Ti Zeus, the Phrygian god behind Olympian Zeus

Attested in several inscriptions and sources, Ti Zeus may be scarcely known in our time but shaped a major Phrygian deity in his day that was actually a king storm/sky god, namely wielding thunder and lightning as well as dwelling high in a holy mountain.

The abduction of Ganymede by Zeus

Name

His name comprises the theonym (proper name) of Ti (likely earlier Te), which apparently means ‘god’ (or even ‘lord’), along with the epithet/title ‘Zeus’⁽¹⁾ (pronounced as ‘zdeus’) that is very much certain of Phrygian origin spelling ‘heavenly, mighty,’ customarily attached to a king god in a geographical area or a religious polytheistic system.

The female equivalent of  Tiϝeia, meaning ‘goddess’ (or ‘mistress’), spelt with a wau (digamma) in the middle indicates that the name is very old while Ti appears also later as Ti(ϝ)-os⁽²⁾, with a likely (earlier) further version of Te(ϝ)os, in Old Phrygian which is most likely the root of the word ‘theos’ (‘θεός’⁽³⁾, meaning ‘god’ in Hellenic) later.

His name also appears in the form of Ti Jes, with Jes (/’zəs/) a later form of Zeus (/zdeus/), in neo-Phrygian towards the late first millennium BC.

Trojan War and Phrygian Olympus

Although his name may not ring a bell to you, Ti Zeus is actually the ‘Zeus’ that appears in the epoch of ‘Iliad’ and the legend of the Trojan War, hence why he seems to favour the defending Trojans, as he watches the battles rage on and weighs up the opposing sides along with the other gods (who may also often interfere in the warfare) from high in the Phrygian holy mountain Olympus.

The Phrygian Olympus, no other than modern Ulu-dağ in Turkey, is the genuine Olympus that commanded a plain view of the Troad and the battlefields beyond, thus shaping the holy mountain referred to by Homer and the other composers of the overall ‘Epic Cycle’ over the Trojan War.

For that matter, the very name Olympus/Olympos (or alternatively Ulympus/Ulympos) is most likely Phrygian itself as there was a very old Phrygian mountain god of that very name, maybe the same as the namesake primordial Oureo (Olympos) in place, who was an early consort of Phrygian supreme goddess Cybele as well as the inventor of the flute and father of the flute-playing Satyrs.

On the other hand, the mount Olympus in Thessaly, nowadays Greece, was originally named Belus⁽⁴⁾ apparently after Phoenician storm god Ba’al or Belu, with Herodotus recounting the legend of Phoenician Cadmus and his men gaining hold of the region, and was very likely renamed when Anatolian speakers later settled about and set up their own gods thereon, as place-names in the vicinity suggest.

Mount Ida

Zeus, namely Ti Zeus, is also mentioned by Homer to watch the battles outside Troy from the even closer outlook of Mount Ida in Phrygia, sacred to Phrygian supreme goddess Cybele, and likely from the altar in place dedicated to him as his birthplace, or hiding place after his birth, on a western foothill, near modern Adatepe, below.

The respective Mount Ida in Crete was named after this mountain and the legend of the birth, or hiding, of (Ti) Zeus therein was carried over following the influx of Hurrians, the ranks of whom the Phrygians may have emerged from, along with other Anatolian peoples to dominate over the island in the second age, starting around 1700 BC, of the so-called Minoan civilization.

(Ti) Zeus was also said to have abducted handsome divine Trojan hero Ganymede⁽⁵⁾, son of Tros founder of Troy, from nearby Mount Ida employing, or transformed himself as, the Eagle (a symbol and personification of Zeus) and taken him up to Olympus (Phrygia) where he made him the formal Cup Bearer, serving nectar and ambrosia, of the gods.

It is quite interesting that Ganymede’s predecessor as Cup Bearer for the gods, goddess Hebe, was also named Ganymeda which suggests she was apparently part of Trojan or Phrygian tradition and origin herself as well.

Quite simply, these were Phrygian and Anatolian legends that came over with the waves of Anatolian speakers that settled in what is now Greece in the second millennium BC and were much later incorporated in the mythology of the Hellenes that emerged out of them.

Eastern Roman references to Ti Zeus

Stephanus of Byzantium⁽⁶⁾ (6^th century AD), an Eastern Roman grammarian and historian, identifies Zeus with Ti (Zeus) and says that according to famed ancient Athenian orator and statesman Demosthenes he was known as Tios in Bithynia (north Anatolia), as further evidence.

Ti Zeus and Bas

Ti Zeus is also associated, even identified, with further Phrygian god Bas (ΒΑΣ) although the latter could be nothing more than yet another epithet for the former to the effect of ‘shining, bright.’

Nevertheless, I personally feel that ‘Bas’ more likely means ‘(divine) guardian/hero,’ thereby also bearing light, and it’s rather a potential similar form of ‘8as’ (‘8ΑΣ’) very likely pronounced as ‘fəs,’ out of the same root that could carry the sense of ‘shining, bright.’

The latter would also have a genitive form of ‘8os’ (voiced as ‘fos’) which would make the very likely root of Hellenic ‘φως’ (light).

The sense of ‘(divine) guardian’ in ‘bas’ could be drawn out of the respective suffix in ‘Cory-bas,’ the singular form of Phrygian Cory-bant(e)s (the priest-guardians of Cybele), for instance.

Here, the first component either refers to the particular crested helmet (corys) they wore as ‘crested helmet guardian’ or even more so means mountain (corys) to the sense of ‘mountain guardian,’ as Corybantes were.

For that matter, the rare letter ‘8’ is rather erroneously given formally as equivalent to ‘B’ in Phrygian as judging by its pronunciation in the few other ancient alphabets that contain it, such as neighbouring Lydian, it is most likely voiced as ‘f’ instead.

The epithet ‘Bagaios’

Ti Zeus seems to also carry the epithet Ba-gaios which may spell ‘earth guardian’ as he resides on (Phrygian) Olympus which was a primordial guardian of the earth as an Oureo (or Oreo).

Furthermore, the structure ‘gaios’ (devoted to/of the earth) recommends a certain feminine form of ‘gaia’ (devoted to/she of the ‘ge’ (ΓΗ), which means ‘earth’) and therefore the origin of the same word that appears in the so-called ‘Homeric Hellenic,’ which is heavily influenced by Luwian and Phrygian.

Ti Zeus, the god behind Olympian Zeus

Working up to a crescendo, Phrygian Ti Zeus is actually the Olympian Zeus celebrated at the ancient Olympic Games in Olympia (modern Greece). Yes, you read that right!

That is actually clearly demonstrated by the multi-figure Late Archaic terracotta statue group displaying Zeus carrying young Ganymede up to mount Olympus that adorned the Olympic complex, dated to around 480 – 470 BC.

As accounted earlier, that is a Phrygian/Anatolian myth that regards Ti Zeus and the abduction of the Trojan Prince to nearby Phrygian Olympus to serve as Cup Bearer for the gods invoked in the statues.

On top of that, Ti Zeus was Olympian anyway as he resided, and presided, among the gods in the Phrygian Olympus.

After all, the very founding of the ancient Olympics lay in the victory of legendary Phrygian Pelops, venerated himself in Olympia, in a chariot race to become king of Pisa, Peloponnese, so that makes perfect sense.

Peloponnese itself was named after him, meaning ‘Pelops’s Island,’ as along with his son Atreus and their line that included the likes of Agamemnon and Menelaus formed the effective second and more powerful Phrygian dynasty of what much later became known as ‘Achaean’ world, a name that also looks as though originating in Anatolia.

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(1) As I have reiterated, ‘Zeus’ is not a theonym (actual name of a god that is) but an epithet meaning ‘heavenly, mighty’ that is of Phrygian origin attributed to a king god in a polytheistic system or a geographical area.

It always followed the theonym in an honourary function as can further be attested in Ma Zeus (apparently Cybele) where the same Phrygian structure was applied with ‘ΔΕΥΣ’ or ‘ΔΕΣ’ (meaning ‘god,’ but not a king one) as occurs in ΜΗΝ ΔΕ(Υ)Σ.

The Hellenes later adopted the epithet in the very same form and pronunciation, as well as the above mentioned structure.

(2) ‘Tios’ was originally the genitive form of ‘Ti’ incidentally.

(3) The letter ‘θ’ was pronounced as aspirated ‘t’ in ancient Hellenic.

(4) Apparently, Thessalian Olympus retained ‘Belus/Belos’ as a second name.

(5) Unlike what is given around, ‘Ganymede’ seems rather likely to mean ‘Beautiful/Beaming (gany-) Prince (mede),’ where the stem ‘gan-‘ exists in Phrygian (possibly spelling ‘craft,’ ‘skill’), but it could also trace all the way back to ancient Sumerian ‘gan’ (‘slave/depended’) to the effect of ‘Slave Prince’ that also fits the profile.

Furthermore, the original form ‘Ganymede’ without a final ‘-s’ falls in line with the early Phrygian formation of nouns.

(6) The attributive ‘of Byzantium’ was apparently attached to him much later.

Wiluša (Hittite) is indeed Troy (Ilion)

It has long been suggested by historians that the city of Wiluša or Wilusiya mentioned in Hittite records, as early as around 1400 BC, is actually no other than legendary Troy, the setting of the famous Trojan War sometime (probably halfway) through the 13th century BC.

That said, I can personally bear testament to it definitely being the case after I recently demonstrated that the alternate name of ‘Ilion’ for Troy is actually the pronunciation of Aeolian ‘Αελιον,’ with an apparent Luwian root, from an earlier form of ‘ΑϜελιοv’ (with digamma ‘F’ pronounced as ‘w’) meaning ‘of Helios/the Sun.’

That equates to ‘Helion’ in the Attic and Ionian dialects and was actually voiced as ‘`I:elion’ in Aeolian since that ‘A’ at the beginning of the name was pronounced as a long ‘i,’ which overwhelmed and with time soaked up the sound of following ‘e’ to eventually render ‘Ilion.’

The earlier form ‘ΑϜελιοv’ shares the very same stem ‘-Ϝελ-‘ (wel) as ‘Wil-‘ in Wiluša (‘(-u)-ša’ meaning ‘city (of)’) which is also pronounced as ‘wel,’ apparently of also Luwian origin, carrying the same sense of ‘sun’ again and therefore the two names fully identify as ‘City of the Sun.’

And, of course, ‘Wiluša’ definitely doesn’t carry the sense of ‘pasture, meadow’ (in which case would have a pattern of ‘Wellu-ša’), in yet another unfortunate etymology given…

Why ‘Ilion’ (Troy) translates as ‘Helion’ (City of the Sun)

Today I am going to probe into a matter that I speculated for some years but couldn’t quite establish the necessary connection and accordance between the names until I recently noticed something important as regards the pronunciation of a certain letter in the ancient Lesbian (Aeolian) dialects recently.

It has got to do with the alternate appellation of Troy as Ilion and how exactly the latter translates even though both names are of Anatolian descent and seem to shape linguistic developments to renderings of the respective Hittite and Luwian names for the city-state.

There is also the possibility that they don’t represent exactly the same thing as Ilion could have been the name of the citadel of Troy more precisely. Both present great interest notwithstanding.

The name of Troy

To begin with, the name ‘Troy’ shapes the English rendering of Latin ‘Troia’ (pronounced as ‘Tr’oia’) and that in turn coming either directly from Luwian or through Doric ‘Τρωΐα’ (pronounced as ‘tr’uia’) or ‘Τροϊά’ (pronounced as Troi’a), with Doric showing an evident Luwian origin as dialects, and these ultimately from Hittite Taru-(ú-)iša (pronounced as Ta’ru(u)esa’) interpreted as ‘True/Strong City.’

Personally, all the same, I reckon that the first component ‘taru-‘ is most likely a Hattic loan and rather represents king god Tar(h)u, who is the same or equivalent to Hittite Tarḫun, to the sense of ‘City of (god) Tar(h)u’ for the name of Troy instead.

Tar(h)u was a major god in the various forms of his name such as Tarḫun among the Hittite, Tarḫunt among the Luwians or Teshub among the Hurrians over the entire Anatolia in the second millennium BC whilst such an interpretation of the city’s name is further backed up by the word ‘toro-ja’ (woman of Troy) that is attested in Linear B.

Semitic ‘toro’ is regarded as the root of ‘taurus’ (Latin) or ‘tauros’ (Hellenic, pronounced as ‘towros’) but as I have asserted in another post actually descends from the name of god Tar(h)u again, whose signature animal was the bull (taurus).

The name of Ilion

In its turn, ‘Ίλιον’ (Ilion) ought to have come from an earlier form of ‘Ϝιλιον’ beginning with a digamma (wau) (pronounced as ‘Wilion’) ultimately deriving on the Hittite Wil-uša (pronounced as ‘we’lisa’), for which there is no available etymology.

Approaching it on a different angle, yet, ‘Ήλιος’ (Helios) had the shape of ‘Αέλιος’ (Aelios) in Aeolian which originated from an earlier form of Αϝελιος (Awelios), starting with a digamma itself as well.

The surprise coming in over here, however, is that as I found out that ‘A’ at the beginning of Aeolian words isn’t voiced as ‘a’ as one would expect but as long ‘i’ instead (and usually accented).

Therefore, ‘Αϝελιος’ will be rendered as ”I(i)welios’ and its development of ‘Αελιος’ will be voiced as ‘I(i)elios,’ with a respective neutral form of ‘Αελιον’ (voiced as ‘I(i)elion’).

Where that long sound of ‘i’ at the beginning virtually overwhelmed that of the following ‘e,’ which was completely soaked up with time, so that eventual’Ίλιος’ (Ilios) and ‘Ίλιον’ (Ilion) came about respectively (pronunciation).

Thereby, ‘Ίλιον’ (Ilion) is the Aeolian sounding of ‘Αελιον’ which corresponds to ‘Ηλιον’ (Helion) in the Attic and Ionic dialects spelling ‘City of Helios (Sun)’ for Troy.

Pronunciation of Aeolian ‘A-‘

Let there be noted that, by implication, ‘Αίολος’ (Aeolos) or ‘Eolos’ (Eolos) is pronounced as ‘Iolos,’ ‘Αιολεια’ (Aeolia) or ‘Εολεια’ (Eolia) is voiced as ‘I’olea’ and ‘Αιολείς’ (Aeolians) or ‘Εολείς’ (Eolians) as ‘Ioles’ respectively.

By extension, that ‘-ϝέλ-‘ (-wel-) in ‘Αϝέλιος’ (Iwelios) is most likely/apparently the Aeolian rendering of Hittite/Luwian ‘wil-‘ in ‘Wil-uša ,’ which as I understand was voiced as ‘wel’ (had the same sound that is) carrying the sense of ‘sun’ again.

Something that reflects the Luwian and Anatolian roots of the Aeolian dialects.

PS All letters in Aeolian were capital while the suffix ‘(-u)-ša’ in Hittine means ‘city (of).’

Γιατί το ‘Ίλιον’ (Τροία) είναι κανονικά ‘Ήλιον’

Σήμερα θα ασχοληθώ με κάτι που υπέθετα εδώ και μερικά χρόνια αλλά δεν μπορούσα να βρω την σύνδεση και αντιστοιχία του μέχρι που τυχαία παρατήρησα κάτι σε ό,τι αφορά την προφορά ενός συγκεκριμένου γράμματος στις Αιολικές διαλέκτους πρόσφατα.

Και αυτό έχει να κάνει με την εναλλακτική ονομασία της Τροίας ως Ίλιον και τι ακριβώς σημαίνει το δεύτερο αν και τα δύο ονόματα έχουν ανατολίτικη προέλευση και δείχνουν να αποτελούν εξελίξεις αποδόσεων αντίστοιχων Χιττιτικών και Λούβιων ονομάτων για την πόλη-κράτος.

Υπάρχει επίσης η περίπτωση να μην αντιπροσωπεύουν ακριβώς το ίδιο πράγμα ως ονόματα με το Ίλιο να είναι η ακρόπολη της πόλης της Τροίας πιο συγκεκριμένα. Και τα δύο έχουν ενδιαφέρον πάντως.

Το όνομα Τροία

Ξεκινώντας, το όνομα Τροία δείχνει να είναι εξέλιξη στην Κοινή του Δωρικού Τροϊά ή Τρωϊά (προφερόμενο ως ‘Τρούια’), τα οποία Δωρικά έχουν Λούβια προέλευση, και προέρχεται από το Χιττιτικό Taru-(ú-)iša που αποδίδεται ως ‘Αληθινή/Σθεναρή Πόλη.’

Προσωπικά, ωστόσο, θεωρώ ότι ότι αυτό το ‘taru-‘ ως πρώτο συνθετικό είναι πιθανώς Χαττικό ‘δάνειο’ και αντιθέτως αντιπροσωπεύει το θεό Tar(h)u, που είναι το αντίστοιχο ή ο ίδιος με τον Χιττιτικό Tarḫun, και να σημαίνει ‘Πόλη του (θεού) Taru’ αντιθέτως.

Ο Tar(h)u ήταν κυρίαρχη θεότητα με τις διάφορες μορφές του ονόματός του ως επίσης Tarḫun (Χιττίτες), Tarḫunt (Λούβιοι) ή Teshub (Hurrians) σε όλη την Ανατολία τη δεύτερη χιλιετερίδα π.Χ. ενώ σε μια τέτοια πιθανή ερμηνεία του ονόματος της πόλης δείχνει να συνηγορεί το ‘toro-ja’ (γυναίκα της Τροίας) που εμφανίζεται στη Γραμμική Β.

Το σημιτικό ‘toro’ θεωρείται η ρίζα του ‘ταύρος’ που στα ελληνικά προφερόταν ως ‘τόουρος’ και έχω πει σε άλλο post ότι ουσιαστικά προέρχεται απο το όνομα του θεού Tar(h)u και πάλι, με τον ταύρο να αποτελεί το ζώο-σύμβολό του.

Το όνομα Ίλιον

Με τη σειρά του, το Ίλιον προέρχεται λογικά από μια προηγούμενη μορφή του ως ‘Ϝίλιον’ με δίγαμμα στην αρχή (‘Γουίλιον’) από το Χιττιικό Wil-uša για την πόλη, για το οποίο δεν δείχνει να υπάρχει διαθέσιμη ετυμολογία.

Προσεγγίζοντας το από μια άλλη γωνία, το ‘ήλιος’ στα Αιολικά ήταν Αελιος που προερχόταν από μια παλαιότερη μορφή ως Αϝελιος (Αγουελιος) με δίγαμμα.

Η έκπληξη εδώ όμως είναι ότι όπως διαπίστωσα αυτό το ‘Α’ στην αρχή των αιολικών λέξεων δεν προφέρεται ως ‘α’ όπως θα περίμενε κανείς αλλά ως μακρό ‘ι’ (και συνήθως τονισμένο).

Έτσι, το ‘Αϝελιος’ θα είναι ‘Ί(ι)γουελιος’ και η εξέλιξή του ως ‘Αελιος’ θα είναι ‘Ί(ι)ελιος,’ με αντίστοιχο ουδέτερο στο ‘Ί(ι)ελιον,’ όπου η μακρά απόδοση του ‘ι’ στην αρχή ουσιαστικά εξαφανίζει τον ήχο του ακόλουθου ‘ε,’ που με την πάροδο του χρόνου θα απορροφήθηκε εντελώς, για να προκύψει τελικά το ‘Ίλιος’ και ‘Ίλιον’ αντίστοιχα (προφορά).

Συνεπώς, το ‘Ίλιον’ είναι η αιολική ηχητική απόδοση του ‘Αελιον’ που αντιστοιχεί στο ‘Ήλιον’ (Χέλιον) στην Αττική και Ιωνική που θα αποδίδει ‘Πόλη του Ήλιου’ για την Τροία.

Η προφορά του Αιολικού ‘Α-‘

Να σημειωθεί ότι το Αίολος (ή Έολος) προφέρεται ‘Ίολος’ και το ‘Αιολεία’ (ή Εολεία) ως ‘Ιόλεα’ και το Αιολείς (ή Εολείς) ως ‘Ιόλε(ε)ς’ αντίστοιχα.

Κατ’επέκταση, το ‘- ϝελ-‘ στο ‘Αϝελιος’ θα είναι πιθανώς/εμφανώς η αιολική απόδοση του Χιττιτικού/Λούβιου ‘wil-‘ στο ‘Wil-usa,’ που από ό,τι έχω καταλάβει προφερόταν ως ‘γουελ-‘ (είχε τον ίδιο ήχο δηλαδή ουσιαστικά), με την έννοια του ήλιου και πάλι.

Κάτι που αντανακλά και τις γενικότερες Λούβιες και Ανατολίτικες ρίζες των Αιολικών διαλέκτων.

ΣΣ Στα Αιολικά όλα τα γράμματα ήταν κεφαλαία μόνο ενώ το επίθεμα ‘(-u)-ša’ στα Χιττιτικά σημαίνει ‘πόλη (του/της).’