João wrote:
> OK, but Zeus was helped by Metis. And if Metis and Athena were the
same
> goddess splitted into two? Maybe we had originally a couple Zeus
and a
> goddess (let's call her Metis-Athena). The trait of Athena's birth
from
> Zeus's head may be linked with the birth of many deities from
Kumarbish (cf.
> Dionysos from Zeus's thigh, Aphrodite from Ouranos's semen).
The birth of deities from a man obviously brings to mind the birth of
Eve from Adam's rib. Eve, Hebrew He Vau He, is supposed to mean
the "mother of all living". It seems that she was linked to the
early minor Syrian Goddess by the same name.
Ironically, in the story of Enki and Ninhursag, found at Nippur and
dated to well before 2,000 BCE, there is mention in Sumerian of
the "Mother of All Living" - Ninti, this time born in the normal
fashion after Enki and her mother make love. Surprisingly "Ninti"
happens to be a Sumerian pun - her name also means "Lady Rib".
This pun is not found in Akkadian, nor is it found in Hebrew. There
is little doubt therefore that the story of Eve was originally from a
Sumerian source, where the pun made sense. But Sumerian at the time
of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews was a literary language only.
(Need I say, once again to Glen, another Sumerian source).
Back to Metis, I have heard that Metis as a helper to Zeus (or
perhaps as a woman ingested by Zeus) is a comparatively late addition
(Was it Kerenyi who made this speculation, or was it Graves, I cannot
remember which, or indeed if it was another (Greuber perhaps)) to the
story of Athena bursting forth from Zeus's head, fully armed. But
then again, the arming of Athena itself seems to be post Mycenaean.
The Great Mycenaean Goddess Athanai Potnia, was not, like Pallas
Athene, a Goddess of War. Could this be an atribute that came in
Post Mycenaean times from a Cyprian or Ugaritic source?
Does anyone know the origin of the epithet Pallas? Is this related
to Plst (Peleset, the Egyptian for Philistine - i.e. worshippers of a
Goddess, transliterated into Semitic as Pallasat?) Or is it related
to Pelasgian (about which we have had much discussion on the list)?
Hope this helps.
Regards
John