Joao:
> I would include Akhiles (son of a sea-nymph). .
Mark O:
>Achilles does indeed seem to have some motifs associated with >the 'child
>of the waters'. He stands before the water and importunes >his divine
>parent, and receives a 'garment' from her (in this case, a >wonderful set
>of new armor). And yes, he is presented as the greatest >of the heros.
>Theseus gets a garment too. In the Odyssey, whenever >Odysseus takes a
>bath, the goddess or her representative is almost >always present, and
>Odysseus gets a garment.
Hmm, Achilles is definitely a composite character... but of what exactly?
Since Achilles is a warrior all decked up in armor, it makes sense that
underneath it all, there is an element of the Underworld in him. The
Underworld is associated with the warrior caste and water.
On the other hand, could it be possible that the "vulnerable heel" story,
that comes along with the Achilles package, was originally related to *Yemos
and *Manus, the Horse Twins? The way this scenario would go is the
following:
The Sun Maiden gives birth to Man and Twin. Man is a hunter and Twin is a
gatherer (cf. Cain/Abel). After their birth, the Sun Maiden being a
protective mother implores all living creatures not to harm them. What she
doesn't take into account however is Man's own jealousy of Twin. Although
the two were protected from everything else, they weren't protected from
each other. Thus Twin (cf. Achilles) gets killed off by something ironic and
unconsiderable - in this case, his own twin brother. So Man kills Twin with
an arrow and Twin lies dead, becoming the earth and god of the dead. Because
of Man's devilish act, Man and his offspring are sentenced by the gods to
live limited mortal lives on earth telling silly little stories about gods
that never existed. The End.
Does everyone like that little story? :) In this case, Achilles might have a
bit of Underworld/Warrior in him but he may also have a bit of "Man" in him
as well. Hell, I'm starting to think that this so-called *Tritos (Indic
Trita Aptya) doesn't really exist in IE mythos. Perhaps he's in reality
*(Xeryo-)Manus, our great ancestor who after his naughty little homocide,
was forced or felt compelled to do "community service" in order to re-attain
immortality (cf Heracles).
- gLeN
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