"'The Romans thought Donar, whom the Scandinavians called Thor, must be the same as Jupiter, because he ruled over weather; but to the Goths, he was a son of Tiwaz. Likewise for Wodan, whom the Romans identified with Mercury.'" (p. 389)
And, in the new Thor film, Thor says that he had admired and learned from Zeus! Thursday is Jeudi in French. Wednesday is Mercredi. Tuesday is Mardi in French and De Mairt in Irish. The identification of Wodan with Mercury seems odd. However, Wodan is:
"'...the Wanderer. That's why the Romans thought he must be Mercury under a different name, same as they thought the Greek god Hermes must be.'" (p. 390)
I grew up thinking that the Greeks and Romans had different names for the same gods but apparently they had been different gods that were identified. Gods went through a process of differentiation, then reidentification.
1 comment:
Romans had been in contact with Greek colonies in Italy for a long time before the Classical period; hence they worshipped a number of Greek deities -- Apollo, for example, and Hercules.
Nobody ever doubted that Zeus and Jupiter were the same God -- even without a knowledge of linguistics, Zeus Pater and Jupiter were similar enough to notice; and they were indeed both the PIE "Sky Father".
Post a Comment