Child of the Waters: An IE myth.

There is an IE myth which Edgar Polome calls "Fire in Water" (EIEC, p. 204). Others call it the 'Child of the Waters', or more exactly, «Grandson/Nephew of the Water Deities». It shows up in Celtic, Indic, Iranian, Greek and perhaps Latin.

The magic words here are Avestan/Old Indic « Apam Napat ». Napat is a reflex of PIE *nepot, 'grandson', 'nephew'. Apam is the genitive plural of Avestan/Old Indic, 'of the waters'. Here, the waters are regarded as minor divinities, rather like that Aquatic Andrews Sisters act, the Rhine Maidens.

Polome reduces the myth to this nutshell:

The structure of the reconstituted myth then points to a firey deity resident in water whose powers must be ritually controlled or gained by a figure qualified to approach it. [p. 204]

This is fine, as as far as it goes. More deeply, it seems to involve a nationalistic hero who who defeats someone who has improperly exercised kingly/juridical/military power over the folk, sometimes by returning a talisman of power to its proper custodian (the Waters), or receiving a talismen or endorsement from the divine ladies of the Waters.

Bruce Louden does a major analysis of this myth in the Journal of Indo-European Studies (27:1&2, Spring Summer 1999), identifying Theseus as Child of the Waters, using Bacchylides' 17th ode as his basis, but also with reference to Vergil's 4th Georgic, to Rig-Veda (2:35), and to the Avesta (Yast 19).

In the case of Theseus, we have Minos tossing a ring into the sea, challenging Theseus to return it. Theseus dives into the sea, and is escorted to the court of Amphitrite, consort of Poseidon. The ring is thereafter unmentioned. Theseus is wrapped in a cloak; the idea seems to be that the hair of the nereids make up the cloak, and this hair is actually a metaphor for the waves of streams. Theseus's putative father, Poseidon, is never present, and, interestingly, is specifically referred to not by name but by epithet, as ippiou, 'equine'.

In the 4th Georgic, we have the god Aristaeus speaking down a spring to his mother, the water-nymph Cyrene, more or less asking for firey water. He is safely brought down into the watery depths.

The Celtic reflex involves Nechtan and his wife Boand. There is a magic firey well, which Boand attempts to approach, only to be thrice-fold mutilated, and transformed into the River Boyne.

The myth is said to be most fully developed in the Avesta. There is

xvar@..., the firey essence of kingship, with the god Apam Napat places in Lake Vourukasa for safe-keeping. Only a member of the airya (Aryan) may gain the xvar@..., and the tale recounts how a non-Aryan Franrasyan dived into the lake three times to recover the reward while the xvar@... fled [EIEC, p. 204]

Polome says "the Indic reflex is devoid of narrative myth" [ibid]. Louden agrees, saying it

does not narrate a specific myth, but offers a definitive portrait of the Vedic Apam Napat, and some of the dominent motifs associated with him. He is a youth, whose abode is in the waters; he shines or glows like fire in the water, and is attended and surrounded by the Waters, a band of female deities, who flow about him as swift streams, themselves clothed in robes. [p. 58]

Attempts have been made to make 'Neptune' (the Roman god) a reflex of *nepots. There are apparently difficulties in doing so, but making Neptune the Grandson of the Waters is highly attractive. It lets you consider an earlier, reconstructed version of Poseidon (probably under a different name, perhaps as a Steppe horse god) in a similar light, where his grandson now does the deeds.

These are my own thoughts -- speculations really. I'm just thinking out loud, and am fishing for further information, further insights.

The association of fire and water is not peculiar to IE. The ability of flaming oil to float on water is also a universally noted phenomenon. In an IE context, one does think of seeping, ignited petroleum floating on the surface of the Caspian

Sea, something at least the Iranians, and probably proto-Indo-Iranians were familiar with; a myth would easily diffuse westward.

There is also the metaphoric description of the appearance of a stream as the wind-tossed, sun-tinged hair of a water-maiden. This too can be considered a universal association. In an IE context, and specifically, in the context of the steppe, additional factors come in. The legitimate leader of a nomadic folk should be good at knowing where water is to be found, and in what season.

Theseus returns Minos' ring to its rightful owners. Wagner's Rhine Maidens reclaim the Nibelung's ring from the fire and water of Goetterdaemmerung.

The myth is entwined with notions of legitimacy of leadership. There also may be some hints of an earlier (?shamanistic) cosmological scheme. There are also possible parallels in the Kalavela where Whatshisname gets/crafts the magical talisman (a mill?) that brings good things to the folk.

I'll probably be returning to this subject. It's fascinating. Does anyone have further information. I hope I've not muddled up Louden's and Polome's views too much.

Mark.