Child of Waters

From: João Simões Lopes Filho
Message: 3710
Date: 2000-09-14

Let's gather the elements of Child of Waters:
1- underwater deity
2- fire and/or shine (perhaps some kind of fuel or oil)
3- horse
4- gold
5- three ladies or nymphs
6- sacred lake or well (becoming sea in some people)
7- Attack: Flood and Mutilations
8- Weapons as gifts?

So:
Poseidaon 1-3-4-5?-6-7
Hephaistos 1-2-4-5?
Nereus/Proteus 1-2-4?-6
Aegir 1-2-4-5?-6-7
Apam Napat 1-2-3-4-5-6-7
Mimir 1?-6-7
Nechtan 1-2-5?-6-7
Neptunus 1-2?-6-7

Any more?
Joao SL
Rio
----- Original Message -----
From: John Croft <jdcroft@...>
To: <cybalist@egroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 10:32 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: Religion


>
> Christopher wrote in relation to
>
> > >The 'child of the water' myth is obscure. The Greek reflex is
> Theseus
> > >plunging into the sea to recover a ring, then being escorted to
> the court
> > >of Amphitrite. Vergil, in one of his Georgics, the one about
> Aristeus,
> > >also preserves elements of this. There are reflexes in Avestan and
> > >Sankrit. It also seems to come part-and-parcel with a 'fire in
> water'
> > >myth. Whatever it means, it would seem to be of PIE status.
> >
> > This is interesting to me, for Theseus also has a myth where he
> recovers his
> > father's sword from underneath a stone. This is a rare motif which
> seems
> > close to King Arthur's removal of the sword in the stone. Arthur
> shares
> > certain other characteristics which link him to some Celtic
> Apollonic gods
> > (Irish Fraoch, for instance) that were closely associated with the
> waters.
> > It would be very interesting if we could add Arthur to the list of
> PIE
> > "child of the waters" types.
>
> The recovery of sacred objects beneath the waters all appear to stem
> from a Sumerian source. I would refer you to the Epic of Gilgamesh
> in which Utunapishtim informs Gilgamesh that the flower of
> immortality blooms beneath the waters. There is a description of how
> the hero ties boulders around his ankles to retreive the blossom,
> that seems to have been the source for later myths such as that of
> Theseus.
>
> There is also a link between the mythic descent to the underword and
> the descent into water, as a symbol of the unconscious realm of
> dreams and the imagination. I would strongly suggest people check
> out Joseph Campbell's "Hero of a Thousand Names" here.
>
> Regards
>
> John
>
>
>
>