The Indo-European cosmogony refers to the creation myth of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European mythology.
The comparative analysis of different Indo-European tales has led scholars to reconstruct an original Proto-Indo-European creation myth involving twin brothers, *Manu and *Yemo ('Man' and 'Twin') as the progenitors of the world and mankind, and a hero named ('Third') who ensured the continuity of the original sacrifice.
Although some thematic parallels can be made with the ancient Near East (the primordial couple Adam and Eve), and even Polynesian or South American legends, the linguistic correspondences found in descendant cognates of *Manu and *Yemo make it very likely the myth has a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) origin.
Historiography Hermann Güntert, stressing philological parallels between the Germanic and Indo-Iranian texts, argued in 1923 for an inherited Indo-European motif of the creation of the world from the sacrifice and dismemberment of a primordial androgyne.
Following a first paper on the cosmogonical legend of Manu and Yemo, published simultaneously with Jaan Puhvel in 1975 (who pointed out the Roman reflex of the story), Bruce Lincoln assembled the initial part of the myth with the legend of the third man Trito in a single ancestral motif.
Since the 1970s, the reconstructed motifs of Manu and Yemo, and to a lesser extent that of Trito, have been generally accepted among scholars.See: ; ; . agrees with the reconstructed motif of Manu and Yemo, although he notes that interpretations of the myths of Trita and Thraētona are debated. According to , "some elements of the [Scandinavian myth of Ymir] are distinctively Indo-Europeans", but the reconstruction of the creation myth of the first Man and his Twin proposed by "makes too unprovable assumptions to account for the fundamental changes implied by the Scandinavian version".
Myths Primordial state The basic Indo-European root for the divine creation is *dheh1, 'to set in place, lay down, or establish', as attested in the Hittite expression nēbis dēgan dāir ("...established heaven (and) earth"), the Young Avestan formula kə huvāpå raocåscā dāt təmåscā? ("What skillful artificer made the regions of light and dark?"), the name of the Vedic creator god Dhātr, and possibly in the Greek name Thetis, presented as a demiurgical goddess in Alcman's poetry. The concept of the cosmic egg, symbolizing the primordial state from which the universe arises, is also found in many Indo-European creation myths. A similar depiction of the appearance of the universe before the act of creation is given in the Vedic, Germanic and, at least partly, in the Greek tradition. Rigveda 10:129 (trans. Doniger): There was neither non-existence nor existence then there was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond... There was neither death nor immortality then. There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day. Wessobrun Prayer (trans. Blind): ...neither earth there was, nor sky above; Nor tree, nor hill there was. Nor stars there were; nor shone the sun. Nor moon-light there was, nor the salty sea. Nothing there was: neither end, nor limitVöluspá (trans. Bellows): Sea nor cool waves nor sand there were Earth had not been, nor heaven above, But a yawning gap, and grass nowhere. Although the idea of a created world is untypical of early Greek thinking, similar descriptions have been highlighted in Aristophanes's The Birds: "...there was Chasm and Night and dark Erebos at first, and broad Tartarus, but earth nor air nor heaven there was..." The analogy between the Greek Χάος ('Chaos, Chasm') and the Norse Ginnungagap ('Gaping abyss') has also been noted by scholars. The importance of heat in Germanic creation myths has also been compared with similar Indian beliefs emphasized in the Vedic hymn on 'cosmic heat'.
Cosmic sacrifice The first man Manu and his giant twin Yemo are crossing the cosmos, accompanied by a primordial cow. To create the world, Manu sacrifices his brother and, with the help of heavenly deities (*Dyēus, the proto-Indo-European thunder god, and the divine twins), forges both the natural elements and humans from his twin's remains. Manu thus becomes the first priest, having initiated sacrifice as the primordial condition for the world order. His deceased brother Yemo turns into the first king as social classes emerge from his anatomy (the priesthood from his head, the warrior class from his breast and arms, and the commoners from his sexual organs and legs).
Although the European and Indo-Iranian versions differ on this matter, the primeval cow was most likely sacrificed in the original myth, giving birth to the other animals and vegetables. Yemo may have become the King of the Otherworld, the realm of the dead, as the first mortal to die in the primordial sacrifice, a role suggested by the Indo-Iranian and, to a lesser extent, in the Germanic, Greek and Celtic traditions.
First Warrior To the third man Trito, the celestial gods offer cattle as a divine gift, which is stolen by a three-headed serpent named *H₂n̥gʷʰis (both 'serpent' and the root for negation).
Trito first suffers at his hands, but fortified by an intoxicating drink and aided by a helper-god (the thunder god or *Haner, 'Man'), together they go to a cave or a mountain, and the hero finally manages to overcome the monster. Trito then returns the recovered cattle to a priest for proper sacrifice. He is now the first warrior, maintaining through his heroic deeds the cycle of mutual giving between gods and mortals.
Interpretations
Three Functions According to Lincoln, Manu and Yemo seem to be the protagonists of "a myth of the sovereign function, establishing the model for later priests and kings", while the legend of Trito should be seen as "a myth of the warrior function, establishing the model for all later men of arms". He has thus interpreted the narrative as an expression of the priests's and kings's attempt to justify their role as indispensable for the preservation of the cosmos, and therefore as essential for the organization of society. The motif indeed recalls the Dumézilian tripartition of the cosmos between the priest (in both his magical and legal aspects), the warrior (the Third Man), and the herder (the cow).
Primeval hermaphrodite Some scholars have proposed that the primeval being Yemo was depicted as a two-folded hermaphrodite rather than a twin brother of Manu, both forming indeed a pair of complementary beings entwined together. The Germanic names Ymir and Tuisto were understood as twin, bisexual or hermaphrodite, and some myths give a sister to the Vedic Yama, also called Yamī ('Twin'). The primordial being may therefore have self-sacrificed, or have been divided in two, a male half and a female half, embodying a prototypal separation of the sexes that continued the primordial union of the male *Dyēus 'Sky' with the female Dhéǵhōm 'Earth'.
Cattle-raiding myth The story of Trito served as a model for later cattle raiding epic myths and most likely as a moral justification for the practice of raiding among Indo-European peoples. In their legends, Trito is portrayed as taking back only what rightfully belongs to his people, those who properly sacrifice to the gods. Although cattle raiding is a common theme found in all societies keeping cattle, it was particularly popular among Indo-European peoples, as attested by the legends of Indra and the Panis, Beowulf and Grendel, the quest of Queen Medb for the Bull, or Odysseus hunting down the cattle of Helios.
The myth has been variously interpreted as a cosmic conflict between a heavenly hero and an earthly serpent; as a depiction of the male fellowships' struggle to protect society against external evil; or as an Indo-European victory over non-Indo-European people, the monster symbolizing the aboriginal thief or usurper. The Vedic serpent Vṛtrá is indeed described as a *dāsa, a hostile indigene inimical to the Indo-European invaders; the Iranian serpent Aži Dahāka carries in his name the pejorative suffix -ka; and the Latin inimical giant Cācus is also depicted as an incola, a hostile indigene, hostile to Romans and Greeks alike. According to Martin Litchfield West, the Proto-Indo-European name *Trito 'Third' may have been a "poetic or hieratic code-name, fully comprehensible only with specialized knowledge".
Linguistic evidence
Manu and Yemo
Cognates deriving from the pIE first priest *Manu ('Human', the ancestor of humanity) include the Indic Mánu, the legendary first man and Manāvī, his sacrificed wife; the Germanic Mannus (from Germ. *Manwaz), mythical ancestor of the West Germanic tribes; and the Persian Manūščihr (from Avestan Manūš.čiθra, 'son of Manuš'), the Zoroastrian high priest of the 9th century.
From the name of the sacrificed First King *Yemo 'Twin' derive the Indic Yama, god of death and the underworld; the Avestan Yima, king of the Golden Age and guardian of hell; the Norse deity Ymir (from proto-Germanic *Yumiyáz), ancestor of the jǫtnar 'giants', and most likely Remus (from proto-Italic *Yemos), who is killed in the myth of the Founding of Rome by his twin brother, Rōmulus. archaic Latvian Jumis 'doubled plant or twin fruit', Latin geminus 'twin', and Middle Irish emuin 'twin') are also linguistically related. +Indo-European linguistic descendants (in bold) and thematic echoes (in italic) of the creation myth.See: ; ; ; ; .TraditionFirst PriestFirst KingFirst mammalHeavenly godsProto-Indo-European*Manu ('Man')*Yemo ('Twin')Primordial Cow*Dyēus, pIE thunder god, divine twinsIndianMánu, PuruṣaYama, (Manāvī)Manu's bullThe Vedic godsIranianAhriman, Spityura, ManūščihrYima, GayōmartPrimordial Ox (Gōšūrvan)–GermanicMannusYmir, TuistoPrimordial Cow (Auðhumla)Óðinn and his brothersRomanRōmulus*Yemos (Remus)She-wolfThe senators
Trito and *h₂n̥gʷʰis
Cognates stemming from the First Warrior *Trito 'Third' include the Vedic Trita, the hero who recovered the cattle from the cattle raid by Vṛtrá; the Avestan Thraētona 'son of Thrita', who won back the women abducted from the serpent Aži Dahāka; and the Norse þriði 'Third', one of the names of Óðinn. Other cognates may appear in the Greek expressions trítos sōtḗr (), an epithet of Zeus, and tritogḗneia (), an epithet of Athena; and perhaps in the Slavic mythical hero Troyan, found in Russian and Serbian legends alike.
*H₂n̥gʷʰis 'serpent' is also related to the Indo-European root for negation (*ne-). Descendent cognates can be found in the Iranian Aži, the name of the inimical serpent, and in the Indic áhi ('serpent'), a term used to designate Vṛtrá, both descending from proto-Indo-Iranian *aj'hi. +Indo-European linguistic descendants (in bold) and thematic echoes (in italic) of the myth of the First Warrior.See: ; ; ; .TraditionFirst WarriorThree-headed SerpentHelper GodStolen presentProto-Indo-European*Trito ('Third')The PIE thunder god or h2nēr 'man, male person'CattleIndianTritaVṛtrá ('áhi')IndraCowsIranianThraētona ('son of Thrita')Aži DahākaVr̥traghnaWomenGermanicÞriði, HymirThree serpentsÞórrGoats (?)Graeco-RomanHeraklesGeryon, CācusHeliosCattle
Comparative mythology Many Indo-European beliefs explain aspects of human anatomy from the results of the original dismemberment of Yemo: his flesh usually becomes the earth, his hair grass, his bone yields stone, his blood water, his eyes the sun, his mind the moon, his brain the clouds, his breath the wind, and his head the heavens. The traditions of sacrificing an animal before dispersing its parts following socially established patterns, a custom found in Ancient Rome and India, has been interpreted as an attempt to restore the balance of the cosmos ruled by the original sacrifice.