UW-Madison ILL Lending (GZM) 728 State Street / Madison, WI 53706 zg 3s 3 8 3 & GZM TN: Borrower: CGU Lending String: “GZM,EEM,UPM,NUI,OSU,LDL,COO,Z (GM.WOO, YHM, WEL, VWMIXA\IPS,YS. M Patron: Journal Title: The Journal of Indo- European studies. Volume: 5 Issue: MonthiYear: 1977 Pages: 247-64 Article Author: Bruce Lincoln Article Title: “Death and Resurrection in Indo-European Thought” OCLC Number: 1786142 ILL # - 178757737 Location: mem Call #: AP J83 1424 Request Date: 20170608 MaxCost: 40.001FM Billing Category: Shipping Address: Interibrary Loan Service University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th St, JRL AGO Chicago, ilinois 60637-1596 United States Borrowing Notes: Borrowing Notes: SHARES, GMR, BRDR Copyright Compliance: CCL ODYSSEY This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code).DEATH AND RESURRECTION IN INDO-EUROPEAN THOUGHT* BRUCE LINCOLN University of Minnesota ‘The author examines ideas expressed in vtious Indi, Iranian and Roman ‘tents and exprewer the belief that there indiate parle turvals of Frotolado-European thoughts concrming the natare of death and the relationships ofthe body &o the pats of the cosmos. In general, the Proto-Indo-European peoples seem to have had an understanding of death as the separation of the spiri- tual or intellectual qualities of man from his material or Dodily nature. Although no terms for “body” and “soul” as such can be reconstructed for the Proto-Indo-European language, there are sufficient terms in the later Indo-European Janguages that are semantically parallel to show that these concepts were present, and were considered opposites. Thus, witness in Greek yuq} and odya.in Latin animus and corpus, in Sanskrit asu- or dtman- and tani- or sarira-, in Avestan urvan- or baodah- and ast- ot kehrpa-, in Old Norse hamingja, Ailgia or nd, and lk. (1) The separation of these two elements is attested in various texts, (2) and opinion seems to have varied as to whether it took place immediately upon death, at the funeral (particularly when cremation was practiced), or after a period of thirty or forty days which allowed for decomposition of the body (when burial was observed). (3) The topic of the soul’s fate after death was one of great * I would like to take this opportunity to thank Wendy DonigesO"Faherty and \W. W. Malandra, who were kind enough to read and make invaluable comments on en cater draft of thivarticle. (1) (On these various concepts, see Albrecht Schnauter, Fri ‘er Totengieube (Hildsheim: Georg Ola, 1970), pp. B8fE; A.B. Keith, Religion and Phiowophy of the Vede ond Upenshads (Cambsdge: Hanasd Univenity Pea, 1928), p. 405; Herman Lommel, Die Reliton.Zarethurer nach, dem Aweste dargestells (Tbingen: J.C. Mohr, 1990), p. 171; and Jan DeVries, Atgermanische ‘Religionigerchichte, 2 vos. (Bevin: Walter de Gruyter, 1970), pp. 222 1. (2) See, for intance, lad 16886, 22. 362; Odjusey 1121422; Ru 10.161, 10.1844; Bhagavad \Gitd 220; Yama 55.2; Videodet €.81, 19.7; Colfaginnng 8; Procoph, De Bello Gohico, 4.20.42 Beowilf 420-24, ete (3) On this nt ies, eee Kurt Ranke, Pndogermaniiche Totenverehrang. 1. Die reliate und vierigate Tage im Totenkuit der Indogermancn (Hela: Acadeaia Scientiarum Fennica, 1951), pp. 887, $42.6. The importance of decompesition in famerary cology and practice has alo been stewed by George Ee Mylonas, “Homeric and Mycenacan Burial Cutoms,” American Jownsl 0f Archocolog) 52 (1948): 60, 62, and 7071,248 INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES interest to the Indo-Europeans, and there is rich comparative material on the joumey to the otherworld, the deities of the dead, the guardians of the path, the hell-hound, the spirits in heaven, and so forth. Several classic studies have been devoted to different parts of this ideology, (4) and I hope to have the opportunity of returning to this topic at some later time. For the moment, however, I am more interested in the other, less studied side of the question: namely, what happens to the body after death? This question tums out to be a good deal more complicated than it might seem at first. One might, for instance, be tempted to answer that the body was either bumed or buried, and that was the end of it But even ignoring the thorny problem of whether burial or cremation was the older IE means of disposing of the corpse, (5) such a facile answer will not suffice. The difficulty is that such a formulation addresses only the ritual side of the problem, and ignores that of ideology. Upon examination of certain texts, chiefly mytho- logical and theological ones, it becomes apparent that the Proto-Indo-Europeans, had certain well formulated views of what became of the material side of life after the funeral was completed, and it is to this issue of what was believed rather than simply what was done I would like to call attention. Indo-Iranian Ideas It is convenient to begin by examining the Indo-Iranian evidence, as the Indo-Iranians generally tend to have been the most conservative of the Indo-European families in their preser- vation of religious materials. This is no doubt due in large measure to the existence of a well-stablished priestly class, a tradition of faithful oral transmission of texts, and a continu. ing sense of cosmogonical/cosmological consciousness in both (4) Note expecally Hermann Guntert, Kalypzo (Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1919); ‘dem, Kundry (Hicideberg: Casi Winter, 1928); W. Caland, Ober Totehverehrung. bet cinigen der indogermanischen Volker (Amsterdam: Johannes Miller, 1688); ‘and Paul Thieme, Studien zur indogermaniichen Worthunde und Religionagcrchichte (Genin: Akademie Verlag, 1952). (8). For a general summary of the PLE funeral and the problemas of its re- ‘constuction, see Otto Schrader, Retllexihon der indogermantichan dltersunshsn, ‘ed. A. Nehring, 2 vols. (Bern: Walter de Gruyter, 1917-23), 1: 102-18, 128-36. DEATH AND RESURRECTION IN LE THOUGHT 249 the Indian and PreIslamic Iranian communities. The last of these factors is particularly important, for as we shall see, the question of the body's fate turns out to be a cosmo- ;onical and cosmological question. - She indication of this found in a text from the Brhadar- anyaka Upaniged (9.2.18), in which a certain Artabhiga estions the great saga Yajnavalkya: man enters the fire, his breath the wind, his eye the sun, his mind the moon, his ear the quarters, his flesh the earth, his dtman the atmosphere, his bodily hair the herbs, the hair of his head the trees, and his blood and semen are deposited in the waters, what then does this man become?” “Take my hand, dear Artabhiga. Only we two will now of titer it not for us (te tall of) here in the rresence of people.” (6) Fe will immediately ies Gera transformations of the body into the elements of the universe which Artabhaga describes are virtually the same as those described in the famous Purusasizkta, the creation hymn of the Rg Veda in which the first sacrificial victim's body supplies the material for creation, his breath becoming the wind, his eye the sun, his mind the moon, and so on (RV 10.90.13-14). Moreover, this myth has been shown to be an extremely faithful reflex of the Proto- Indo-European creation myth, (7) which contained a similar set of homologies between the body of the first sacrificial victim and the elements of the cosmos, homologies which were highly influential on P-LE religious thought in a number of contexts. (8) = In the Brhadayanyaka, however, Yajfiavalkya treats the doctrine expounded by Artabhaga as a profound secret, fit ponnye tas yun pur mney ie peter Ciera minal cane dh Strate pon tn Sta ek 2 A cee iba ao aes apy ot ccf ise st asain sles lee “Be Tlie td npn gf eon” Hr oR (8) Buc Lesa, Tretment of Har and Pingeals among the Ino saat ane nano uSi S250 INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES only for the private discussion of sages. It is, in effect, an esoteric teaching accessible only to the most knowledgeable of men, and perhaps this is the reason it does not appear more prominently in the Vedas, Brahmanas and Upanisads. The same idea docs tum up, however, in another passage from the Brhadaranyaka Upanigad. Immediately preceding the text in Guestion, the familiar story of a battle between the gods (devas) and demons (asuras) is told, and here the gods attempt to use one ofthe sacred metrical chants, the Udgitha, as a weapon against their rivals. Successively they ask Speech, Breath, Eye, Ear, and Mind to try to recite the chant, but each is attacked by the demons and overpowered by them. Finally, the gods Persuade the Breath in the Mouth to try the chant, and he (it?) succeeds. The demons are thus overpowered, and the Breath in the Mouth is elevated to the status of a deity. All this is told in Brhad. Upan. 1.8.1-10, and verses 11-16 take up the fate of those entities which attempted the chant and failed: Truly that deity warded off the evil death of those deities; thus he carried them over death, He carried Speech over first, and when that one escaped death it became the fire: That fire, having stepped beyond death, blazes forth. Next he carried Breath over, and when that one escaped death. it became the wind. That wind, having stepped beyond death, purifies. Next he carried Eye over, and When that one escaped death it became the sun. That sun, having stepped beyond death, warms. Next he carried Ear over, and when that one escaped death it became the cardinal points. Those cardinal points have stepped beyond death. Next he carried Mind over, and when that one escaped death it became the moon. That moon, having stepped beyond death, shines. Truly thus, that deity carries him who knows this over death. (9) (9) (11) sf ot ote devatalesiny devatanam sprinam mrtyum apahatya athaing sevtyum atyavahat // (12) a val vcam eva prathamtm atyavabat I] yade mrtveoe ‘aeyamucyata so ‘git abbarat [/ 10 ‘yam aga parena mtyum aikrino atprate[] (23) ata pripam atyavahat //s8 yadd mtyum atyarcyata ta vayur tbaiet ff oe ‘yan viyuh parena mtyum athrintah pavate //(14) athacakgur atjarahat [fod yade mye atyanucyata #8 aditye Thavat suikrntastapati// (15) athe ota atyeabat [| “tyayahat // tad yad2 mstyum atyamucyata su candrama abbavat[]0 ee sane arena mytyum atkrinto. hit // evam ha vi enam ep devel juss acetate Yaevny vede 7 DEATH AND RESURRECTION IN IE THOUGHT 251 ‘The same basic ideology is here that was found in the dialogue of Yajfiavalkya and Artabhaga, although here it is set within a mythological frame-story. In both we are told that upon death the elements of the body become the elements of the cosmos, although this is stated more directly by Artabhiga. Here, we must understand that when Speech, Breath, Eye, Ear and Mind were attacked by the Asuras, they were killed, and it is the successful chanting of the Breath in the Mouth which redeems them or “carries them over” (ath/oah-) death, In effect, this ritual chant purifies them and perfects them so that rather than being simply dead matter, they become the energized matter of creation: fire, wind, sun, cardinal points, ‘and moon. Finally we are told, in typical Upapigadic fashion, that the ritual chant is not absolutely necessary to effect this change, and that whoever possesses this esoteric knowledge will also be similarly transformed upon death. The earliest text in which the idea of the fate of the body is tims dread cociny fn the last Mandala of the Bg Ved and can probably be dated to about 1000 B.C. It comes in the or —— Cl as follows: 1.Do not bum this (body) up, O Agni, do not consume his skin, do not dispatch his flesh. When you have cooked it, Jatavedas, then send it forth to the Fathers. -_ 2.When you have cooked it, Jatavedas, give it over to thers. will become the servant of the gods. 3. (To the corpses) “May your eye go to the sun. May your atman go to the wind, and may you go to the heaven and the earth, according what is right — or go to the waters if you are placed there. May you establish the plants with your flesh. (11) (10) Contes Keith, p. 405 and A.A. Mactonnel, Vedic Mythology (Strassburg: ‘Karl Tribner, 1897), p. 168. oe (11) (1) mainam apne vi daho mibhi doco misya teicam ciksipo a 7 ‘yadd gdchtydounttim etm dtha devindm vadanirbhavat252 INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES In this text, the homologies drawn between the parts of the body and the parts of the cosmos are not nearly so well delineated as they were in the two earlier texts we considered, Nevertheless, the equation of eye and sun is present, as is thar between the “soul” (aman) and an aethereal substance hens wind and in Brhad. Upan. 8.2.18 the atmosphere (2hiéa). In place of the more usual association of hair and plants is Foundd that of flesh (éarira) and plants. (12) While not identical to their details, nevertheless the three ‘texts preserve the same fundamental idea: the parts of the body become parts of the niverse upon an individual's death. Yet, observing that the 18.2.21-26), certain experts have argued that the Vedic tet cited above is of no consequence, and is only a feeble imitation of RV 10.90, representing no authentic aspect of Trion funcrary ideology. (18) Given the comparative macenl adduced below, however, this opinion seems ill founded. ‘The process whereby the world is created or re-created out of {te uman body seems to have been considered reversible, given the testimony of the Aitareya Upanisad. First there ic the account of the creation from man’s body (puruga) in 134, He (the primordial Atman) considered, “Now there ae worlds, I should create world-guardians.” Having extracted man (purusan) from the waters alone, he caused him to take solid form. He heated him, and from that one thus heated, a mouth broke off, ike an egg. From the mouth there was specch, from speech, fire. His nostrils broke off. From the rest, there was breath, from breath wind. His eyes broke off, From the eyes, there was sight; from sight, the sun. His fs broke off. From the ears, there was hearing; from hearing, the world-quarters. His skin broke off. From the skin, there was hair; from hair, plants and trees, His (6) sbryam cakgurgacchatu vatam stm dyin ca gccha prthivin ex ddbarmand / ‘Po ccha vi trate hitim Sgadhigu pratt cir Sree teat tnd platy, se incl, “Treatment of Hai tnd Fingemais among the Indo-Buropeana.” (18) Thus, e4., Keith, p. 405. Simiarly, 8 vols. (Stuttgart: W. Kohihamnmen, 1960) 1 253, DEATH AND RESURRECTION IN LE THOUGHT m the heart, there was mind; from wea, the moon, His navel broke off, Prom the navel That’ vas the downward. breath; from the downward breath, death. His penis Poke of, Pom the peat the men; from semen, water. (14) Seciy ‘dareafter: mans recreated and seaimated, What ears to have bappened is that when his various gant abandoned him, the man who had been formed from vater and clay fell Lifeless. In order to restore his life, the proces whereby his body became the universe must be reverse, is is what is described in 2. : this athe eee: Atman) brought man to them ihe clements eeated from his body). They sd, “Oh, well made!” Truly, man is well-made. He tol : enter into his own place.” a i speech, entered the mouth. wind hang Become broth entered the nowt Ph, having become sgh, entered the eyes. The world quarters, ving become sound, entered the ears, Pants and tres, faving become hairs, entered the skin. The moon, havi i Become mind, entered the est, Dest, bang becom the dovmvard breath, entre he nel, The waters ng become semnen, entered the penis. (15) i Om obe Teves thi txt simply presents an ideology see perception, whereby the action of the sense organs i elevated vi fon another level, it tells of the fonaten st the human body after the primordal ‘death, Irn inthis sense a text describing a resurrection, and it Comresponds closely fo cern Iaian fens ofan eachatologi 1 ua ay stones it | rc rn athe Ue Shay I tamshyatapenanyabbiaplaya sukharynisbhayate yathndame wera elo SS ee Susp scans tt te neat cats EEE acne eet ethene ic vata hdayanmano manasaécandrama ni irabhidyata Seam uate aurctctie aaci +15) eabhyeh purugaminyatté abrovan sukrtam me Meer ings kha prvadvayu pane Dave nhc lacunae decent ria Se eT ee a sgie ete meee ey254 INDO-EUROPEAN stUDIES earn Sab nesunnecriow is 1 THOUGHT 28 nature, The relevant texts both ihe relevant texts both take up the question of how ahysial ection can be accomplished, Thefts taken roe the Paha ‘companying the Dadestn 1 Dénig, reads (Regarding) that which dies, So% ( ) that which dies, Sdiyans, together the ‘ascomplshers of the Renovation, who. are "he ‘eastants, they set out to the dead body. And Ohemard fummons the bone from the earth, the blood from the wind He mixes one with the other and 20 the Ringtone e other, and in his manner fe resurrection is thu c rae 8 presented as the reve the teatenbly of those pars which wee dipened wing | In order to reestablish one’s bod “7 40 that it may be reunited with one's soul gee Chemacd, the creator, and Soiyans, the eschatolannt eer ‘0 gather up all the bodily matter that has ee to people asf wat in life, This notion of be nas a reversal is made even’ m: in Greater Bundahisn (220. 18Et), where aopet a tn ot only of death, but ofthe creation as wells yn the resurrection ‘pod sciptre tha whereas Maya end uns ete a tha ya and MaSyani who had gro up from the earth, fist ate water, then plants, iene and then mest. Men too, when they di, fist cease to eat meat, (then) milk, and’ then bread, and until they. die GY omy drink water. Thus, also in the millennium of » (18) the strength of appetite diminishes such that men attain satiety for three days and nights from cating (just) one food. After that, they cease from eating ‘meat and they eat plants and the milk of domestic animals. ‘After that, they cease from eating meat and they eat plants and the milk of domestic animals. After that, they ‘cease from eating milk and eating plants too, and they drink water. In the ten years before Sdiyans comes, they do not eat (at all) and they do not die. Then Sofyans causes the dead to be raised up. Tt is said thus that Zartuxit asked of Ormazd, “Whence is the body is remade, which the wind leads off and the water carries away, and how does the resurrection come to be?” (19) Ohrmazd’s first response is to say that it is he who created the sky, the earth, the sun, moon and stars, grain, fire, humanity, clouds, and the atmosphere. He than goes on to say: “Each one of these was more difficult when they were created than accomplishing the resurrection of the dead. For in the resurrection of the dead, I will have the help of ones such as these (je. that which has been created), which I did not have when I made them. Look, ‘If I made that which was not, why is it not possible to make again’ ‘that which was?” For at that time, I will summon bone from the spirit of the earth, blood from the water, hair from plants, and the life from the wind, just as these were received in the primordial creation.”” (20) In order to interpret this fascinating text, it is important (19) abar sists 1 tan pasdn, gowed pad dén ki az tn ciyén Maiya ud Maiyiat ‘ke Go Pamig abar rust hend,nazdist Ab ud pas urwar pas Br ud pas gbitxward hend. nardomiskafan ud rourd[an] nazdist g0% (pas) $ir ud pas az nan xwardan be fotend, ud Gwar ts be murdan ab sorarénd. 2d0niz pad hazirag 1 Ustarmah néroe 1B "Mion be bahid ka marddem pad €k pis xarnth se dab ud rx pad sagt extend, pas az tna oi xwariint[h] be faténd ud urwar ud pém 1 gbspandin xwarénd, pe az an (ax) pem swardihiaEstend pas az [Bn az] urwar xwardthis sténd wd BS" aati bawend: pes pod dab sil ka Sélyans Ayed, 0 axwatinth Qxténd ud ne Mhcnds pas Solvang tat ul hangezénld.ciyon gowed ki Zarduxdt az Ohrmazd puri, tant 1b wasid az kt dar Kunénd ud vstanéz lyon bawed. i (20) dk ek az awefin ka did pads duartar bod ko ristixésiioth cém andar sistngz ayieth 1 cyon awélan ast [0] kam awélin kard bid [oe] bGd. abar niger Earka inf ne bud adenam be kard an Bud clo (rl) abs n® Sayed kardan ct pod En hangim ax téndg 1 simlg ast a2 ab xon az urwar moy ud a2 wid gyén dyin pad bundahidn paditt xwahom. - an), 8840 actaly the generic name seit he rho wil help Being dered fom the Aveane Tense Be woes appear sequentially tn the tenth, eleventh ae eg, atthe wo comes to an ent aneee of thee Iranian eschatological heroes,256° INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES ae the first section Provides the model for the ornare ata" Seep es ae milk — which stands between vegetable 7 7 7 Ae and Saally becoming full-fledged carnivores Lg rogression is understood as something of fal aa ren ay pecan omega ove reat J more important is that itis the destiny of m: kind we amore ae hat fall for in the last years before the snd eg coe ene oe ee oy ang for food and return to the prist for e pristine state of Maya Spe haan btore they had taken thei ft ite Existence's at the beginning: pure and perfect, bos no trace ofthe evil that aecumulatein the coun of anes encimilaly, the resurrection i understood tobe the reversal of fheevents of creation, and the reestablishment of the perfect road men Sat, fo Tan alo preserved the ies that the c lc from the body of the first saaific jctim. (22) And it is thus implied in these texte Une toe all these transformations th ations are reversed, and Ohrmaz (adstan) bones from earth, blood from water ote The ack is is the re-assemblage of each person’s body as it was ll) 2 Sad Maya As Cnn, te pri fet dea i ig nc mi oe (22) See Lincoln, “Indo-Ei * fee ni Hrs, an a Snel Genin 882 sachs et Seance ey at oe te Sco cel ii a eae beara actions of a man at death are, © parallel thone of an a 7 ‘ei ome a ope go ants fi Son mo a es ae palontion ‘contrast, the fate of the body repeats that of the body at cation, and ithe eos of the heap Nae eae oe DEATH AND RESURRECTION IN IE THOUGHT 257 before he or she died, ie., a bodily resurrection, The result is also the de-creation of the cosmos, however, for as the bones and blood retum to re-form human bodies, the earth and water from which they were called must cease to exist. In effect, death provides the material for the universe from the time of creation until the eschaton, but at that moment death ceases ‘and all the effects of death are reversed, The world as we know it will then cease to be, and all will retum to the state that was prior to the dawn of creation. All the deaths, all the actions, all that was during the time of existence ceases to matter, and man and the universe retum to their pristine state. ‘Thus far we have considered Indo-Iranian ideas only, which centered on the view of death as a repetition of creation, and given that the creation myth pointed to the consubstantiality of man and the universe, so also did the ideology of death. In- sofar as the creation myth depicted the first death as a sacrifice, so also are all deaths understood as sacrifice. In truth, death is seen as the last sacrifice that one can offer, a sacrifice in which fone becomes the victim rather than the sacrificer. Finally, resurrection was seen as the reversal of death and of creation, for the body was re-established from the parts of the cosmos. ‘As we will see, however, the bulk of this ideology is not just. Indo-Iranian, but Proto-Indo-European, as will become apparent ‘when we compare an important Roman text. Ovid's Metamorphoses In the first line of his magnum opus, Ovid stated his subject boldly: “the spirit moves me to tell of transformations into new bodies.” (24) Writing early in the first century A.D., he drew on a host of sources, and proceeded to relate a wide variety of stories current in antiquity dealing with people whose bodies had béen miraculously changed over into some new form. (25) The stories are extremely rich, and we will shortly consider one of them in detail, but for the moment a few general remarks (24) tn nova fert animus matatss dicere formas / Corpor. {25) On Od’ sources, ae Inter alla, Os Brooks, Ovid as an Epic Poet, 2nd ed (Cambeidge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), pp. 875-428; and Georges LaF ye, 1 Mamorphoserd Ovide ot leur modeler eres (Pars: Felix Alean, 1908).258 INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES are in order on the nature of the stories told by Ovid. Since the Metamorphoses is a compendium of mythological lore, its contents are somewhat varied, and it would be foclich to expect to find one sweeping structure that unites the whole, Thus, while the vast majority of stories tell of metamorphoses which occurred upon an individual’s death, one small clase of Hories ~ People changed from one sex to another (Tizesias, Hermaphrodite, Iphis, Caenis) — tells of transformations the; took place while the protagonist was still alive. With this exception, however, and that of the highly uncharacteristic sory by Pygmalion and Galatea, virtually all the met morphoses are synonymous with the death of the protagonists and recount what became of their bodies at that tine. OF these metamorphoses at death, a rather large group tells S4.People changed into birds (Tereus, Procne, Philomela, Scylla, Nissus, Perdix, Daedalion, Aesacus, Cygnus), and a smaller group of people changed into other animals (Lycaon, Oeythoe, Cadmus, Arachne, Galanthis). The former of these, in all probability, had its ultimate origin in the archaic belie? in the oul 3s having the nature of a bird, which leaves the body upon death, (26) “The latter group seems to be completely disparate in its origins. Certainly the story of Lycaon derives from Greek notions of lycanthropy, (27) and that of Cadmus from the chthonic associations ‘of the serpent. The others are more The stories discussed thus far account for roughly one-third of the metamorphoses proper related by Ovid. and it ie the other two-thirds that are of greatest interest with regard to the fate of the body after death, for they directly parallel the ideas presented in the Indo-Iranian texts we have considered thus far. Thus, a large number of stories tell of transformations ints plants (Daphne, Syrinx, Phaethusa, Lampetia and the other Spushters of Clymene, Pyrantus, Thisbe, Leucothoe, Baucis, Philemon, Dryope, Caunus, Cyparissus, Hyacinthus, Myrha, Adonis, Ajax). (28) Others tell of transformations into sonet {28) On this theme in mythology, see G. Van Der Leeuw, Relipon ix Essnce snd Mansestation, (New York: Harper and Row, 1963), Pe SOE {200m Grek ycnthopy, se Bruce Linn, “Hotiec ices Wott ‘ndogrmansche FOnchunge 60 (918) ADI and ee ek (48) Av aptcaterlny, the Heopeane wee ent eee ee ne 59 DEATH AND RESURRECTION IN LE THOUGHT 2 attus, Aglauros, Arethusa, Niobe, Lichas, Anaxarete), bodies Geter feyanes Bybls, Acie, Eyer), exes bouies (Areas and his mother, Andromeda), and one ell of «transformation into thin ar (Canens). While no one story tels of a systematic transformation of an individual's hair into plans, bones in es, blood and semen into water, eyes into sun and moon, involved are the same as those which are found in India and Tran: plants, stones, watt, heavenly bodies and ai. The cor rerpondence, although not conclusive, is certainly suggestive. 1 fm inclined’ to believe that within’ the Metamorphoses ar contained the fragments of the FrotoIndo European ideology on the fate of the body, but sundered from ther cosmogenic base, they are not organized in any systematic form. The belie that each individual body is partitioned up and retume to the cosmos at death has been lost, and in its place remain host of stories of the conversion of specific individuals in "There ay however, within the Metamorphgses one story which corresponds much more closely to the Indodranian pattem, Ie may be considered as something of an eschatological count, for it tells of the end of one world and the creation fa new one from the old one’s remains. It is the story 0 Devealion and Pyrha, the survivors of the flood, and he relevant section (1381-413), which tes of their acti 8 |, reads as follows: : ine edics ‘war moved and gave an orade: “Depart rom the temple, cover your head nbind your girded garments, forma is mol shows wp extreely 1 nfomaon int plats won ety ad hyo how wp enemy ‘ny en, teeny foe abv fort Seo ene ee Ibi Die tusune Torenae Usp Oto Hara, 1888), hy ee ctl Lee ce te at Taslen AW. Sithott, 1900), Bp. "ebeer aed ae Mer, Aotinge de {gg “Ber Al he te eof io “Tey beet en oe chery | ad Wilms gave was neh he And ou of| ee gee Ted, red rote, | And out of her a bias" The whole thereof this. sce ith 1S cp ta Meyers mowed fo come tw rt ne aap Woche noe nay tentropea ens ser the conten. For my part Tam inclined to tei a the dominant European tranformat PILE ideology that was originally much more complex.260 INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES ‘And throw the bones of your dear mother behind you.”” Fora long time they stood amazed, and Pyrtha first broke The silence with her voice. She refused to obey the goddess’ commands. Trembling, she asked forgiveness for herself, (but) she feared To offend her mother’s shade by tossing her bones about. Meanwhile they repeated in their dark hidding places the obscure Words of the oracle given, each considering them separately Then (Deucalion), Prometheus’ son, soothed (Pyrtha), Epimetheus’ daughter With tranquil words. “Either our ingenuity is deceitful,” he said, “Or nothing is pious and the oracles advise a sinful deed. Our dear mother is the earth; I believe the stones in the earth’s body Are what we called bones, We are ordered to throw them behind us!” Although (Pyrrha) was moved by her husband’s interpretation, Still her hope was in doubt. What is more, both of them distrusted The heavenly prophecies. But what could it hurt to try? They separated, covered their heads, ungirded their tunics, And threw the stones behind their own footsteps. The rocks (who would believe this if antiquity did not testify to it?) ‘Began to give up their hardness and their rigidity Aftd gradually to attain a softer, more pliable form. Soon, when they had been born, a milder nature was reached By them, and it seemed like a human form, Not plainly, but more like a statue asi DEATH AND RESURRECTION IN IE THOUGHT beginning — ; Of there tock that part which was damp with ture somewhere ides f the body. nnd earthy, that tured into the flesh 0 ‘That whi was solid and unable to bend changed to ‘And that which was the veins remained under the same ‘And in brief time, according to'the will of the See d the figure of men, rown by the man's hands assumed the figui ‘had from (each) female throw, a woman was remade. (28) One major sift in ideology i apparent inthis text from what I assume to have been the Proto-Indo-European form: (29) Moa dev ote et "Dee temo eats apt cca ate ech os pot erp mage cate par” Om Bode dt mpue ea ta pare en pee ee Detgue sbi venir pido ogo pavetgot Deedee ace maerns onan unbras. Tnveenepetnt eae obcar ates ‘Veron data por ecin inter sou alt “ent sollertia nobis, Mulcet et: “Aur fallax” at i, “Aut pia sunt nullumquenefas oracla stad sag pio quam Hameln, : at Senter iS aco ear ene det mente toma so Dacctan rater ep soe cng Econpapers Seatac eee nt a pee et He eas cose ese eran eigeetmon mings dee fre Mon Seer mene er peters dean many et Se te hominy edu de mavtore conta Reranch ong tine en (Gas tuen ot alg par una eo SNesemRE renserinces me (undo festue eglt maarno i eat a ose nomi me See Sip peorm nmi HEL etn den unter Mitr [Ace pena enna oeez INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES world to which bodies retum at death and out of which they are called at resurrection is here understood as simply the earth rather than the entire cosmos at large. But otherwise the account is remarkably similar to the Indo-Iranian texts we have considered. Clearly Ovid takes the description of earth as mother and rocks as “mother’s bones” to be metaphorical, but behind this metaphor lies, I submit, the P-IE notion of the body's fate. The point at which Deucalion and Pyrtha seek advice from the goddess is a crucial one in world history, according to the myth. The flood waters have just receded, and of all humanity they alone have survived. Their immediate concern is how the carth may be repopulated, and how out of death life may be restored. In effect, they are secking a reversal of the end of the world, a new creation on the heels of universal destruction, What they ask is the same question Zarathustra asked of Ahura Mazda in the chapter of the Greater Bundahiin cited above: “How does the resurrection come to be?” What is more, the answer here is the same that was given to Zarathustra: human life is recreated by recovering the parts of the body from the place they now occupy in the world, places which are determined by a set of systematic homologies between the parts of the earth or cosmos and the parts of the body. Thus, in the Deucalion and Pyrrha myth, the flesh comes from the damp soil, the bones from the hard rocks, and the blood vessels from the rock striations, for one word in Latin denotes both, vena, as does its English cognate, vein. Special note must also be taken of the verb in line 413. That line reads Et de femineo reparata est femina iactu, “And from (each) female throw, a woman was remade,” and the verb in question is re-pard, “to make or prepare again.” With some metrical adjustments, such verbs as cred, facio, or formé could easily have been used, as could paré without the re: prefix. Yet Ovid chose to make use of a verb that would ‘emphasize the repetitive nature of this anthropogony. It is not just that men and women were created thus by Deucalion and Pyrrha, but they had been created thus before. One must also assume that their destruction in the flood produced the reverse of this process, and people’s corpses were converted into the parts of the earth, for only thus could mother’s bones DEATH AND RESURRECTION IN LE THOUGHT 268 come to be the rocks within the earth’s body. Conclusions The similarities between ideas presented in the various Indic, Iranian, and Roman texts we have considered are extremely strong, and in my opinion can best be explained ‘as the survivals of a Proto-Indo-European ideology. Other evidence could be produced in support of this contention, such as the plea uttered by the Tsarina Jaroslavna in verse 40 of the Song of Prince Igor, begging the wind, the river | Dniepr, and the sun to retum her husband safe from battle, (30) or even the final verse of a 20th century American falta fom the coal-mining districts of Kentucky Thope when I’m gone and the ages do roll My body will blacken and tur into coal. Then I'll look from the door of my heavenly home, And pity the miner a-diggin’ my bones. (31) But the test of a reconstruction is not the number of examples trotted out so much as the strength of the comespondences which are adduced. Tn Jaoslavna’s lament oF ferle Travis’ “Dark as Dungeon,” we have come a long way Thom the Protondo-Europesn ideas; and ft would be difficult to demonstrate a genetic connection with any degree of “eiiith the texts I have cited above, however, I think the case is different, and their details are sufficiently similar to permit the reconstruction of P-LE thought on the topic of death and resurrection. The basic outlines of that thought i The world was created by the sacitice of one ofthe first_ men, whose body was converted into the various parts of the cosmos according to a specific system of homologies: bones + rocks, eyes > sun and moon, hair > plants, blood and semen ~> water, etc. SME mages ene enh oe oft tt i "aks nen ce 0 Tl Ge ool a: doe iy sy ‘City: Doubleday, 1960), p. 295.264 INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES 2. At death, the body of each individual is similarly trans- formed into the parts of the cosmos, and serves to support the continued existence of the universe. Death is thus under- stood as a sacrifice and as a creative act, necessary for cosmic maintenance, 3. When the cosmos is ultimately destroyed, its parts will be used to re-form the bodies of all the individuals who have lived and died up to that time. This will be done by reversing the transformations that took place at creation and at the death of each person, and thus rocks ~ bones, sun and moon ~ eyes, plants ~ hair, water blood and semen, etc. In truth, one elegant premise underlies all three aspects of this ideology: the belief that the material world and the human body are complementary opposites, infinitely inter- changeable along specific homological lines. Thus, when the world is created, it is created out of man, and when mankind is created, it is created from the world. The creation of one always implies the destruction of the other, or to put it differently, one might say that the same matter always exists, although it alternately takes human and cosmic form. For the world to exist, however, there must be death, and perfect life can only be established when the cosmos ceases to be.