From: João S. Lopes Filho
Message: 10625
Date: 2001-10-26
----- Original Message -----
From: george knysh <gknysh@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 7:06 PM
Subject: [tied] Targitaos, "father of all Scythians"
> First of all let me say that I have no idea about the
> etymology of this name. Perhaps someone can take a
> crack at it. But here is why I think Abaev was wrong
> in trying to understand it via Iranic . There are two
> similar names found in, respectively, Pontic
> Indo-Aryan (=TIRGATAO) and Mitannian Indo-Aryan
> (=TIRGUTAWYIA) {for details see Cyril Babaev's article
> on Indo-Aryan}. In In/Ar the names are female. So
> TARGITAUS would be the metathesised and hellenized
> male version. If you focus your search engines on
> "TIRGATA" you will discover a few sites with
> information that is at least grosso modo reliable on
> this issue. TIRGATA was a Syrian Fish-Goddess, with
> important temples in the Middle East (including
> Philistia). She was the Goddess of Love and Fertility.
> Her Philistine name was DERKETO (she was DAGON's
> consort=he of Biblical fame), and the Greeks knew her
> as ATARGATIS or APHRODITE URANIA. TIRGATA was serviced
> by a eunuch priesthood in Syria. She was later
> imported into Rome and entered the Pantheon there as
> "DEA SYRIA".== Now the Royal Scythians, near the end
> of their military adventures in the Middle East as
> associates of the Assyrians, are reputed to have
> plundered the Temple of Aphrodite Urania (Derketo) at
> Ashkelon. The "punishment" for this was the presence
> among them of a class of soothsayers called "Enarees"
> by Herodotus, afflicted with "the female disease"
> (most interpreters see this as simple impotence, and
> point to Hippocrates' view that many Scythians
> suffered from this later in life because of their
> horsemanship). Aphrodite Urania is listed by Herodotus
> among the Scythians deities, but not much more is said
> about her position in the assembly of Gods and
> Goddesses. Now back to DERKETO. This Fish-Goddess is
> described as being a mermaid (top human, bottom fish:
> see Marc Chagall's portrait on one of the TIRGATA
> websites as you surf). At this point we discover a
> clear link to the Scythian Foundation Legends, even if
> it's not quite what we expect. The Scythian version
> has TARGITAUS born of the union of Zeus with "a
> daughter of the river Borysthenes". The daughter is
> not named, and is not described. We get information
> about Targitaos, her son, and then about the three
> Kings who issued from him, the youngest being the
> ancestor of the Royal Scythians. The Greek Pontic
> version of the Legend though, has an additional point.
> Here the father of the father of all Scythians is not
> Zeus but Herakles. But the mother of SKUTHES (who is
> the TARGITAOS of this version) is described as a
> "viper-maiden": half human (top) half snake (bottom).
> And we know from archaeological discoveries that the
> Scythians actually honoured this entity (we have a
> vase from a Royal tomb where she is depicted and other
> indicators). Putting it all together we have what
> looks like a very viable hypothesis: the nameless
> "daughter of the river" or "viper-maiden" is the
> Scythian equivalent of Ahrodite Urania or Derketo
> (whom they brought back, changed a bit, and
> incorporated into their Foundation legend as the
> mother of TARGITAOS. Which suggests that her old name
> was retained). If the Scythians are "descendants of
> Venus" in their self-image then her role in their
> society would have been much more important than
> Herodotus' story allows. This is one of those areas
> where I find him in need of some correction. But
> perhaps his version is due to the nature of the report
> that he received. Here we can only guess at who might
> have been his informant. Perhaps it was someone not
> very positively inclined towards the Scythian
> priesthood of Aphrodite. Herodotus mentions one
> "Timnes steward of Ariarantes". Now if Timnes was his
> informant then either he was an "assistant" steward or
> else he was a fugitive, since stewards of dead Kings
> were expected to follow their masters into the
> afterlife. Of course Herodotus' source could have been
> someone else. In any case there is sufficient material
> here to make us pause in the attempt to etymologize
> "TARGITAUS" from the Iranic. BTW the Goddess DERKETO
> also had a Hittite name: she was called TARKHU.
> Perhaps she was originally Hurrian?==And one more
> thing. Herodotus notes that the Royal Scythians (and
> only they) worship Poseidon. They called him
> THAGIMASADAS. Any etymologies? (Cf. the apparently
> related Scythian royal name OCTAMASADES). Is there any
> possibility that this THAGIMASADAS could have been
> DAGON? Doesn't affect the earlier reconstruction but
> would be intriguing.
>
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