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proto-indo instead of pro...

This hypothetical religion would have been the ancestor of the majority of the religions of pre-Christian Europe, of the Dharmic religions in India, and of Zoroastrianism in Iran.

Indications of the existence of this ancestral religion can be detected in commonalities between languages and religious customs of Indo-European peoples.

The Proto-Indo-Europeans may have distinguished between different races of gods, like the Aesir, and Vanir of Norse mythology and the Titans and Olympians of Greek mythology. Possibly, these were the *Deiw-o-, literally "celestial, those of the sky/daylight" (Deva, Daimon, ablaut variant *Dyēus) and the *Ansu-, literally "spirits, those with vital force" (Aesir, Asura, Ahura, see Aesir-Asura correspondence).


Widely accepted deities
*Dyēus Ph2ter is believed to have been the original name of the god of the daylit sky and the chief god of the Indo-European pantheon. He survives in Greek Zeus (genitive case Diòs), Latin Jupiter, Sanskrit Dyaus/Dyaus Pita, Baltic Dievas, Germanic Tiwaz (ON Tyr, OHG Ziu), Armenian Astwatz, and the Gaulish Dispater (c.f. also deus pater in the Vulgate, e. g. Jude 1:1).
*Plth2wih2 Mh2ter (Dg'hōm) is believed to have been the name of an Earth Mother goddess, see Prthivi. Another name of the Indo-European Mother-Earth would be *Dhghom Mater, as in Albanian Dhe Motë, Avestan Zamyat, Slavic Mati Zemlja, Lithuanian Žemyna, Latvian Zemes Mate, Greek Demeter.
A thunder god, possibly associated with the oak, and in some traditions syncretized with Dyeus. A name *Perkwunos root *per-kw- or *per-g- is suggested by Balto-Slavic *Perkúnos, Norse Fjörgyn, Albanian Perëndi and Vedic Parjanya. An onomatopoeic root *tar is continued in Gaulish Taranis and Hittite Tarhunt. A word for "thunder" itself was *(s)tene-, continued in Germanic *Þunraz (thunder personified), and became Thor.
*H2ausos is believed to have been the goddess of dawn, continued in Greek mythology as Eos, in Rome as Aurora, in Vedic as Ushas, in Lithuanian mythology as Aušra or Auštaras, in Armenian as Astghik and possibly also in Germanic mythology as Eastre.

Additional gods may include:

Greek Poseidon was originally a chthonic god, either a god of the earth or the underworld, from poti daon "lord of Da", cf. Demeter from Da mater "Mother Da". Another etymology may be proposed, *don referring to "the waters", as the Vedic goddess of the rivers, Danu, who shares a name with the Celtic mother god. Poseidon being "the master of the waters", more conform to the functions of a god of the sea (and possibly also the supposed celestial ocean or watery abyss).
*Welnos, maybe a god of the night sky, or of the underworld, continued in Sanskrit Varuna, Greek Uranos (which is also a word for sky), Slavic Veles, Armenian Aray and Lithuanian Velnias.
Divine twins, brothers of the Sun Maiden or Dawn goddess, sons of the Sky god.
There may have been a sea-god, in Persian and Vedic known as Apam Napat, in Celtic as Nechtan, in Etruscan as Nethuns, in Germanic as Njord and in Latin as Neptune, possibly called *Néptonos. [2] This god may be related to the Germanic water spirit, the Nix.
The Sun, *Sawel, and the Moon *Menot/Men- deities, possibly twin children of the supreme sky-god *Dyeus, continued in Hindu religion as Surya and Mas, in Iranian religion as Hvar and Mah, in Greek as Helios and Selene (these were later pushed out by imported Anatolian deities Apollo and Artemis), in Latin mythology as Sol and Luna, in German mythology as Sol and Mani, in Baltic mythology as *Saulē and *Mēnō. The usual scheme is that one of these celestial deities is male and the other female, though the exact gender of the Sun or Moon tend to vary among subsequent Indo-European mythologies.

2007-07-10 11:43:05 · answer #1 · answered by phrog 7 · 0 1

Perhaps http://www.godchecker.com can help you.

2007-07-10 11:10:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

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