Sick, D. H. - Mit(h)Ra(s) and the Myths of the Sun

8/13/2019 Sick, D. H. - Mit(h)Ra(s) and the Myths of the Sun

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Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the Sun

Author(s): David H. SickSource: Numen, Vol. 51, No. 4 (2004), pp. 432-467Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3270454

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MIT(H)RA(S) AND THE MYTHS OF THE SUNDAVID H. SICK

SummaryThe extent of the connection between Indo-IranianMitra/Mithraand Roman

Mithras has been vehementlydebated for the last thirtyyears. One of the severalproblems n outliningthe historyof Mit(h)ra(s)has been the definitionof the IranianMithra. In particular, he process by which he becomes a solar deity in the post-Avestanperiodneeds clarification.This study considers the historyof Mithra withregardto solar mythology; it describes a set of myths from the traditionsof twoneighbors o Iran Greece andIndia.In this set of myths,the Sunis the guardianofcontractsandcattle;the ritualof sacrificerelatesthese two wards,as cattle are victimsin the ritual,whichmay be understoodas a contractbetweengods and humans.Withthis mythic system recovered from the oldest Greekand Indic texts, the historyofIranianMithra s reviewed with the intent of interpretinghatgod:he has assumed herole typically assignedto the Sun in a similarmythiccomplex.Themesin the mythand cult of RomanMithrasaresuggestedfor comparison.

Just when it seemed the dark Mithraea of the Roman Empire hadbeen permanently severed from the Iranian plateaus, when RomanMithras was to be interpreted not by traditional Iranian or Zoroastrianreligion but by a sophisticated knowledge of astronomy, new ideas ofthe Iranian qualities of Roman Mithras have come forward.1 MariaWeiss, reviving the work of Johannes Hertel, argues that Iranian Mithrais properly to be understood as the night sky and thereby we canunderstand Roman Mithras.2 She has, however, already been taken to

1For a good review of the historyof the god Mitra/Mithra/Mithras,ee Rudolph1979; this piece is actually a review of the articles contained in Hinnells 1975.A thorough summaryof the question is also found in Beck 1984. See Hinnells1994; Turcan2000:169-75, 189-92; and Clauss 2001:xix-xxi, 3-8 for subsequentdevelopments.2Weiss 1998.? KoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden(2004)Also availableonline- www.brill.nl NUMEN,Vol.51


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Mit(h)ra(s)and theMythsof the Suntaskfor this interpretation,3erhapshavingfallen into an old fault ofCumont,who expected too direct a connectionbetween the Iranianand Roman contexts. Yet other Mithraicscholars have posited moregeneral associations,realizingthat the scarcityof evidence and thedistance ntime andspacemakedirectconnectionsunlikelyandalmostimpossible to prove. R. L. Gordon looks for an Iranianfoundationto the Romancult, but this foundationwould be stronglyinfluencedby Graeco-Romanpresumptionsabout what constitutes "Persian"myth and religion.4 Roger Beck posits that multiculturalnobles ofCommagenefit the characteristicswhich would have been necessaryfor the initiatorsof the Roman cult.5 As Beck admits, however,theIndo-Iranian ituation is far from unambiguous,and therein lies theproblem.If we do not knowwhat traitsof the Iraniangod to search orin the Romanevidence,how can we confirm herelationship?In this study,I would like to invert a commonly-askedquestion.It is the conventionalview that post-AvestanMithra s a solar deity,whereas the old IranianMithra s not.6 Insteadof asking once againhow does Mithrabecome the Sun, we will address the reverse:howdoes the Sun become Mithra?In other words, let us start from thesolar deity, as much as possible establish some of his qualities,andthen turnto IranianMithra.We will use a comparativeapproach oundertake his task, delineatingthe most prominentcharacteristics fthe Sun found in the oldest texts of Greece and India.Oncethe Greekand Indiansituationshave been resolved,we will approach he morecomplex Iranianmaterial,using our Greek and Indic findingsas aninterpretativeaid. Ultimately this study will not solve the perhaps

3Breyer2001 does not disputethat Mithrascan be read as the starryheavens butviews this manifestation s one of many.He is also scepticalof the attempt o interpretRoman Mithraswith the Avesta. See also Turcan2000:191-92 who alleges a textualproblem n Porphyry, key source forWeiss'stheory.4 Gordon2001.5Beck 1998.

6Gershevitch 1975 established the conventional view; see also Widengren1938:94-99; Malandra1983:58;Boyce and Grenet1991:479-82.

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David H. Sickinscrutable history of Mit(h)ra(s), but I hope it will provide a moreprofitable approach to the evidence.I. The Sun as Enforcer of Oaths and Contracts

According to many cultures, the Sun is the deity who monitorshuman actions; in his daily travels over the earth, he is able to reportto the other gods whether mortals are following the correct forms ofconduct in general and whether they are keeping vows and contractsin particular.For example, the sun is the "eye" of the supreme beingamong the Semong Pygmies, Fuegians, and Bushmen of southernAfrica as well as the Samoyeds of the Arctic regions.7 Among theGreeks, Helios is occasionally termed the eye of Zeus.8 In Homer theSun is referred to as "he who sees and hears all."9We see this epithet inpractice in the third book of the Iliad, when Menelaus and Paris agreeto single combat in order to settle the dispute over Helen. Since thetwo sides have agreed to end the war in accordance with the outcomeof the duel, an oath must be taken to insure that all will abide by thatoutcome. In the prayer that accompanies the sacrifice, Agamemnoninvokes the following gods to sanction the oath:FatherZeus, rulingfromIda,greatestand most glorious,andHelios, who seesand hearsall things, and the rivers and earth,and those below who punishthedead who have sworn a false oath,be witnessesandkeepthese oaths secure.10

7See Eliade 1972:128.8See Eur.Frag.543 (ed.Nauck);Macr.1.21.12;Preisendanz1973-74, 2:89.Cook1914, 1:196-97 has a discussion.

9 II.3.277; Od.9.109, 12.323:oi JI&dvT'(opa KalGt6vtc' JcnaKoeCO. See also II.14.343-44: oi6b' &vviO 6cbLapacKo HeXt6sjrep, / ov TC Kcalo6ljtcaov jreTeCo)6doscioopdaoOal "not even Helios will see us whose light is brightest or seeing,"and HomericHymn o Helios 9-10: oiepv6v6v6' Oye 6epKeatcI o0ooLg XpvU(oegeK

Ko6pvOog;whofrightfullyglanceswith his eyes out from his goldenhelmet."1 3.276-80: Zev JrdTep, "I6q0ev e,6evcJCov ,6 Cy(oTe ,ye/ 'Helot6s 0',Os JdVT' CQ >opas Kal CrJaKOVCLs, / Kal JOTaLtolt Kal yaLa, Kal oli VievepOeKaLot6vTsa&vpoprovs TrV'o0ov,OIISK' iopKovt-6ooo, /IteisCSUplpot COTE,vUXvdooee 6' opKla JTloT. The Sun is also called upon to witness an oath in book19 (258ff.), whereAgamemnonvows that he hadnot sleptwith Briseis. We also find

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Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the SunThe Sun's supposed ability to observe all activities on the earth ashe travels across the sky makes him a perfect witness for this vow and

helps explain why he has that particular standing epithet. In fact, theuse of the verbs 6pdo and &cKOoVwompounded with Cni is significant:the Sun does not just see and hear, but he oversees and overhears; hisobservations are not casual but purposed as he spies upon the people.The solar deity's function as an enforcer of oaths figures in his mostprominent role in the Homeric works - the antagonist to the hero andhis crew on the island of Thrinakia in Odyssey 12. This is the episodewhich is cited in the proem of the epic (1.7-9) as the cause of thedeaths of Odysseus' companions. Odysseus only consents to land theship on that island on the condition that his crew mates agree not toharm the herds of the Sun which are pastured there. In fact, he makesthem swear a formal oath which he dictates:

But come now vow to me a strongoath If we shouldfindany herdof cattle orlargeflock,may no one kill either cow or sheepby some evil recklessdeed.ll

We should not make too little of this "strong oath" placed here in thetale of the cattle of the Sun. The use of &aaoOaXial "reckless deeds"at line 300 recalls the proem, where we were told that the companionsdied because of their "own reckless deeds" (1.7).12 It is at this point in

Helios activelypursuingan informantrole in Demodocus' storyabout the infidelityof Aphroditeat Od. 13.271 and 302. Here the Sunreports o Hephaistos hathis wifeAphroditehas been sleepingwith Ares.ll 12.298-301: &XX'aye 6i [toL J6vTres o6toocate KcapepT v OpKov,/ e'l Ke TlV'h~e P3o6v &ye.r1v ] JTnO) tjey'olov / ECjpO[tev, Jt]l JtO TS CaTaJOaBlino1 KCaKn)OLViBo6vfi5 TL tfXova&jIoravi

12Some commentatorshave noticed the importanceof this oath to the correctreadingof the episode. Both Reinhardt1996:100 and Schadewaldt1970, 1:93-105believe the presenceof the oath makethis episode a moral test more thanany of theother adventures.As Schadewaltexplains (98), "Wennsie die Rinder,nachdem siediesen Eid geschworenhaben, spaterdann doch verletzen,so verletzen sie sie nunnicht mehr aus menschlicherSchwachheit n harterNot, sondem als Eidbriichige:n'bosenVerblendungen'TaxoOaXi'nolKcaKlolv)." lso Andersen1973, who acceptsthe moralsignificanceof the oath butdisputesSchadewaldt'sbelief thatthemoralistictone must come from a laterpoet.

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David H. Sickthe narrative hat we learnof the outcome foreshadowedn theproem.The crimes of the crew consist not merelyof killing a herd of cattlebelongingto a god but also in breakingan oath. Since the god whoenforces oaths is also the owner of these herds, there is little hopeof escaping punishment.The poet remindshis listeners a few lineslater(322-23) of the direconsequencesof breaking heoath.Therehemarksthe sun god with his standingepithetand the adjectivebeLv6s"terrible":

These are the cattleand fat flocksof the terriblegod Helios, who sees and hearsall.13Inotherwords: hese arethecattleof an awesomegod;he will see youractions and hearyourfalsehoods. BewareTheSun also actsas informant f thegods in theVedas.ThesungodSurya s called the eye of Mitra,14whose function seems to be relatedto the enforcement of contracts, truths,and right action, althoughmany of these functionshave been usurpedby his dvandvapartnerVaruna.Thus,Mitra-Varuna se Surya'spowersof perception n theirdiscipliningof contractbreakersand other sinners.At RV 6.51, theSun (Suira),who is called the eye of Mitra and Varuna n verse one,marksout thegood and bad deeds of mortals n verse two.15Again,atRV 7.62.2 the risingSun(Sfirya) s asked to declareto Mitra,Varuna,Aryaman,andAgni that thepetitionersare free fromsin.16

136eivov yap Ocoivac6e 6oes KaiL la itfka, / 'HeXiov 6s JivT' Cqopa KCai3TavC EtaKcoeCL.14RV 1.115.1; 6.51.1; 7.61.1; 7.63.1; 10.37.1.Surya, ike Helios, is the beholderofall: 1.50.6. See Srivastava1972:82-83.156.51.2: rjumdrtesuvrjindca pasyann abhi caste suroarydevan /I "Seeingthestraightand the crooked(deeds) amongmortals,the sun god watchesover the waysof thepious man."16 surya prdti pur6 na lid gd ebhihst6mebhiretasebhir evaih/prd no mitrayavdrundyavoc6 'ndgasoaryamneagndyeca I "May you, Surya,rise againbefore uswith these hymns by the brilliantways. May you declareus free from sin to Mitra,Varuna,Aryaman,andAgni."He also observes thegood andevil actions of mortalsfor Mitraand Varunan 7.60.2.

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Mit(h)ra(s)and theMythsof the SunA relationshipbetween the Sun and binding forms of speech isalso found in the myth of the Panis. I have considered this myth's

associationswith solar mythology and Roman Mithras n an earlierstudybutwill reviewitherebriefly.17ThePanisareagroupof demonicbeings who withhold the heavenly, solar cattle from their rightfulAryan owners. When confrontedby the gods, the demons tell thedivinemessengerSarama hatthey will offer Indraa contract mitrd-)if he comes out to meet them a contractby which he will becomethe cowherdof the Panis' cows (10.108.3). Of course, the contractis turneddown, for it has been suggested in an hybristic manner.The cows are not the Panis' to contractout to anyone: they are therightful possession of the Aryan gods. As Bruce Lincolnpoints out,cattle, being possessions of the gods, are given to mortals with theunderstanding hat they will return to the gods throughsacrifice.18Cattle are the gods' to give and contracts are the Sun's to enforce.Both cattle and the sun are restrainedby the evil beings' own actions,and thusa contractover cattle is notpossible.For the Panis toproposea contractwith Indrafor the tendingof cattle which should rightlybelongto him in the firstplace is a perversionof the normalreligion.II. Cattle and theSun

As is evidentfrom thepreviousdiscussionof the Sun andcontracts,one of the mostprominent oles of the solardeityin Greece and Indiais that of pastor,that is, pastorin its most basic sense of "guardianof the flocks."In the Indic and Greekexamplesthese flocks or herdsare generallymade up of cattle (bovidae). In orderto describe thisrelationshipbetween cattle and the Sun more specifically,let us turnfirstto the abundance f datafound in Indicmyth.Thereare numerousVedic deities which have been called sun-gods by various scholars at

17Sick 1996a, building on the work of Venkatasubbiah 965:127-28, and Srini-vasan 1979:84-89. The myth of the Panis is given most fully at RV 10.108. Otherimportantverses include: 1.32.12; 1.61.10; 1.62.4-6; 5.30.4; 6.17.1; 6.60.2; 10.48.2;10.89.7; 10.113.4-5.18Lincoln 1981:69.See especially figurefour,the Indo-Iranian riestlycycle.

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David H. Sickvarious times.19 Many of these attributions were inspired by the solarmythologists of the nineteenth century, but, even so, attributes of atleast two of these gods can be used to connect the cattle to the Sun.Surya, the god whose name goes back to the Proto-Indo-European termfor the sun (*sauel),20 has several pastoral associations: he is referredto as a herdsman;21his rays are called metaphorically his cows,22 andthe dawn, from whom Surya is born, is theriomorphized as a cow, thusmaking Surya himself her calf.23 On the other hand, Pusan, who ismore definitely a pastoral god in the Vedas,24 has several attributeswhich can be termed solar. He carries a goad and is called pasupa-,"protectorof cattle";25yet the epithet aghrni-, "glowing with heat," isoften applied to him as well, and he is connected with several otherphenomena of light.26 He travels on the paths between heaven and

19For a discussion of the various sun gods in the Vedas,see Srivastava1972:41-176; Dass 1984:23-68; and Pandey 1971:1-42. Althoughthese authorsareperhapsover-eagern theirdesignationof variousgods as sun-gods,they are at least compre-hensivein theircitationof thepertinentpassages.20*sauelin Pokomy 1949-1969, and Mann1984-1987.21ForSuryaas herdsman, ee RV 1.164.31, 7.60.2.22For the raysof the sunas cattle,see 1.62.5; 1.164.7; 2.14.3; 6.60.2; 7.9.4.23For the sun-calfassociations,see 1.164.9; 1.164.27-28; for dawn-cow associa-tions,see 1.62.3-5; 1.164.9; 1.164.17; 1.164.26-28; 3.30.14;4.1.13-16; 4.3.11; 4.5.9;4.44.1; 6.17.5-6; 6.39.2-3; 6.60.2; 7.79.2; 7.90.4; 8.64.8; 10.35.4; 10.67.4. For sun-cow associations,see 1.62.3-5; 1.83.5; 1.93.4;2.19.3; 2.24.3-4; 3.39.5-6; 4.1.14-16;6.17.5-6; 6.60.2; 10.111.3; 10.189.1. I should point out that it is not always clearwhetherthe cattle referred o in a particular erse arecows of the sun, the dawn,orraysof one or the other.24For a discussion of Pusan'spastoralaspects,see Atkins 1941:14-16, and Dan-dekar1979:91-117.25For the goad, see 6.53.9. For Pusan as herdsman,see 6.53.9; 6.54.5-7; 6.58.2;10.139.1;he is calledpasupa- in the last of these verses. Srivastava1972 treats thequestionat 106-7.26Foraghrni-appliedto Pusan,see 1.23.13-14; 1.138.4; 3.62.7; 6.48.16; 6.53.3,8, 9; 6.55.1, 3; 7.40.6; 8.4.17, 18; 9.67.12; 10.17.5. For Pusan's other luminescentcharacteristics,ee 6.48.17; 6.56.3; 6.58.1; 10.64.3.

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Mit(h)ra(s)and theMythsof the Sunearth and sees all from his position in the heavens.27 t should alsobe pointedout that he has a role in the marriageof Suirya, he sunmaiden.28These kinds of metaphorical onnectionsbetweencattle andtheSuncanbe found n severalmythic cycles of theRg Veda.Thefirst raditionis recounted most fully in hymn 1.164. Here the dawn as a cow isimpregnatedby the sky god Dyaus (1.164.8), and she gives birthtothe Sunas her calf.The hymn'sconstantuse of metaphorsandsimilesleavesthe exactmeaningsubject o dispute,butthe alternation etweenlanguagereferringo celestial entitiesandlanguagereferringo bovineentities is definite.Generally, he two types of language varybetweenthe verses, butboth seem to be employedin a few verses, as in verseseven:

Let him here who has seen proclaimwhere the trackof thatlovely birdhas beensetdown. From ts (the bird's)head thecows drawmilk;while wearingacoveringtheyhave drunkwaterwith the foot.29

The interpretation f this verse is influencedby a traditionalVedictheory explainingrainfall.The lovely bird (vdmdsyaveh) seems tobe the sun as it moves across the sky. The rays of the sun are itscows which reach down from heaven and take water with their foot(feet?) as if drinkingup the waters on the earth.The wateris perhapsreferredto as milk because of the nourishment t provides. Whenthe cows/rays have absorbedthis water,they become covered withclouds. Thistheoryof rain, cows, andthe sun is recounted n Sayana'scommentaryo the verse andconfirmedby modemcommentators.30There is anothercombinationof pastoraland celestial motifs inverse 31 of the samehymn:

27Pusan'splacein theheavens s described n 2.40.4 and 10.17.6. For his role as anobserverof all, see 1.89.5;2.40.5; 3.62.9; 6.58.2; 10.139.1-2.28Theexact natureof thisparticipations difficult o determine.See Atkins 1941:9-11.29ihd bravrtuyd tm angd veddasydamdsyanihitampaddmveh / s'rsndhksirdamduhrategavo asya vavrimvdsanaudakdrmadapuhII30See W.N.Brown 1968:205 as well as Geldner'scommentary.

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David H. SickI have seen the cowherd who does not fall down, rolling along the pathwaystowardandbeyond. Clothinghimself with concentricyet spreading rays?),hekeeps revolving amongthe worlds.31Here again the sun is not mentioned specifically, but the cowherd whodoes not descend and who moves among the worlds seems to be the

Sun, especially since Siirya is directly called a cowherd in RV 7.60.2and is said to watch over all creatures like a herd in 7.60.3.32The myth of the Panis is also a major vehicle for associationsbetween cattle and the sun in the Vedas. To repeat, the cows whichthe Panis withhold are not simply cows in the field but are the cosmic,

solar cows. Note RV 5.45.2, where the cows emerge from the Panis'pen (arvd-):The sun let loose its light like wealth;the mother of cows came out from thecow-pen, knowing;the rivers,with devouringcurrents, low over the dry lands;the sky holds firm ike a well-fixedpost.33

Given the frequent equation of cattle and the sun, the sun and themother of cows in the above verse may be read as synonymous; bothemerge from the Panis' enclosure.

In turning to the Greek material, we find that mythic cattle are notsimply cud-chewing bovines there either. On the island of Thrinakia,the sun god Helios keeps seven herds of cattle, with fifty head ineach herd; the numbers work nicely, since seven herds, each with fifty31dpasyamropamdnipadyamanam capdraca pathibhiscdrantam sd sadhrlclhsd visuctrvdsanaa varnvarti huvanesvantdh // The applicationof raysto sadhrncFhandvisuclrcomes from W.N. Brown.327.60.2: esd syd mitravarundnrcdksaubhe'ud eti suryo abhi jmdn / vlivasya

sthaturdgatas ca gopa ... "ThisSun, O Mitra-Varuna,he watcherof mortalsboth(livinganddead),rises toward heearth, he cowherdof all thatstandsandmoves...."7.60.3: ... suryam ... yd yutheva jdnima ni caste I "Surya, ... who watches the livingcreaturesas if a herd...."33vi suryo amdtim nd sriyarmad drvddgdvam mata dnat{ gat / dhdnvarnasonadyahkhCadoarnathunevasumitadrmhatadyauhIIThe translationof the verse isdifficult. I follow Geldnerfor the most part.See also RV 2.19.3; for a discussion,Sick 1996a:270-72;Venkatasubbiah 965:120-33; Thieme 1949:18;and Srinivasan1979:85.

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Mit(h)ra(s)and theMythsof the Sunmembers, otals 350 cattle- the numberof daysin thelunarcalendar,a fact which the ancients themselves recognized.34It is intriguingthatin the HomericHymnto Hermes,Hermes steals only fifty cattlefrom the herds of the gods-those which belong to Apollo alone.35This numberwould amount to one herdon Thrinakia. t is probablynot a coincidence that the numberscorrespond,whetherowing to theassociationof the lunarcalendaror to a generaltraditionof the godsmaintaininga certainnumberof cattlein theirherds.

Secondly,we should note thatthe cattle in the two Homeric talesaretermed"immortal." he immortalitywithwhichtheyareendowedis of a peculiarkind, however.In the Odysseythe poet claims thatthey neither"decay" Otv630ovot)norgive birth(12.130-31). In theHomeric hymn, the cattle are directly called a&i[3poTol "immortal,"36but t is obviouslynotthecase that he cattleare nviolableordeathless,since some are killed. Perhaps t would be best to describethem as"anti-Tithonian";nlikeTithonos,who grew old but neverdied, theynevergrowold but can die. This anti-Tithonian ualityhas interestingand consistentconsequencesfor the sacrificesreported n the myths,and we will discussthembelow.

A connection between cattle and the sun can be documentedinGreekmythbeyondHomer.A.B. Cooklists numerousotherexamplesof herds of the Sun from the ancient sources.37Accordingto Apol-lodorus(1.6), there was anotherherd of cattlewhichbelongedto He-lios in Erytheia; his one was raidedby the giantAlcyoneus. He alsokepta herdatGortynaon Crete.38According o Herodotus,Helioshadstill anotherherd n Apollonia,although t is unclearwhether his was

34 Od. 12.129-30; see Eustathius (Weigel, ed. 1825-60) ad locum. Stanford 1959,1:410.

35Cf. HHH 74, 193; for a discussion of the connections between the Odyssey andthe Homeric Hymn to Hermes, see Shelmerdine 1986.36HHH 71; see especially Vernant 1989:165; also Kahn 1978:48-50; N. O. Brown1947:140; Burkert 1984:842; and Clay 1989:113.37Cook 1914, 1:410-12.38 See Servius' comment at Verg. Ecl. 6.60.

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David H. Sicka herd of cattle or a flock of sheep.39 It also seems fairly clear that thesun has some association with the cattle which Herakles takes fromGeryon.40Two of Helios' children also show a penchant for cattle. Helios'daughter Pasiphae was impregnated by a bull while disguised asa cow and subsequently gave birth to the half-human, half-bovineMinotaur.41Augeas, another child of the Sun, had his gigantic cattle-stable cleaned by Herakles in the sixth labor of that hero.42 His nameitself, A,vycica , is derived from ac'byr"light of the sun, ray, beam." Inaddition to the account of Herakles' labors in Apollodorus, an extendedbut fragmentary version of the story of Augeas is found in the 25thidyll of Theocritus. The poem explains that Helios has bestowed onKing Augeas of Elis the privilege of keeping the greatest herds amongmortals; he has even placed twelve of his own sacred cattle amongAugeas' vast herds. The cattle are spread all over this region of thePeloponnese.43 Perhaps what is most striking about these cattle is theway the poet describes the herds' movements across the pastures. Heuses celestial imagery:

39Hdt.9.93.1: he only refers to them as tpa kiXovjTp6o3ata. xp63opcTovan referto either cattle (bovidae)or sheep. Homer uses it mainlyto referto cattle. The Atticproseauthorsandtragediansmainlyuse it for sheep.Herodotususes bothmeanings:sheep,Hdt. 1.133,8.137; andcattle,Hdt.2.41, 4.61.40ForHeraklesandGeryon,see Hes. Th.287ff., 981ff.;Eur.HF 422ff;Apollodorus1.6.1,2.5.10.Theepisodewasthesubjectof anepic poem by thesixthcenturySicilianpoet Stesichorus.Unfortunatelyt survivesonly in fragments.See Robertson1969;Page 1973;Brommer1986:41-44.41ForPasiphae, ee Apollod. 1.9.1,3.1.2;ApolloniusRhodius3.999;Paus.5.25.9;Ov.Met.9.735-37, Ars 1.289-326, and numerousothers.42Apollod. 2.5. Elements of the mythof Augeas can be tracedback to Homer.Inbook eleven of theIliad the garrulousNestor recounts ales of his youthwhen he wasinvolvedin cattle-raidsand wars againstthe Eleans, of whom Augeas is namedasking.Herakles oo hasa part n the story,buthe seems to be on the side of the Eleans.See 11.670ff.Forothersourceson Augeas,see DiodorusSiculus 4.33 and Paus.5.1.9,although he latterauthordoes not believe thatAugeas was the child of the Sun. Formoreon Augeas, see Brommer1986:29-30.43See lines 7-26, 129-37.

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Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the SunWhen Helios turned his horses toward the netherworld and brought on evening,then the rich herds came round again, returning from the pasture looking for thepens and stalls. Then came thousands upon thousands of cattle just as wateryclouds.44

In this passagethepoet comes quiteclose to makingthe cows a celes-tial or meteorological entity.He puts them in correlativerelationshipwith the sunby using the contrastingparticles tev and be. Moreover,he uses the verbCrnepXOtcalo relate heirmovements.This verb s alsoused to denote the turningof the seasons(e.g., Od.2.107). Finally,helikens the cows to wateryclouds. The cows of Augeas seem to resem-ble the celestial cows of Indiawhich follow the Sun as their herdsmanand which areclosely connected o the release of theprimordialwatersby Indra.This passage also discloses a possible explanation rom nature orthe connection between cattle and the sun found in myth. Cattle,like the sun, have natural,observablecharacteristics.Any good dairyfarmerknows that cattle will returnon their own from the field everyevening at sundown,since they need to be milked and they "know"thatthe stables will providethem withfood, water,and shelterfor thenight. The stables quickly become associatedwith the food, shelter,andmilking theyreceive there.Cattle,as any domesticatedand hencetrainableanimal,will react to stimuli,andin this instance,the timeofday,that s thepositionof the suninthesky, maybe the stimuluswhichspursthe herds to return o their stables. At a certaintime of day,thecattle return o the stables n order o receive the benefitsthere.Itmightthen be natural o connect the movements of cattle to movements ofthe sun across the sky,and in turn, hepredictablemovementsof cattlecould be used to reckonthe time of day.Indeed,there s anexpressionin Homeric Greek to indicate the time of day when oxen are usuallyreleased from their yokes or some other constrainingdevice. The

44 HeXlos [Ev JtcelTta JTOT'L6qov ECpaJtrv LJTJTovs6eickov f tap ycov rT6' nVrkvcOeriova [tfka / EKPOITdvnSvLovTah t6rarciacTEoqKoVsTE./ aiTcapenrcla 6oes [ika [tvpiala kkacLl ' &kkals /IpX6[tevca ( avovO' 6ooel vecYq6aLT6cevTa85-89).

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David H. Sickexpression runs: I[tos 6' eXitos E[tCxCviooeTo3ovIkTov6e "when thesun passes into the ox-loosening point." So there is indeed a link inGreek thought between cattle, the sun, and time reckoning.45 Becausethese are all natural, predictable phenomena, the links between cattleand the sun could have arisen independently in Greece and India andnot necessarily as a result of the common Indo-European heritage ofthe two peoples.46III. The Sun and Sacrifice

It is possible to interpret the mythic themes we have outlinedthus far by describing a third aspect of solar mythology. The Sunis the enforcer of contracts and the guardian of herds: these twocharacteristics are linked through the common ritual of sacrifice. Therole of the cattle as victims in the sacrifice is obvious; the contractualelement of sacrifice has also been well documented. Sacrifice is ameans by which mortals establish a right relationship with the gods.By pleasing the gods through the gifts of sacrifice, mortals in turnreceive good fortune from the gods or at least ward off misfortune. Theclassic Latin phrase do ut des, "I give so that you may give," clearlydenotes a contractual relationship in sacrifice, and more significantly,the conclusions reached by Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss in theirimportant work on the nature of ancient sacrifice fit well with theinterconnections between sacrifice and contract:

Dans tout sacrifice, l y a un acte d'abn6gation,puisquele sacrifiant e priveetdonne... Mais cette abn6gationet cette soumission ne sont pas sans un retouregoiste... C'est que, s'il (le sacrifiant)donne,c'est en partiepourrecevoir... Aufond, il n'y a peut-etrepas de sacrificequi n'ait quelquechose de contractuel.

45See 11. 6.779 or Od.9.58.For a discussion,see Radin 1988.Frame1978:56-57,164-66 has another nterpretation f the meaningof [ovXvT6vc, takingkv- fromkojco 'wash' rather hank.vo 'loose.' The questionconcernsthe secondupsilonandwhetheror not its lengthis determinative.46See Sick 1996b for a completetreatmentof the possible Indo-European riginsof the associationsof cattle and the sun in thesemyths.

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Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the SunLes deux partiesen presenceechangentleurs services et chacuney trouve soncompte.47

It is rather facile but worth noting that the major oaths of the Iliad(3.276ff., 19.258ff), those to which Helios is called as witness, aremarked by sacrifice. In the Odyssey, in the episode on Thrinakia, thecontractual relationship of the sacrifice fails, since the crew sacrificescattle which belong to the deity from the outset. Although ordered toavoid the cattle, the crew attempts to subvert this command and theirown oath by sacrificing the cattle to the gods and promising to build atemple to Helios. They attempt thereby to propitiate Helios and escapethe consequences of harming the cattle (12.343, 347). The sacrifice,however, is a disaster. The cattle have to be driven off and surroundedor restrained,48 while animals properly designated for sacrifice aresupposed to give their lives willingly.49 Moreover, since none of theother elements necessary for sacrifice are available on the island, thecrew must make do with substitutes. A proper sacrifice would requireofferings of barley or millet and libations of wine. In place of theseproducts, the crew must use oak leaves and water. As Vidal-Naquetnotes, "un produit 'naturel' remplace donc un produit de la culture... la fagon meme dont le sacrifice est conduit en fait donc un anti-

47Hubert and Mauss 1899:135, also 105-16. See also Heesterman1959:242-45,where he shows that the ddksinais a gift which establishes a binding relationshipbetweenthe giverand therecipient.48It should be noted that Agamemnon'ssacrifice in /. 2 is also an ineffectualsacrifice,in that he does not obtain the quick end to the war that he seeks. In fact,after this sacrifice the tide of the war turnsagainstthe Greeks;Reinhardt1961:94notes thatAgamemnon'ssacrifice s flawedsince it is lackinga libation of wine.49See Nestor's sacrifice of a heifer to Athena (Od. 3.417-72) and Eumaios'sacrifice of a pig (Od. 14.414-56) for instances where the animal victim is morecompliantand treated with more reverence. In each instance, the hairs of the headof the victim are cut and thrown nto the fire;then the animal is stunnedby a blowto the head,andfinally,only after these preliminaries,s the throatslit. For a reviewof the standard lementsin a Homericsacrifice,see Reinhardt1996:83-95; Rudhardt1958:253-57; and Kadletz 1984:99-105.

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David H. Sicksacrifice."50The sacrifice itself turns into little more than uncivilizedslaughter and takes on the air of irreligion, ending with the flesh ofthe anti-Tithonian, immortal cattle lowing on the spits:e `eprov [tevPLVOi,Kpac 6' atci' opf3coiLL[Alt[lKcL (12.395). It was inevitablyineffectual because of the conflict between the ritual requirements andthe character of the participants: it was a contract between contractbreakers and the god of solemn agreements.Failure in sacrifice also figures prominently in the Vedic material oncattle and the sun. Hitherto we have defined the Panis as demons andnon-Aryans. This definition is correct, but what is it about the natureof these mythical beings that separates them from the Aryans? ThePanis are not Aryans because they do not participate in a constitutingritual of Vedic society. By definition, a Pani is one who withholds theddksina, the donation by which the priests acquire the elements of thesacrifice.51A key verse is RV 8.97.2:

This cow and horse which you, o Indra,havefixed as an immutableportionforthe sacrificer,he (Soma)presser, he one who contributesheddksina, hese (thecows andhorses)bestowuponhim (the sacrificer),notuponthe Pani.52Here again we see Indra in his role as opponent of the Panis, and welearn for whom the treasure of the Panis was intended- the one whocontributes the daksina, the sacrificer, thus confirming that the Panisthemselves do not participate in the sacrifice. This refusal to sacrificeamplifies the obstacle posed by the Panis' improper possession of thecattle. As Srinivasan points out, cattle are necessary in at least two

50Vidal-Naquet1970:1288-89. See also Vernant1989:166,where he commentsonthe oak as a symbol of the absence of civilization,e.g., the eating of acors by the"primitive"Arcadians.The scene is also analyzed by Reinhardt1996:95,who notesthedifferences roma standardHomeric sacrifice.51See Srinivasan 1979:98-100, Schmidt 1968:209-11; Keith and Macdonnell1964, 1:471-73, and Kapadia1962. Kapadia'sarticle is useful for its full listing ofRVcitationsconcerning he Panis. For theddksina,see Heesterman1959.52yamindradadhisetvdmaisvam am bhdgdmdvyayam yijamanesunvatiddksinavati dsmintam dhehi mapanau III am following Geldner'sinterpretationof dvyaya-as a + vyaya- 'withoutchange';Geldner ollows Sayana.

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Mit(h)ra(s)and theMythsof the Sunways for Vedic sacrifice: irst,cattlearefrequentlyused as paymentofthe ddksind,and secondly, cattle providethe milk and butterwhichcompose the elements of oblation in the sacrifice. The Panis, bykeepingthe cattle fromthepriests,havestopped he Vedicsacrifice.53Furthermore,t is those who properlyconductthe offices of ritualand sacrificewho aidIndra n thequestfor the cows. Numerouspriestsallythemselveswith Indran thebattle,andas a resultof thisallegiancethey acquirethe elements of the sacrifice from the defeated Panis.First, Brhaspati, he Afigirases,the Navagvas,and Rsis, using theirhymnsandreligiouspower,helpIndra o split openthe structurewhichconfines the stolencows. Thepriestswordshavepower,as opposedtothe Panis' wordswhich are weak.54Then, afterthe battle,the priestsregain their rightful position as the contracteesof the elements ofthe sacrifice:"theAigirases ... acquiredall the wealthof the Panis"(1.83.4).55IV Mithraand the Sun

Havingreviewed the pertinentmaterialfrom the solar mythologyof Greece and India, we now turn to the Iranianevidence in orderto documentsimilarqualitiesin Mithraandthen posit how he mighthave subsumedresponsibilitiescommonlytakenup by the solardeity.We must startfrom what we know definitelyabout IranianMithra,which,in truth, s not much.We areperhaps afe to start rom AntoineMeillet's seminal article"Le dieu Indo-IranianMitra."56Meillet putforward he idea thatIndo-IranianMitra'sbasic naturewas that of a53Srinivasan 1979:116-24. She goes so far as to suggest that the myth may

represent he historicalrelationshipbetween a Vedicpriestand a Pani.5410.108.6. See Srinivasan1973:49-52. For the priests'role in the conqueringofthe Panis,see also 1.62.2-3, 5; 2.11.20; 2.14.3; 2.15.8; 2.24.4; 4.1.14; 4.3.11; 4.16.8;4.50.4-6; 5.29.12; 5.45.7-8; 6.17.6; 8.14.8; 10.61.10; 10.67.4;10.68.8.

55... angirah ... sdrvampaneh sdm avidanta bh6janam... // I am followingGrassmann'snterpretationf sdm avidantafoundin his Worterbuch. ee RV 1.62.2;1.83.5; 1.132.3; 3.31.11; 4.50.4-6; 10.61.10-12 for furtherexamples of priests'acquiring he Panis'wealth.56Meillet 1907, also Gershevitch1959:26-35, andMalandra1983:9,55-58.

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David H. Sickgod of contract, henatureof thegodbeingreflected n themeaningofthe termmitrd-/mithran Sanskritand Avestan. We have, of course,alreadynoted that it is often the duty of the solar deity to enforcecontracts, oaths, and other binding forms of speech. So, a basiclink between the spheres of influence of the Sun and Mithra iseasily demonstrable; et the link is stronger han a simple overlapofduties. IranianMithra ends to fulfill his responsibilities n a mannercomparableo andin associationwith theSun,which is a distinctdeityin Avestan and generallyreferred o as Hwardxshaeta,althoughthatgod is not the subjectof an extensivemythology.57A confluenceof sunand contract anbe seen within the MithraYast(Yast 10), where Mithraseems to move across the entireearth,fromone end to the other,observing everything 10.95). He appearsat thebreakof daylike the sun:

10.13 (Mithra)who is the firstsupernatural od to rise across the Hara, n frontof theimmortal, wift-horsedSun,who is the firstto seize the beautifulmountainpeaksadornedwithgold;fromtherehe, the mostmighty,surveysthewhole landinhabitedby the Iranians.58

We learnfromother versesof the poem (49-51) that Mithranot onlyrises overMt.Harabut he actually ives there, ookingover the Iranianplains, in a dwelling which never knows darkness and which hasbeen builtby the gods with the help of the Sun. Mithraalso drivesachariotwhich is describedas white, radiant,andshining; t is pulled byshadowlesshorses (10.68). Finally,Mithrahimself seems to generatehis ownlight:he shines like the starTistryaorthe Moon(10.143). Onecan begin to see how these movements and luminousqualitiescouldlead to a later identificationof Mithrawiththe sun;in fact, it is likelythatwe are here looking at the beginningsof the transformation. hemechanismfor enforcementof contractsdrives the identificationofMithra with the sun.59

57Jacobs1991:55;Boyce and Grenet1991:479.58Translation rom Malandra1983:60.59Othershave made this suggestion;I developit morethoroughly.See Gershevitch1959:39-40; 1975:69-70, 75; Lommel 1962:366;Boyce and Grenet1991:482.

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Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the SunIn the Mithra Yast, it is Mithra, in his role as the god of contract, who

observes, reports, and, when necessary, corrects the habits of mortals.He

has 1,000 ears ... 10,000 eyes ... (and) is sleepless ... he is undeceivable,knows all, (and) has 10,000 spies ... he deals out 10,000 blows ... he espiesthe covenantbreakerand the one false to thecovenant.60

These amazing powers of observation are analogous to those attributedto the Sun in other cultures. They obviously relate here, however, toMithra's role as a god of contract, in that they allow him to carry outhis function as an enforcer. He has assumed the Sun's traditional roleas informant of the gods.The assumption of solar qualities by Mithra can be marked out witha little more detail. In several Yasnas outside the Gathas, the sun iscalled the eye of Ahura Mazda, the supreme deity of Zoroastrianism.61We may posit that the designation of the sun as the eye of AhuraMazda as opposed to the eye of Mithra is the result of a Zoroastrianreform.62Remember that Sirya is the eye of Mitra in Vedic.63 Giventhe occurrence of the "eye of" statements in both Vedic and Avestan,the solar god and Mitra/Mithra must have been associated at an earlystage in Indo-Iranianreligion. It would have been a small step from thedesignation of the sun as the eye of Mitra/Mithra to identifying Mithraas the sun directly. The association between the two gods continueduntil Mithra became directly identified as the sun at a time after the

60The translation s Malandra's.See respectivelyYast 10.7, 10.27, 10.82. For afurtherdiscussion,see Gershevitch1959:29-30; Malandra1983:56-57.61See, for example,Yasna1.11, 3.13, 4.16, etc.62Workby Jean Kellens has called into questionthe conventionalreconstructionof the history of Iranianreligion. He considers unhelpful the assumptionof an

enlightenedprophet"Zarathustra"ho reformedthe traditional eligion. I think wecan speak of a reformwithout identifyinga personal agent. My own referencestoZarathustra re to thecharactern Avestan exts. ThecollectionEssayson ZarathustraandZoroastrianismKellens2000) providesa good summaryof his ideas.63As pointedout by Gershevitch1975:89 n.11, the sun'sdesignationas the eye ofAhuraMazdamay have resultedfrom the removalof Mithraas his dvandvapartner,giventhatMitraand Varuna redvandvapartnersn Vedic.

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David H. Sickinceptionof the Gathas,Yasnas,and Yasts.Thephysical realityof thesun crossing the sky and watchingover humanactions could easilyhavesuperseded he forceof an abstractgod of contract.A few of the classicalsourceson Persianreligionwouldalsosupportthe claim of a synthesisof contractandsun, in thatthey describetheSun, or Mithraas the Sun, as a witness to oaths or a proctorof otherformsof ethical conduct.Let us beginwitha passagefromHerodotus,since his early date will allow us to avoid the later confusions withRomanMithras:

They (the Persians)consider ying to be the most shameful deed ... anycitizenwho has leprosyor the white sickness,they exile from the city and he does notassociate with the other Persians.They say thatthesethingshappensince he hassinnedagainstthe Sun.64

Herodotusdoes not specifically say that the sin against the Sun in-volves lying,butsince thechapter tself is organizedunder hegeneralstatementabout ying, the sins which are cited afterwards houldlogi-cally be taken as categoriesof this majorheading.Furthermore,ivenwhat we know about the Persians' commonrepresentation f the Lieas the embodimentof evil, the sin againstthe Sun would need to fallunder hecategoryof Lyingin someway.Thereareof coursea limitednumberof ways one mightsin against he Sun,and it seems likelythatthe Sun is as much an observerof a misdeed as an actual suffererofa wrong. In any event, here we have a source fromthe Achaemeniderawhichshows the Sunenforcingpenaltiesagainsthumanmisdeeds,and it is very likely that the misdeeds involved would be relatedtolying. Fromthe MithraYastwe know that Mithrawas understoodasthe god who enforced covenants andopposedthe Lie. In Herodotus'time,eitherMithraandthe Sun aresynonymous,and thus we findthesimilarity n divinedutybetween the Sunin Herodotusand Mithras nthe Yast,or the Sun is still operating ndependentlyn his traditional

64 1.138: (a'LoaGTov6eoTOLolTO pev6eoOa vevo6Ol[tCl ... 06sav 6e T()V aoiLvXeJzprv XevuKqnvxn, es JTI6lv oUTos oi KCTalepXeTaLV ov Loyetal TIOtLaXkolal npflcpt (Q)ao 6e [tLVEs TOVik.LOV&a[apt6vra Tl TClUTa ExeLv.

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Mit(h)ra(s)and theMythsof the Sunrole, since Mithra himself is not mentionedin this passage. In fact,elsewhere(1.131.3) HerodotusbelievesMirpaco be a goddess.65

There are also two later classical sources which show the Sunalong with Mithraensuringthe truthor honestyof human actions.InPlutarch'sLife of Alexander,DariusIIIdemandsan oathof allegiancefromoneof theeunuchswho work n his chambers.He askstheeunuchto make a vow before the "great ight of Mithraand the righthand ofthe king."66CurtiusRufus, who also tells the storyof the fall of theAchaemenids,reportsthat Darius III invokedMithras,the Sun, andthe EternalFire to inspirehis troopsto bravery.The king mighthavechosen those holy entities since they would witness the actions of thetroopsandpunishcowardice.67nthese lateraccounts rom the Romanera Mithra(s)and the Sun are more closely linked in both sphereofinfluence andin physicalnature.This limited account is perhapsthe most extensive we can givetracing he transformation f IranianMithra roma god of contract ntoa solardeity;the fact that both the Sun and Mithrawere traditionallyenforcersof truthandobserversof humanaction led to the conflationof the two deities. We have not yet, however,broughtcattle into thediscussionof theIranian vidence;the associationof Mithrawithcattleshouldclarifyourexplanations.A clear connection between Mithra and cattle is found in threeverses of the Mithra Yast. In these verses, Mithrais called upon tobe the protectorof the Cow who has been seized by the followersofthe Lie.

65Edwards1990 ingeniously explains the mistakengender by alleging a secondmorecomprehensiblemistakeon thepartof thehistorian:Herodotusmistook Mithrasas the morningstar,a female deity in the Greekpantheon.His hypothesisrequiresMithra o be distinctfrom the sun at the time of Herodotus' nquiries.66 30.4: cre [tO oeC6ECOvosMiOpo Tce)cOs[etya Ktti be?Flav paoikceov.674.13.12: Ipse cum ducibuspropinquisqueagminain armis stantiumcircumibat,Solem Mithram acrumqueet aeternum nvocansignem,ut illis dignamveteregloriamaiorumquemonumentisortitudineminspirarent.Actually,the Latin is somewhatambiguousas to whether the Sun and Mithras are separateentities, dependingonwhatexactly -queconnects.

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David H. SickThe Cow, accustomedto pastures,[who is in the clutches of men false to thecovenant],pulls (theirwagon) alongthedustyroad of captivity,dragged orwardas theirdraftanimal.Tearsareflowingin a streamalongher face. (38)... also whentheCow,(she) (85) who being led away captive,withoutstretchedhands,yearning or the herd,regularly nvokes(Mithra) orhelp, (thus),"Whenwill Mithraof the wide pastures, he hero,drivingfrombehind,makeus reachthe herd,when will he turnus who are being drivento the abode of the Lie, tothepathof Truth?"86)68

As argued by Duchesne-Guillemin and later by Lincoln, these versesseem to answer the important question of Yasna 29, "The Bovine'sLament," as to who will defend and protect the Cow.69 Here in theYast, Mithra the god is called upon as a defender, whereas, in Yasna29, Ahura Mazda and his angelic manifestations are invoked, andZarathustra s provided as a defender, albeit a weak one in the view ofthe Cow. For the followers of Dumezil, these verses from the MithraYast are evidence that Wohu Manah, "Good Mind," in Yasna 29 hastaken the place traditionally reserved for Mithra in the myth. See,for example, 29.7 where the Cow pleads "through Good Mind for aprotector."70

One does not have to accept Dumezil's reconstruction of the oldIranian religion in order to identify Mithra as the original defender ofthe Cow in Yasna 29. Ilya Gershevitch has designated Mithra as the

68The translations takenfromMalandra1983:63,69.69For Yasna29, see Lommel 1971; Tavadia1950-52; Humbach1959; Cameron1968:278-79;Insler1975;Lincoln 1975:337-62;Malandra1983:35-39;and Kellensand Pirart1988.

70Accordingto Dumezil's reconstructionof Iranianreligion before Zarathustra,Wohu Manah s the replacementof the older Mithraamongthe AmoaaSpontas.Thisreconstructions given in detailin Naissanced'Archanges 1945), but is summarizedin Les Dieux des Indo-Europeens 1952), 18-22. The fact that Mithra s the saviorof the Cow in Yast 10 and Wohu Manahhas a prominentrole in Yasna 29 is seenas an independent onfirmation f Dum6zil's reconstruction f the forerunners f theAmoaaSpantas.See Duchesne-Guillemin1973:104. See also Lincoln 1975:355 and1981:131;he does not believe thatMithramusthave been theoriginalprotectorof theCow in theIndo-Iranian ersion of themyth.

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Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the Sunprotectorof the Cow througha carefulanalysisof the dvandvacom-poundpdya-i#worastdr,"protector-creator,"n comparisonwith theolder dvandvami5ra-ahura. By identifyinga correspondence etweenthe creativeaspectof AhuraMazda,SpontaMainyu,andthe 9wordstdrelement of the former compound, Gershevitch noted that the pdyuelement of this compoundis in correspondencewith the miira ele-ment of the lattercompound.In otherwords, 5wordstdris to AhuraMazdaas pdyu is to Mithra.It is in this aspect of payu, "protector,"thatMithrabecomes the defenderof cattle,according o Gershevitch.Furthermore,Mithraas theprotector lementof thiscompoundseemsto confirm the earliersuggestionabouta rivalrybetweenZarathustraand Mithrafor the role of defenderof the Cow, since the prophet scitedas the protectorelementin thepdyiu-wordstdrcompoundwhenit appearsagain at Yasna42.2.71The relationshipbetween protectorandcreatordemonstratedn the compoundalso fitsratherneatlywiththe dialogueof Yasna29, for there it is the creatorof the Cow whosearches for a protector or the Cow, althoughthe terms used are notpdyuand 5wordstdr.72In Yasna29, it is Zarathustra ho is designatedas protectorof the Cow,but elsewhere it is Mithrawho lays claim tothetitle,andalthough he god mayhave been supplantedn the formerhymn,his role as cattle-protectors still evidentin the MithraYastandthrough he old dvandvaepithet.Mithra'srole as tutelarydeity is furthercorroborated y his stand-ing epithetwouru-gaoyaoiti,a bahuvrlhicompound iterallymeaning"possessing wide pastures,"and usually renderedas "of wide pas-tures." Note its occurrence n verse86 of the MithraYastabove.)Theepithethas been explained by Emile Benveniste,who has shownthatit is much more than an allusion to the god's abilityto providesus-tenancefor herdinganimals. The epithetrefers to the god's abilitytokeep a large region safe for his followers;the wide pasturesare thelands which Mithraprotectsandpreserves.Likemanyof thereligious

71See Gershevitch1959:54-58.72The creatorof the Cow is the tasa gaus (29.2), and the protector/pastors thevastra(29.2).

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David H. Sickimages in the Avesta, the god's preserving aspect is presented in pas-toral terms.73 Benveniste uses Yast 10.112 in forming his interpretationof the compound, of which he provides the following translation:

Brillantessont les voies de Mithra,quand l parcourt e paysou il reioit bon traitement;largesprofondespourla gaoyaoiti;alorsleurbetailet leurshommesse meuventen toute liberte.

The key to understanding the verse and thus the term gaoyaoiti,"pasture," is the last line. Mithra through his gaoyaoiti provides aplace where humans and animals can live in complete freedom, a placewhich Benveniste terms "lieu d'asile." Yet, even in this verse, whichBenveniste uses to argue against a naturalistic interpretationof Mithra,the characteristics of the god which he shares with the sun confrontthe listeners: "brilliant are the paths of Mithra when he traverses thecountry where he is well-treated." Even when Mithra assumes the roleof tutor of cattle, he does so in a manner similar to a solar deity.It is worth noting at this point that we have already seen a conjunc-tion of pasture and sanctuary on the island of the Sun in Homer. Keepin mind that there is not only ample pasturage for the herds on thatisland, but the cattle there have also been endowed with an odd sortof immortality. Although Homer does not explicitly state that the Sunactually provides the cattle with these gifts, we can suppose he does sosince the gifts are explicitly provided by the Sun elsewhere in Greekmythology, namely in the story of King Augeas of Elis, as told in theTheocritean corpus. As we have seen, King Augeas, the son of Helios,truly maintains the widest pastures of any figure in Greek history, andthe poet of Theocritus 25 goes out of his way to create a picture ofAugeas' vast holdings: there were herds north at Buprasium and themountains of Acroria, south on the river Alpheus, and in central Elison the streams of the Helisus and the Menius. In these pastures a multi-

73Benveniste 1960.

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Mit(h)ra(s)and theMythsof the Suntude of grassesandgrainsare available or the herds.74Yet these largeholdingsare not theonly asset ascribed o Augeas.Heliosprovideshissonwith more cattle thananyotherhumanbeing,and what is more,healso protects he cattle from all diseasesand misfortunes.

Helios gavehis son a most excellentgift, thathe be richin flocksbeyondall othermen,and moreoverHelios himself increased he herdscontinuouslywithoutend,for neverdid anydisease befall them of the kind whichdestroythe works of theherdsmen.75

So in Greek myth we find at least two instances where amplepasturage s characterized s a lieu d'asile, free from sickness, death,and othercares,comparable o thatwhich Mithraof the wide pasturessecures.Thepertinentquestion s to ourstudyis whether his functionof Mithra s native to the god of contractor subsumed from the sungod.Thecattle-protectingspectsof Mithraarefoundas farback as theMithraYastandbeyondinto the hoary pastof Indo-Iranianulture, fGershevitch,Duchesne-Guillemin, ndDumezil are correct.However,the Sun too can lay claim to the title of protector.When Mithra ofthe Mithra Yast moves across the Aryanlands, he not only mimicsthe movements of the sun across the sky but also marks out a widearea for the Aryanpeoples. If the movementsof the sun are viewedas designatingthe boundariesof the land of the Aryans,the sun godtoo could lay claim to the title "possessingwide pastures," speciallysince the Sun in Greek cultureprovides a similarprotective aspect,particularlywhere cattle are concerned.In short,we cannot assumethat the qualities of Mithra are all native to Mithra;as he was notalways a sun god, he may not have always been a protectorof cattleor a guardianof thewide-pastures.These elementstoo could havejustas easily been aspectsof the character f the solardeity which Mithra

74The descriptionof Augeas' plantationstarts at line 7 and concludes with thewordsof summationat 29-31.75 25.118-22: 'HeXtos 6' ) JTi6'L oy6'CeoXov Odctoe 6bopov, / Cq)veLov [irqklsJtepi jdvTov eC[tevct avop6ov, / KCCLa ol aVTOS6)?eke 6aottjyepecos poxta JdtvTa/ es teXos ovi etv ydp TLS nCqkveOC vo&oos eKeivov / p3OVKOXlOLs,'ct' epyaKactam eLpovotL votlowv.

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David H. Sickassumedalong with his naturalsolar qualities.Bruno Jacobs in factgathered he classical sources on the Achaemenidsun god; he namesthe Sun as one of the three centraldeities in an Achaemenidpantheonpredating he transformationf Mithra romcontract o sun.76There s at least one locus in themajorIranian eligioustextswherecattleand the sun are oined togetherdirectly. n Yasna32, in listingthequalitiesof those who do not follow the teachingsof his new religion,the prophetrails againstmen who are too awestruckby the sun andcattle:

That man does indeed destroythe doctrine who says the worst thing for thepurposeof seeing the cow and the sun with his eyes. (32.10)77

The languagehere is straightforward;he questionis what does thepassage mean, and to what is the prophetreferringwhen he speaksof the cow and the sun. A numberof ideas have been put forward.Humbach,whose translationwe follow, thoughtthat the phrase"tosee the cow and the sun" referredto an Iranian ritual similar tothe Vedic ceremony of the rising sun.78George Cameronbelievesthe passage to be a pronouncementagainst the sacrifice of cattle.79HermannLommelthoughtit to be a sophisticattempt o convertthefollowers of the traditional eligion, with Mithraas the sun, and thecow beinga reference o thetauroctony.80 ershevitchalso workedonthis particularverse, but his translationwas marredby a syntacticalerror.81

Gershevitch's nterpretations not dependentupon his translationhowever.Using a parallelexpressionfrom Yasna9.29, Gershevitcharguesthatthe expression"to see the cow and the sun" means to go

76Jacobs1991.77hvo mdnd sravamorandat a acistamvaenagheaogada gqmasibydhvaraca.78See the translationor 32.10 in Humbach1959.79Cameron1968:279-80.80See Lommel1962.81Gershevitch onstruedacistamvaenaijghas anaccusativeand nfinitiveconstruc-tion similar o Latin ndirectdiscourse. See 1975:68-89. As Kellens 1988pointedoutin his commentaryo this verse,the infinitivecannotbe used this way in Avestan.

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Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the Sunto paradise. At Yasna 9.29 curses are called down upon the follower ofthe Lie, among which is found, "May he not see the earth with his evileyes; may he not see the cow with his evil eyes."82Gershevitch goes onto claim that "seeing the cow and the sun" is one step beyond "seeingthe cow and the earth,"and with the recognition thatparadise accordingto the Avesta is a sunny place, conjectures that "to see the cow andthe sun" at 32.10 refers to going to heaven. As we said, this line ofreasoning is not dependent on his translation, although the argumentitself could use further support.Gershevitch posited that Zoroaster had coined the expression "tosee the cow and the sun" for this particular hymn.83 The comparativeevidence would, however, argue to the contrary.We have already notedthe realm of immortality which the Sun surveys on Homeric Thrinakia.There are, furthermore, a few Vedic references to paradise as a realmof cattle and the sun, a fact more significant to the Iranian situation,because of the early association of the two peoples. In the Rg Vedaand Atharva Veda, we find that the souls of the beneficent travel to aparadise of bright light, a light which is often connected to the sun. Forexample, at RV 9.113.7 and 9, the hymnist prays for immortality:7. Where the light does not weaken,in that world wherethe sunlighthas been

placed,in thatdeathless,undecayingworld,O PavamanaSoma),set me. ...849. Where the way is pleasing, on the third vault(trindke)of heaven,possessed

82ma zqm vaenoit asibya, md gqm vaenoit asibya. Like many passages of theAvesta, Yasna 9.29 has been interpreteddifferently by differentscholars. StanleyInslerused9.29 as evidence for his claim that"to see thecow and the sun"meant"toremain alive"along with the expressiongqmhvaracavaan "to see the earth and thesun."See Insler'scommentaryo Yasna32.10. I arguethat Gershevitch's xplanationis more in keepingwiththe comparative vidence.83Gershevitch 1975:79: "And now you do not have to know another word ofAvestan.By relying on no more thancommon sense, one may confidentlysay that'seeingthe cow and the sun' was anidiom,perhapsevenan idiom inventedad hoc byZoroaster,or 'going to Paradise.'"84ydtra y6tir djasramydasmirhlokesvar hitadmtdsminm6an hehipavamanamrteloke dksite ...

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DavidH. Sickof three heavens (tridive), where the worlds are full of light, there make meimmortal....85

These versesgive us the connectionto light,but note also the locativeformstrinake,"third ault," ndtridive,"thirdheaven,"orthese wordswill providethe link to cows andthe key to understandinghe Gathicusage.AV 9.5 also deals with thequestionof immortality, irectlyrelatingthe offeringof sacrificialgoat to the winningof immortality.Further-more, in this hymnthe place whereimmortalitys bestowedis againdescribedas bright,and here the sun is mentionedexplicitly:

18. The goat Paficaudana,when cooked, dispelling the darknessof destruction,sets (one) in the worldwherethe suntravels;by him,maywe win the worlds fullof the sun.86The allusion to sacrificein this verse is worth consideration, or itis throughsacrifice that one attainsthe worldof immortal ight, andsacrifice s a importantmatter n thesolarmythologywe havereviewedpreviously.But what of cattle? The terms trindkd-and tridivd-recurin the same hymn with the term triprsthd-added. These terms ofcosmographycan be used to introducea bovine characterand tietogether he themesof sacrifice,sun,andcattlein the Vedicparadise:

10. The goat sets the one having given on the back of the vault, the backpossessedof threeheavens,of three vaults(trinake),of threebacks;you, o goat(Paficaudana), estowedupon a brahman,are the one wish-milkingcow of allforms.87

It is the odd reference o the kamadutghahenu-,"wish-milking ow,"which is mostintriguing.How does a goatbecomea cow?When a cowit is notaphysical entitybut a metaphororparadise a wish-milking

85ydtranukdmd'mdranam rinake ridivedivdh lokaydtra jydtismantas dtramamamrtam krdhi ...86aja'hpakvih svargelokedadhdtipancaudanonirrtimbadhamanah tena lokantsuryavato ayema II87ajds trinaketridivetriprsthenakasyaprsthedadivamsamdadhati pdncaudanobrahmdnedlydamanoisvarupadhenih kdmadtighasi kad

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Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the Suncow, a cow of paradise. It is not exceptional in Indo-Iranian thoughtfor a cow to represent a religious concept, such as immortality. Inthe Rg Veda, "cow," dhenu- can stand for dhl-, "poetic vision," and inAvestan, in a parallel manner, it seems that the cow represents daend,or "religious vision." It has recently been argued, in fact, that Mithrahimself, in duties assumed from the dawn, may serve as the tutor ofthe psychic aspect of the daena.88

By combining the information of RV 9.113 with that of AV 9.5we can now reveal a place on the back of the third vault of heavenwhich shines with light of the sun, where one may attain immortality;moreover, an omnipotent cow is used to describe that same region.89Thus, the cow and the sun, which Gershevitch hypothesized to be anidiom for heaven in Yasna 32, can be related to a region of immortalityin Vedic thought in addition to the immortality offered on HomericThrinakia.

The key to understanding this complex of solar mythology wouldseem to be sacrifice: the Sun is a keeper of contracts, and one of themost important forms of contract between immortals and gods is theritual of sacrifice. The ritual of sacrifice necessarily involves victims,and cattle are often the victim. Finally, one end of the ritual is oftenthe provision of immortality for both the victim and the sacrifier. Thussacrifice is the link between the sun and cattle and immortality.In confirmation of this interrelation, let us turnagain to the Bovine'sLament (Yasna 29), in order to note the role of sacrifice in that text.Even if sacrifice was de-emphasized in the Zoroastrian reform, thequestion of properritual remains an important issue in the hymn. Verse

88For the cow as a metaphor orreligiousorpoetic vision, see Malandra1983:37-38; Insler1975:141-47; andSchmidt1979:104-13. For Mithra'sassociationwith thedaenaas soul in the afterlife,see Kellens 1994:165-71. The role of psychopompmaybe another unction which Mithra assumes fromthe Sun. See Lincoln 1991:82-83,and Frame1978:21-24, 34-80.89There are other Vedic verses which link cows and immortality, he most con-spicuousof which is AV 10.10.26: vasamevamrtamdhur,theycall the cow immortallife... ," but see also AV4.35.8; 11.1.28; 18.4.30-34. For a fullerdiscussion of thesestructuresn the Vediccosmos, see Sick 1996b:121-69. and 1998:189-94.

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David H. Sickseven refersto themq#rawhichAhuraMazdamade for the libationoffat or butterand milk (azutois);as in the Vedicexampleof the mythof the Panis, the sacrificialelements must come from the Cow, andthe gods' involvement n the sacrificialritual is definite,since AhuraMazdahimself hasprovided hemq#raorreligiousformula o be usedin the ritual.90Furthermore,he hymnitself shows a strugglebetweenthose who worshipproperlyand those who do not.First,the Cow is tobe given to a personwho is carefulfollower of the religiousdoctrinesand who is well-acquaintedwith the sacred ormsof speech:"thisonewho obeys our teachings ... he wishes to chant hymns for us and forAsa, O Lord..." (29.8).91In the context of Yasna 29 this person isZarathustra. t is furthermore lear from the first verse that the Cowis suffering greathardship,held againsther will by a groupof non-believers. Verse two and the passages from the MithraYast (10.86)state explicitly that the captorsof the Cow are indeed the followersof the Lie. Since the Cow will providethe dzutois for sacrifice,onedefinite consequence of the illegal possession of the Cow by non-believers is the preventionof the ritual of sacrifice.92 f the hymn isthenattemptingo indicate the properownerof the Cow in orderthatshemaybe usedinherproper itual unction, helast verse of thehymn

90Formqara,see Bartholomae'sdictionary,wherehe explainsthat he word s usedmainlyforreligious expressionsandspells.Themqf#ras thus theholy formulawhichneeds to be uttered or theritual o be effective.

91aem ... ya nd aevo sasna gusata ... hvo na mazda vast[ asaicd carakarafrasravayegjhe....92Lincoln1981:153,agrees hat"thepurposeof thecattle s to provide he materialsfor libation sacrifice."The properform of sacrifice would be the use of the milkand butter rom a cow along with the correctmqc#ra.n his view the hymn reflectsa strugglebetweenpriestsandwarriorswithin Iranian ociety.Priestsmightuse thecows for their properritualfunction;warriorswould steal and slaughterthe cattleimproperly.Anotherfrequentlyoffered explanationis that Zarathustra isallowedanimalsacrifice,and hence the Cow is distraughtbecause it is being led off to besacrificedby non-Zoroastrians. incoln 1981:149n.42 lists those scholars who arguethat the Cow is to be sacrificed;Kellens2000 providesa strong argumentagainsttheclaim that the Gathiccommunitywas anti-ritual.

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Mit(h)ra(s)and theMythsof theSuntakes on new significance.The speakersrefer to theirown liberalitytoward hegods;thisliberalitymayreferto theworshippers'donationsto the god throughsacrifice.The last verse then distinguishesthosewho properlymake offeringsto the gods in the correct manner romthose who do not.V Conclusionsand a Prospectus or RomanMithraism

We have describedin some detail a system of myths centered onthe sun in Greece and India. In Iran,the land thatbridgesthe spacebetween India and Greececulturallyandgeographically, he situationis morecomplex,both becauseof the transformation f thegod Mithraand Zoroastrian eforms.Mithraassumes the physical natureof thesun, because of his function as a god of contract. He is also thedefenderof the Cow anda guardianof safe havens,termedpastures,aduty attributed o the Sun in Greece and India. Mithra's connectionto sacrifice and its resulting immortalgifts are more tenuous andsubsidiaryat best. If one posits thathe was the originaldefenderofthe Cow in Yasna29, he also would have been the tutorof the ritualby-productsof that animal. As a deity who maintainsa lieu d'asilefor animals and humans, he might have been the defender of theimmortalityawarded o sacrifierand sacrificialvictim.We have come quitefar in the originalgoal of this study;we haveshown that IranianMithra,althoughnot a solar deity in form untilafterthe Avestanperiod, assumed roles attributed o the solar deityin Greece and India,even withinthe Avestanperiod.Thus, in somesense, his transformation adalreadybegun,or he was predisposed osucha metamorphosis ecause of thespheresof influencehe assumed.As Gershevitchnoted in "Die Sonne das Beste,""It is one thingto bea sun god. It is quiteanother o be a god whose attributesncludeonethat is capableof servingas a pretext orpeopleto turnhim into a sungod."93We havediscoveredmorethan one suchattribute.The next stepin ourdelineationof thehistoryof Mit(h)ra(s) houldbe to search for a similarset of myths in the texts and monuments

93Gershevitch1975:75.

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David H. Sickof RomanMithraism.The comparisonwhich wouldresult from sucha search,because of the complexities and the long controversies nMithraic tudies,deserves its owntreatment.Fornow,we canonly of-fer a few suggestions.Theelementsof the mythswe haveoutlinedaresurelypresent n Roman Mithraism: attle,sacrifice,andimmortality.Associations with cattle are found in Mithras'epithet(3ovKX6JTog;94associationswith solemnagreementsarefoundin Mithraic ermssuchas dextrarum unctio andovvb6etog used in initiation;95ssociationswith sacrificein the famous tauroctonyof myth and the communalfeasts of thecult;associationswithimmortalityn the verynatureof amysterycult. But what of the Sun?In the Romancult, the solardeityandMithrasarenearly ndistinguishable.At times,the two are viewedaspartners, nd,at other imes,theyarethe samedeity.96We would ex-pect as much,for,if the RomanMithras s a descendantof the Iraniangod, he descends from a god in the process of transformation,who,althoughstrictlynot a solardeity,vauntsa resumelistingvariousnar-ratives rom a widespread olarmythology.Rhodes College DAVID H. SICKMemphis,TN [email protected]

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