Re: [tied] Beekes and IE divinities.

From: Mark Odegard
Message: 4290
Date: 2000-10-12

Actually, I've not come across a specific reconstructed name for the Earth Goddess, but would seem to be linguistically related to Slavic Mati Syra Zemlja, Latvian Zemes Mate, Phrygian and and Thracian Semele. 'Eartha', 'Erda' might be the best English rendition.
 
Besides *Haeusos (Dawn), another named goddess is said to be *seren(i)uHxs, which shows up in Greek as Erinys (the Furies), and in Old Indic as Saranyu, a Vedic goddess.
 
It has been suggested that Helen is the Greek reflex of a genuine IE goddess, the sun-maiden.
 
All of this is cribbed from Miriam Robins Dexter's articles in EIEC.
 
Mark.
----- Original Message -----
From: João Simões Lopes Filho
To: cybalist@egroups.com
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 10:08 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] Beekes and IE divinities.

What's the name reconstructed for Mather Moist Earth?
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 2:08 AM
Subject: [tied] Beekes and IE divinities.

I've been skimming through Beekes' book again (Comparative Indo-European Linguistics). On p. 39, he flat out states: "there is only one name of an Indo-European god which we know".
 
This is Day-Sky-Father, Zeus, etc, of course.  He dismisses a relationship between Varuna-Ouranos as untenable.
 
His statement, however, is contradicted by others. We do know the name of Dawn: EIEC gives as *Haeusos. Something in the way of a name is also reconstructed for Moist Mother Earth.
 
Beekes does have his idiosyncracies. He also flatly states that PIE lacked [a]. I think we are expected to humor the great man.
 
Mark.