
Berge, Türme und Tempel in altorientalischen und mediterranen Kulturen 85
Die Implikationen dieses Fundes sind enorm. Denn so wird es möglich, 
die Frauen der homerischen Könige als Hohe Priesterinnen aufzufassen. 
Wäre Penelope nur die Witwe des Odysseus gewesen, hätte sie durch die 
Wahl eines Freiers zum Ehemann nicht den neuen König bestimmen 
können. War Helena die Hohe Priesterin in Sparta, die für die Fruchtbarkeit 
des Landes unverzichtbar war, so wäre ihr Raub ein verständliches Motiv 
für den trojanischen Krieg. Übrigens war es schon in Babylon möglich, dass 
die Hohe Priesterin auch zur Ehefrau des Königs wird und ebenso in 
Ägypten die Frau des Pharao zugleich als Hohe Priesterin agiert.
Ein griechisches Gegenstück zu Gilgamesch dürfte Herakles darstellen, 
auch ein sterblicher Halbgott, den die Götter allerdings letztlich doch in 
den Olymp aufnahmen, als er auf dem Gipfel des Oita-Gebirges verbrannt 
wurde. Da man keine Knochen von ihm auf dem Scheiterhaufen fand, 
nahm man an, er sei körperlich in den Götterhimmel aufgestiegen. Er war 
es gewesen, der Prometheus befreit hatte, den Zeus an einen Gipfel des
Kaukasus schmiedete, weil er den Menschen das Feuer gebracht hatte.
Unter dem Kaukasus lag auch die Werkstatt des Hephaistos, des klugen, 
göttlichen Schmieds und Ehemanns der Aphrodite, eine frühe Verbindung 
von Schönheit und Geist. Gewiss ist auch die Aphrodite neben Demeter, 
Hekabe und anderen eine lokale Variante der Göttin der Fruchtbarkeit. 
Eine mögliche Etymologie bietet die Herleitung aus einer Entsprechung 
von etruskisch purth, ephrti "Herrin" und dem Bergnamen Ida (bei Troja 
und auf Kreta) oder auch *dâ "Erde"(?).
Der Parnass, wo Deukalion landete, schaut hinab auf ein Heiligtum, 
nämlich das Haus der Pythia in Delphi, durch welche Apollo den 
Fragenden rätselhafte Auskünfte über ihre Zukunft erteilen ließ. Auch 
hier ist die Etymologie vielsagend: Es handelt sich um eine luwische 
Adjektivbildung zu parna- "Haus", d.h. Parnassos bedeutet "zum Haus 
gehörig". Die Ausgrabungen in Theben ergaben, dass die mykenischen 
Griechen schon im 16. Jh. v.Chr. das Wort für "Haus", gr. woikos, im Sinne 
von "Gotteshaus" benutzten. Der Name des Bergs bezieht sich also auf den 
Tempel des Apollo, wo Pythia weissagte. Luwisch ist eine anatolische 
Sprache, die höchstwahrscheinlich auch in Troja gesprochen wurde, 
worauf ein Siegel in dieser Sprache hinweist, das der Tübinger Archäologe 
Manfred Korfmann in Troja fand.
Den wichtigsten Götterberg der Antike habe ich mir bis zum Ende 
aufgehoben, den Olymp nämlich (2985 m.), auf dem Zeus und die ganze 
Götterfamilie residierte. Einen Olymp gibt es auch in Zypern, wohl von 
den Achäern so genannt, die nach dem Untergang der mykenischen 
Kultur dorthin geflüchtet sind. Einen weiteren Olymp gibt es in Elis auf 
Robert Schmitt-Brandt86
der Peloponnes und hier liegt im Tal darunter Olympia, wo die Griechen 
Zeus mit ihren sportlichen Wettkämpfen verehrten.
Zeus, nach der Sage in einer versteckten Höhle auf dem Berg Ida (2456 
m.) in Kreta geboren, wurde offenbar in früher Zeit als Wettergott verehrt. 
Nur so erklärt sich der Blitz in seiner Hand, den er auf seine Feinde 
schleudert. Auch seine Vorliebe für hohe Berge spricht dafür. Schließlich 
wurde er nicht nur auf dem Olymp verehrt, sondern auch auf dem Ida, 
dem Lykaion bei Athen, dem Onos auf Aigina und dem Aenosgebirge auf 
Kephalenia. War der thrakische Zeus mit dem griechischen identisch, so 
müssen wir auch den Athos hinzuzählen, den Berg der heutigen 
Mönchsrepublik, wo eine große Statue von ihm stand.
Nach dem Zeugnis seiner Etymologie war Zeus bei den Indoeuropäern 
ein Licht- oder Himmelsgott wie der sumerische AN. Sein Name wird im 
Altindischen als Dyâus-pitâ und Altlateinischen zu Diêspater erweitert, 
woraus später im Vokativ Juppiter wurde. Das Wort *pater bedeutete 
ursprünglich "Schützer, Hüter, Ernährer, Herr" und war wohl die 
Bezeichnung für den Sippenältesten. *Diêus ist von einem Verbum *diu-
"leuchten" abgeleitet. Im Lateinischen wurde daraus diês "Tag".
Bei den Germanen wurde er zum Kriegsgott, vgl. engl. Tuesday, "der Tag 
des Tîw" als Übersetzung von lat. Martis diês. Später wurde er in dieser 
Funktion von Wodan, deutsch Wotan, nordgerm. Odin abgelöst, der als rasen-
der Reiter durch die Lüfte jagte. Deshalb hat man ihn mit Merkur verglichen, 
engl. Wednesday = Mercuris diês. Die alte Rolle des Tîw, also Juppiter, über-
nahm offenbar Thor, der nun den Blitz führte, vgl. Thursday für Jovis diês. 
Auch die Häuser der Aristokraten standen im mykenischen 
Griechenland auf einer Anhöhe, sie bildeten also die Polis, die wir für jene 
Zeit als Burg übersetzen können, um die sich unten der Wohnbereich des 
Volkes, damals wastu (später asty) genannt, ausbreitete. Dies gilt auch für 
Troja, wie die letzten Ausgrabungen von Korfmann ergeben haben. Was 
Homer noch für die Mauern eines griechischen Schiffslagers hielt, erwies 
sich jetzt als ein Teil der Stadtmauern von Troja, das um vieles größer war, 
als die Burg, die man bisher für ganz Troja hielt.
Ein Bruch in dieser Tradition trat ein, als die Etrusker Rom gründeten. 
Die sieben Hügel erhielten ein Zentrum im sumpfigen Tal des Tiber 
zwischen ihnen, wo sie den Sumpf durch die Cloaca maxima trocken 
legten. Zwar hielten sich auf den Hügeln noch lange die Tempel der dort 
verehrten Götter, doch die neuen Tempel standen im Forum, im Zentrum 
der neuen Stadt.
Dies war der Anfang vom Ende der Mythen von den Göttern auf den
Gipfeln der Berge. 


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