Re: Boiotia < *bhoi- ?

> My hypothesis is that the Bryges and Boiotians were early Celtic
> tribes. The Boiotians were part of the same historic Celtic tribe
> known as the Boii in Bohemia (named after them), and both

Transalpine

> and Cisalpine Gaul. Their name means "cattle",

Uhh...no it doesn't. This is the problem with people coming up with
their own etymologies based on incomplete knowledge of a language
family. Boii comes from a root meaning "strike/beat" (Gaulish bogio-
/boio-, with loss of internal -g-, as in *cagion, which gives Late
Gaulish caio).

> though this may have also been for their tutelary goddess who was
> also the eponymous goddess of the river Boyne in Ireland.

That makes no sense - let's say that a certain tribe _did_ contain
the root Bou- "cow" - that does not at all mean that they were
dedicants of the Irish goddess (she is not found elsewhere, btw)
Bouinda "white cow" - the name could simply mean that the tribe was
famous for its cattle-raising abilities.

> The Bryges lived on in Celtic Europe of the as the Brigantes of
> Britain and the Brigantii of southern Germany, and probably, I

think,

> of the Roman town of Brigetio on the middle Danube. Their eponymous
> goddess was known to the Gauls, and lives on today as the Irish

Saint

> Brigit.

More ridiculousness. You _cannot_ postulate connections between
disparate tribes based simply on superficial similarities in name.
The Brigantes of Britain and the Brigantii of Gaul _might_ have a
distant connection - but they certainly have no connection whatsoever
to the Bryges.

> Mythology also shows a connection. Firstly is the myth of the
> Calydonian Boar Hunt, which has an exact parallel in Welsh myth.

Even

> some of the names are similar,
> and the details of the story are too
> close to be coincidental (IMO).

Which names woud those be?

> Also, Cadmus, the founder of Thebes,
> could have a Celtic name, translating roughly as 'War Leader', as I
> recall.

I assume you thinking of Modern Welsh cad "battle". If you actually
knew something of historical Celtic linguistics, however, you would
realize that the old Gallo-Brittonic form was catu-, thus is
completely unrelated to Cadmus.

> Okay, feel free to shoot me down. :-)

Consider yourself shot.

- Chris Gwinn