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] from a ] version of Ovid's ].]] ] from a ] version of Ovid's ].]]


In ], '''Deucalion''' ({{lang-grc|Δευκαλίων}}) was a son of ] and ]. When the anger of ] was ignited against the ] of the ]s, Zeus decided to put an end to the ] with the ]. For ], the king of Arcadia sacrificed a boy to Zeus. This was a sacrifice which was forbidden in the new Olympian order and utterly inappropriate as an offering and repugnant besides. Zeus struck ]'s house with a thunderbolt and turned him into a wolf (see ]). Which however may have been the whole point, for in Arcadia Zeus was honored as {{lang|grc-Latn|''Zeus Lykaos''}}, "Wolf-Zeus, son of the she-wolf". Sending a werewolf to be king among the wolves and thus keep them off the flocks seems to have been the practice, and lingered among the shepherds of Arcadia into the age of the Olympiads. But, it was the treatment Zeus received when he visited the hall of the fifty sons of Lycaon, in the usual poverty-stricken disguise that gods assume whenever they travel. They set him a stew of sheep guts—hearts, livers and tripes—in which they included the stewed innards of their brother ]. Zeus was appalled at the primitive cannibal offering and turned them all into a pack of wolves; he then restored Nyctimus to life. So Zeus was set upon loosing a deluge, where the rivers would run in torrents and the sea encroach rapidly on the coastal plain, engulf the foothills with spray and wash everything clean. In ], '''Deucalion''' ({{lang-grc|Δευκαλίων}}) was a son of ] and ]. When the anger of ] was ignited against the ] of the ]s, Zeus decided to put an end to the ] with the ]. For ], the king of Arcadia had sacrificed a boy to Zeus. This was a sacrifice that was forbidden in the new Olympian order, utterly inappropriate as an offering, and repugnant besides. Zeus struck ]'s house with a thunderbolt and turned him into a wolf. But it was the treatment Zeus received when he visited the hall of the fifty sons of Lycaon, in the usual poverty-stricken disguise. They set him a stew of sheep guts—hearts, livers and tripes—in which they included the stewed innards of their brother ]. Zeus was appalled at the primitive cannibal offering, and turned them all into a pack of wolves; he then restored Nyctimus to life. So Zeus set upon loosing a deluge, where the rivers would run in torrents and the sea encroach rapidly on the coastal plain, engulf the foothills with spray, and wash everything clean.


==Etymology== ==Etymology==
Deucalion is parallel to Biblical ] and to ], the survivor of the Sumerian Flood that is told in the ''].'' It has been suggested that Deucalion's name comes from δεύκος ''deucos'' + ἁλιεύς ''halieus'' "new wine sailor," making him even more parallel to Noah, inventor of wine.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. However, it is at least as likely that "Deucalion" is related somehow to lightning or to oaks, from "Dyēus" -- Liddell and Scott note a Boeotian variant "Δεύς" of the usual Greek Ζεύς -- and κᾶλον "stuff to be burned," hence "wood" (and thus "ships"), which they derive from καίω "burn, set on fire." Certainly his wife Pyrrha's name is an adjective "πυρρός, ά, όν," meaning "flaming (figuratively, never with actual fire)" or "flame-colored, orange," and it would make sense for their names to match the way Prometheus (προμηθεύς, "forethought") and Pronoia (πρόνοια, "foresight") do. Deucalion is parallel to Biblical ] and to ], the survivor of the Sumerian flood that is told in the ''].'' It has been suggested that Deucalion's name comes from δεύκος ''deucos'' + ἁλιεύς ''halieus'' "new wine sailor," making him even more parallel to Noah, inventor of wine.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. However, it is also possible that "Deucalion" is related somehow to lightning or to oaks, from "Dyēus" -- Liddell and Scott note a Boeotian variant "Δεύς" of the usual Greek Ζεύς -- and κᾶλον "stuff to be burned," hence "wood" (and thus "ships"), which they derive from καίω "burn, set on fire." His wife Pyrrha's name is somewhat more certain: it is an adjective "πυρρός, ά, όν," meaning "flaming (figuratively, never with actual fire)" or "flame-colored, orange".


But a shred perhaps of earlier myth survives in the tale that another survivor of the Flood was Megaron, who was roused from his couch by the cries of cranes (see ] for crane lore) and climbed to the top of Mount Gerania ("Crane Mountain") and so was saved. And Cerambus of Pelion: he the nymphs changed to a ] beetle and he flew to the top of Mount Parnassus above the waters. But perhaps a shred of earlier myth survives in the tale that another survivor of the Flood was ], who was roused from his couch by the cries of cranes (see ] for crane lore) and climbed to the top of Mount Gerania ("Crane Mountain") and so was saved. And ] of Pelion: he the nymphs changed to a ] beetle and he flew to the top of Mount Parnassus above the waters.


] suggests a connection between Deucalion and Noah. Based on the fact that the L and R sounds can get confused in some languages, He suggests that Deucalion should be pronounced Deucarion. Deker in hebrew/aramaic is defined as a digging tool. Deucarion would than refer to Noah who as described in the Bible dug a vineyard when leaving the Ark.<ref>''Igrot Shir'' "Letters of Shir", published 1885 S. A. Graber - .</ref> ] suggests a connection between Deucalion and Noah. Based on the fact that the L and R sounds can get confused in some languages, he suggests that Deucalion should be pronounced Deucarion. ''Deker'' in Hebrew/Aramaic denotes a digging tool. Deucarion could then refer to Noah, who, as described in the Bible, dug a vineyard when leaving the Ark.<ref>''Igrot Shir'' "Letters of Shir", published 1885 S. A. Graber - .</ref>


==Deucalion in mythography==
==The flood==
Of Deucalion's birth, the '']'' states:
⚫ Deucalion had been forewarned of the flood by his father, ], the first in a long Near Eastern tradition of more-than-human mediators between Mankind and God. Deucalion was to build an ark and provision it carefully (no animals are rescued in this version of the Flood myth), so that when the waters receded after nine days, he and his wife ], daughter of ], were the one surviving pair of humans. Their ark touched solid ground on ]<ref>], '']'', 9.43</ref> or ]{{Fact|date=February 2007}} or ]{{Fact|date=February 2007}} or ] in Thessaly{{Fact|date=February 2007}}.

:"''There'' ], i.e. Greece] ''is a land encircled by lofty mountains, rich in sheep and in pasture, where ], son of ], begat goodly Deucalion, who first founded cities and reared temples to the immortal gods, and first ruled over men. This land the neighbours who dwell around call'' Haemonia ]]."

⚫ The fullest accounts are provided in ]'s '']'' and in the ] of Pseudo-]. Deucalion, who reigned over the region of ], had been forewarned of the flood by his father, Prometheus. Deucalion was to build an ark and provision it carefully (no animals are rescued in this version of the Flood myth), so that when the waters receded after nine days, he and his wife ], daughter of ], were the one surviving pair of humans. Their ark touched solid ground on ]<ref>], '']'', 9.43; cf. ], '']'', </ref>, or ] in ]<ref></ref>, or ] in ]<ref>] commentary on Virgil's '']'', 6:41</ref>, or ] in Thessaly<ref>This view is usually ascribed to ]</ref>.

] mentions the opinion of a ] that Deucalion is to be identified with ], "because during his reign such quantities of water poured from the sky that the great Flood resulted."


Once the deluge was over and the couple had given thanks to Zeus, Deucalion consulted an ] of ] about how to repopulate the earth. He was told to ''cover your head and throw the bones of your mother behind your shoulder''. Deucalion and Pyrrha understood that "mother" is ], the mother of all living things, and the "bones" to be rocks. They threw the rocks behind their shoulders and the stones formed people. Pyrrha's became women; Deucalion's became men. Once the deluge was over and the couple had given thanks to Zeus, Deucalion consulted an ] of ] about how to repopulate the earth. He was told to ''cover your head and throw the bones of your mother behind your shoulder''. Deucalion and Pyrrha understood that "mother" is ], the mother of all living things, and the "bones" to be rocks. They threw the rocks behind their shoulders and the stones formed people. Pyrrha's became women; Deucalion's became men.


Deucalion and Pyrrha had at least two children, ] and ], and possibly a third, ] (who is ] in other traditions). Deucalion and Pyrrha had at least two children, ] and ], and possibly a third, ] (who is ] in other traditions).

Their children as apparently named in one of the oldest texts, '']'', include daughters ] and ], and sons Hellen and ]. Their descendants were said to have dwelt in Thessaly. One fragment agrees with later accounts in making Deucalion the son of Prometheus and Pronoea; another, the son of ].

On the other hand, ] gives Deucalion's parentage as Prometheus and ], daughter of ], and mentions nothing about a flood, but instead names him as commander of those from Parnassus who drove the "sixth generation" of ] from Thessaly.

One of the earliest Greek historians, ], was said to have written a book about Deucalion, but it no longer survives. The only extant fragment of his to mention Deucalion does not mention the flood either, but names him as the father of ], king of ]. The much later geographer ], following on this tradition, names Deucalion as a king of ] and father of Orestheus. ] mentions a legend that Deucalion and Pyrrha had settled in ], ]; while ] asserts that they lived at ], and that her grave is still to be found there, while his may be seen at ]; he also mentions a pair of Aegean islands named after the couple.

The 2nd century writer ] gave an account of the Greek Deucalion in '']'' that seems to refer more to the Near Eastern flood legends: in his version, Deucalion (whom he also calls ''Sisythus'') took his children, their wives, and pairs of animals with him on the ark, and later built a great temple in ] (northern Syria), on the site of the chasm that received all the waters; he further describes how pilgrims brought vessels of sea water to this place twice a year, from as far as Arabia and Mesopotamia, to commemorate this event.

Deucalion's flood may be dated in the ] of ] to ca. 1460 BC.


==Primary sources ==
Deucalion's flood is dated in the ] of ] to ca. 1460 BC, remarkably close to the archaeological date proposed for the ]. One might argue that the flood would have devastating effects on the population, with only a few thousand or even a few hundred of survivors in the north-east ] region. It would then take several centuries or even millennia until the first settlements would start to develop following such a deluge. Archaeological findings however on the 2nd millennium BCE settlements like ] or ] do not indicate such a discontinuity. Troy I was founded in the 3rd millennium BC and was flourishing until 1200s BC. Troy VI: lasted between the 17th–15th centuries BC with no signs of any deluge during 1460 BC. Likewise, Mycenae shows a continuous development between 2100 BC to 1200 BC. Therefore it would be reasonable to trace the chronology of the flood before the establishment of these settlements.
*], '']'' fragments 1-3, 5, 68, 82 (ca. 700 BC)
*], frag. 341 (500 BC)
*], ''Olympian Odes'' 9 (466 BC)
*], '']'' 3.1086 (3rd c. BC)
*], '']'' 1.62 (29 BC)
*], ''Fabulae'' 153; '']'' 2.29 (ca. 20 BC)
*], ''Roman Antiquities'' 1.17.3 (ca 15 BC)
*], '']'', 1.318ff.; 7.356 (ca. 8 AD)
*], '']'', 9.4 (ca. 23 AD)
*], '']'' 1.7.2 (ca. 1st c. AD?)
*], ''Life of Pyrrhus'', 1 (75 AD)
*], '']'' 12, 13, 28, 33 (2nd c. AD)
*], ''Description of Greece'' 10.38.1 (2nd c. AD)
*], ''Dionysiaca'' 3.211; 6.367 (ca. 500 AD)


==Notes== ==Notes==

Revision as of 03:04, 8 June 2007

For other uses, see Deucalion (disambiguation).
Deucalion and Pyrrha from a 1562 version of Ovid's Metamorphoses.

In Greek mythology, Deucalion (Template:Lang-grc) was a son of Prometheus and Pronoia. When the anger of Zeus was ignited against the hubris of the Pelasgians, Zeus decided to put an end to the Bronze Age with the Great Deluge. For Lycaon, the king of Arcadia had sacrificed a boy to Zeus. This was a sacrifice that was forbidden in the new Olympian order, utterly inappropriate as an offering, and repugnant besides. Zeus struck Lycaon's house with a thunderbolt and turned him into a wolf. But it was the treatment Zeus received when he visited the hall of the fifty sons of Lycaon, in the usual poverty-stricken disguise. They set him a stew of sheep guts—hearts, livers and tripes—in which they included the stewed innards of their brother Nyctimus. Zeus was appalled at the primitive cannibal offering, and turned them all into a pack of wolves; he then restored Nyctimus to life. So Zeus set upon loosing a deluge, where the rivers would run in torrents and the sea encroach rapidly on the coastal plain, engulf the foothills with spray, and wash everything clean.

Etymology

Deucalion is parallel to Biblical Noah and to Utnapishtim, the survivor of the Sumerian flood that is told in the Epic of Gilgamesh. It has been suggested that Deucalion's name comes from δεύκος deucos + ἁλιεύς halieus "new wine sailor," making him even more parallel to Noah, inventor of wine.. However, it is also possible that "Deucalion" is related somehow to lightning or to oaks, from "Dyēus" -- Liddell and Scott note a Boeotian variant "Δεύς" of the usual Greek Ζεύς -- and κᾶλον "stuff to be burned," hence "wood" (and thus "ships"), which they derive from καίω "burn, set on fire." His wife Pyrrha's name is somewhat more certain: it is an adjective "πυρρός, ά, όν," meaning "flaming (figuratively, never with actual fire)" or "flame-colored, orange".

But perhaps a shred of earlier myth survives in the tale that another survivor of the Flood was Megaron, who was roused from his couch by the cries of cranes (see crane (bird) for crane lore) and climbed to the top of Mount Gerania ("Crane Mountain") and so was saved. And Cerambus of Pelion: he the nymphs changed to a scarab beetle and he flew to the top of Mount Parnassus above the waters.

Solomon Judah Leib Rappaport suggests a connection between Deucalion and Noah. Based on the fact that the L and R sounds can get confused in some languages, he suggests that Deucalion should be pronounced Deucarion. Deker in Hebrew/Aramaic denotes a digging tool. Deucarion could then refer to Noah, who, as described in the Bible, dug a vineyard when leaving the Ark.

Deucalion in mythography

Of Deucalion's birth, the Argonautica states:

"There is a land encircled by lofty mountains, rich in sheep and in pasture, where Prometheus, son of Iapetus, begat goodly Deucalion, who first founded cities and reared temples to the immortal gods, and first ruled over men. This land the neighbours who dwell around call Haemonia ."

The fullest accounts are provided in Ovid's Metamorphoses and in the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus. Deucalion, who reigned over the region of Phthia, had been forewarned of the flood by his father, Prometheus. Deucalion was to build an ark and provision it carefully (no animals are rescued in this version of the Flood myth), so that when the waters receded after nine days, he and his wife Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus, were the one surviving pair of humans. Their ark touched solid ground on Mount Parnassus, or Mount Etna in Sicily, or Mount Athos in Chalcidice, or Mount Othrys in Thessaly.

Hyginus mentions the opinion of a Hegesianax that Deucalion is to be identified with Aquarius, "because during his reign such quantities of water poured from the sky that the great Flood resulted."

Once the deluge was over and the couple had given thanks to Zeus, Deucalion consulted an oracle of Themis about how to repopulate the earth. He was told to cover your head and throw the bones of your mother behind your shoulder. Deucalion and Pyrrha understood that "mother" is Gaia, the mother of all living things, and the "bones" to be rocks. They threw the rocks behind their shoulders and the stones formed people. Pyrrha's became women; Deucalion's became men.

Deucalion and Pyrrha had at least two children, Hellen and Protogenea, and possibly a third, Amphictyon (who is autochthonous in other traditions).

Their children as apparently named in one of the oldest texts, Catalogue of Women, include daughters Pandora and Thyia, and sons Hellen and Idomeneus. Their descendants were said to have dwelt in Thessaly. One fragment agrees with later accounts in making Deucalion the son of Prometheus and Pronoea; another, the son of Minos.

On the other hand, Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives Deucalion's parentage as Prometheus and Clymene, daughter of Oceanus, and mentions nothing about a flood, but instead names him as commander of those from Parnassus who drove the "sixth generation" of Pelasgians from Thessaly.

One of the earliest Greek historians, Hecataeus, was said to have written a book about Deucalion, but it no longer survives. The only extant fragment of his to mention Deucalion does not mention the flood either, but names him as the father of Orestheus, king of Aetolia. The much later geographer Pausanias, following on this tradition, names Deucalion as a king of Ozolian Locris and father of Orestheus. Plutarch mentions a legend that Deucalion and Pyrrha had settled in Dodona, Epirus; while Strabo asserts that they lived at Cynus, and that her grave is still to be found there, while his may be seen at Athens; he also mentions a pair of Aegean islands named after the couple.

The 2nd century writer Lucian gave an account of the Greek Deucalion in De Dea Syria that seems to refer more to the Near Eastern flood legends: in his version, Deucalion (whom he also calls Sisythus) took his children, their wives, and pairs of animals with him on the ark, and later built a great temple in Manbij (northern Syria), on the site of the chasm that received all the waters; he further describes how pilgrims brought vessels of sea water to this place twice a year, from as far as Arabia and Mesopotamia, to commemorate this event.

Deucalion's flood may be dated in the chronology of Saint Jerome to ca. 1460 BC.

Primary sources

Notes

  1. Igrot Shir "Letters of Shir", published 1885 S. A. Graber - here.
  2. Pindar, Olympian Odes, 9.43; cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses, I.313-347
  3. Hyginus' Fabulae 153
  4. Servius' commentary on Virgil's Eclogues, 6:41
  5. This view is usually ascribed to Hellanicus of Lesbos

External links

  • Deucalion from Charles Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1867), with source citations and some variants not given here.
  • Deucalion from Carlos Parada, Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology.

References

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