Underlying "translatio Romana" was the
belief that all religions and cults were au fond identical, so that it
was natural and necessary to establish one-to-one correspondences between the
gods _and_ mythological figures known to the Romans from their own cultural
centre and whatever the Germani believed in. Those correspondences were
typological (analogous), not historical (homologous) from our point of view, but
the Romans took them seriously. I'm sure Tacitus really thought that Tiu, once
an important war-god, was the Germanic name for Mars (or Ares), and that it was
therefore legitimate to say that the Germani worshipped Mars. A bearded giant
with a huge hammer or club, with which he killed evil mosters, protecting
the order of the universe, was "obviously" Hercules/Herakles even if the Germani
called him Thunar. The alternative identification with Jupiter (and Zeus)
emphasised the association of Thunar and Jupiter with lightning. Show me one
Germanic cultural hero named Eril/Erul/Erl. The word is a common noun or a
tribal name. We would have derivatives instead ("Herculean(s)" rather than
"Hercules") if an eponymous hero had come first.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 9:26 AM
Subject: [tied] Re: I, Hercules [was: A "Germanic"
query]
What an excellent idea! No, but seriously, Hercules is
not really a
god, but a cultural hero, therefore your criticism doesn't
apply.