Re: Greek Gods I : APOLLO

Cort

I think the Cattle Raid of Hermes is a myth about change, lunar
eclipses and seasonal. Here Hermes plays the part of the underworld
god. The bovines are lunar cattle that pull the cart that the moon
and/or sun god drives. It seems that Initially, the myth was about
the IE deity Silen-os. This is a name that can mean both moon and
sun, as in solar. Later Silenos is reduced in status, while remaining
the myth's main action figure. As the Apollon deity usurped Silenos
by the time the myth was recorded, the former was simply inserted
into the cattle raid story to explain why he also was a god of music.

This appears to be a primeval IE myth with Hemes the god of death and
winter, and Silenos a fertility god. Whats interesting about this
myth is that Hemes and Silenos have attributes also found in Lugh,
Angus, Belenos, Ing, and Frey. This suggests that each deity within
this later group represent the condensation or composite of several
earlier forms.


JS Crary