Re: [cybalist] Eri-danus

----- Original Message -----
From: Manuel Rosario <indoeuropean@...>
To: <cybalist@egroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 03 May, 2000 12:58 AM
Subject: [cybalist] Eri-danus


> Hi:
> Can the word Eridanus be analysed as *eri- *danu- and thus be generated
from
> the ancient contacts between Greeks and Celts (cf. Erin)?. In addition,
its
> snake mythological imaging can come from some serpent-like river in East
> Europe LowLands.
> Hope someone makes it clear,
> Manuel

I would have thought that any Celtic-Greek hybrids, or purely Celtic origins
as proposed by Chris, would be unlikely due to the lateness (mid 1st
millennium) of the kind of contacts that would be required between Celts and
Greeks.
Most Greek myths seem to date back to the Bronze Age (mid/late 2nd
millennium), when, I believe (along with Herodotos) that the major cultural
influences on the Greeks came from Egypt and the Middle East. So proceeding
along these lines, and to summarise from my posting of 1st. May, I propose :

1. dan/danu/don etc. from Semitic roots found in /dane-ki/, attested from
mid 3rd millennium Mesopotamia, signifying "far west", and /dny/ attested
in mod.Arabic /dunya/ "lower world".
Thus /dan/ etc. as a river, would originally refer to the great River of
Okeanos
(another Semitic word BTW), identified with Atlantikos, which was also seen
as a great serpent.
2. /eri-/ from a Semitic root /Hrr/ (the H stands for the laryngeal h),
"burn, scorch".
Thus Eridanos would refer to the western ocean turning to fire at sunset.
3. Phaeton, perhaps from Egyptian /p3 'tn/, (Aten/Aton), the solar disc, an
aspect of Ra or Horus, or even /p3 tm/, the evening sun.
Phaeton, as the son of Helios, could perhaps also be seen as Horus,
grandson of Ra by Osiris, who is reputed in Egyptian myth as having tried to
take the place of Ra. His major myth is also of his battle with the serpent
Apep/Typhon/Set. Apep is also the serpent who tries to prevent the passage
of Ra through the underworld at night.

Cheers
Dennis