Re: Etruscan related to proto-indo-european? Is Linear A Luwian?

May I disagree?

Tales was born in Miletus - Millawanda. Heraklitus is from Ephesos, Apasa, and was himself a Heraclid. And so on. I dont think that the Hittite substratum was only of scant import to the beginnings of philosophy; looks quite unlikely to me.

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "G&P" <G.and.P@...> wrote:
>
> > how much of the Hittite cultural aspects has been carried into Greek
> thought?
>
> The timing is somewhat against that idea, though not totally. The Hittite
> empire comes to an abrupt end around 1200BC, as Greece enters a cultural
> dark age, when much of the previous cultural and social structures,
> including writing, were lost. Greece emerges from this in the 8th century.
> Partly that is due to the re-establishment of trade and influence from the
> middle east. (There is even a style of pottery called "orientalising".) It
> is not clear precisely which Eastern cultural group was the source of this
> influence. The Phoenicians are a strong candidate, certainly for
> transmitting it. But the Hittites disappeared 400-500 years earlier.
>
> There are two possible sources of influence though. One is contact between
> Mycenae and the Hittites. It is at least possible that some Hittite ideas
> could have been picked up, and might have been transmitted within Greece for
> 400 years. I don't know of any evidence for this though. Secondly, we know
> that there was strong contact between Greece and other Anatolian groups,
> such as the Carians and Lycians and Lydians, some of whom might have
> conveyed some Hittite ideas into Greece - possibly.
>
> So the simple answer is "probably not very much, if any".
>
> Peter
>