*Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not are the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European Sun deity and Moon deity respectively. is reconstructed based on the solar deities of the attested Indo-European mythologies, although their gender (male or female) is disputed, since there are deities of both genders. Likewise, is reconstructed based on the lunar deities of the daughter languages, but they differ in regard to their gender.
The daily course of across the sky on a horse-driven chariot is a common motif among Indo-European myths. While it is probably inherited, the motif certainly appeared after the introduction of the wheel in the Pontic–Caspian steppe about 3500 BC, and is therefore a late addition to Proto-Indo-European culture.
The Sun deity Reflexes The existence of a Proto-Indo-European sun deity can be postulated on the basis of its possible reflexes throughout Indo-European cultures. In Greek mythology, the name of the god Helios is etymologically connectable with other Indo-European words for the Sun. However, another notable solar deity in ancient Greek religion was Apollo, a god whose name is possibly of Pre-Greek origin. Nevertheless, the term —an epithet of Apollo—has been connected with Sanskrit , though it is considered by the linguist Robert Beekes to be unexplained. Similarly, the Romans borrowed Apollo as a sun deity, in spite of their preexisting sun god Sol, whose name also is connectable with the Indo-European word for "Sun." In Albanian paganism, the Sun—worshiped as the god of light, sky and weather, giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye; ; ; .—is referred to as , a name that is considered to have been a word taboo originally meaning "yellow, golden, bright or shiny one" used to refer to the Sun due to its perceived sacred nature. Another parallel in another Indo-European culture may be drawn from Zoroastrian Hvare-khshaeta.
There are two separate solar deities in Vedic mythology: Surya and Savitr—the latter of which described with the pseudonym ("with the wide hand"), a title that may relate to the epithet ("of the long arm"), which is ascribed to the Irish god Lugh. Via the migration of Indic peoples, the sun Indo-European god may have spread to other cultures. Kassite inscriptions include mention of a name , which may have been borrowed from an Indo-Aryan language. The name of the Near Eastern prince Šuwardata, who is mentioned in Amarna Letters, may parallel the Sanskrit name and is perhaps of Indo-Aryan origin. In Vedic Sanskrit, the term (""), which also refers to the Sun god, is cognate with Old Armenian ("")—both of which are, according to the linguist Hrach Martirosyan, derived from Indo-European or Armeno-Aryan "poetic language." Moreover, Martirosyan considers the original Proto-Indo-European word for the Sun—which he reconstructs as —was "profane," and therefore was replaced by a poetic term that eventually produced in Armenian.
Genealogy The Vedic Sun deity Surya is stated to be the son of the sky deity Dyaus and the mother goddess Aditi. Likewise, in Slavic paganism, the sun god Dazibogu was described at the offspring of the sky deity Svarog. It is possible that, in the original Proto-Indo-European mythology, the sun god was also conceptualized as the child of the sky god . In the Homeric Hymn to Helios, his mother—Euryphaessa—is described with the epithet "," ("") meaning "ox-eyed."Homeric Hymn 31. To Helios. 2-3. According to the Italian linguist Enrico Campanile, the name of Greek Euryphaessa may relate to the Proto-Indo-European root ("to shine"), which also surfaces in certain epithets of the Vedic and Greek dawn goddesses, such as the term "" ("," "shiny"), an epithet of Ushas. If this comparison is accepted, then it may indicate that the sun god was originally the offspring of the dawn goddess. Horses of the Sun In the mythologies of the daughter languages (namely, Baltic, Greek and Old Indic), the sun deity crosses the sky in a horse-driven chariot or wagon. For instance, in Norse mythology, the chariot of the Sun god is driven by the two horses Árvakr and Alsviðr. Ovid, a 1st-century BCE Roman poet, lists several "swift" ("") horses "of the Sun" ("") that pull the chariot of Helios, namely Pyrois, Eous, Aethon, and Phlegon.Ovid. Metamorphoses. 2. 153-154. In the Rigveda, it is stated that the Surya is pulled across the sky "in a moment speed" by "auspicious" and "bay-colored" horses.Rigveda. 1.115.3. Similarly, the Latvian god Ūsiņš and the Lithuanian Sun goddess Saule both had chariots that were pulled across the sky by two white horses. However, Mallory and Adams caution that the motif is not exclusively Indo-European, and mention evidence of its presence in Mesopotamia.
In Vedic mythology, the storm deity Indra is stated to have attacked the dawn and crashed the sun chariot. According to the Indo-Europeanist Nicholas Kazanas, this Indian story may connect to the Greco-Roman myth of Phaethon, in which the Greek mythological figure accidentally drove the sun chariot too close to the Earth, resulting in the lightning god Zeus striking him down. In further support of the connection, Kazanas notes that the name "Phaethon" ("," "") was also applied to a horse of the dawn goddess Eos and—in the works of Homer—to the Sun itself.
Both Sanskrit and Greek writings describe the Sun as traveling with great speed. Mimnermus, a 7th-century BCE Greek poet, writes about the "swift Sun" (" ," ""),Mimnermus. Fragments. 11a. and the Atharvaveda likewise mentions a "swift Sun" (" ," "").Atharvaveda. 13.2.2. Both of the terms utilized in the Greek and Vedic texts derive from Proto-Indo-European ("quick") and ("Sun") respectively. Poets in Hellenic and Indo-Iranian cultures tended to describe the Sun as traversing the sky untired or unwearied. In the Rig Veda, it is stated that the Sun and the moon "unweariedly ("") maintain their brightness."Rigveda. 10. 12. 7-8. Similarly, in the Iliad, the Sun is associated with the adjective "" (""), meaning "untiring."Homer. Iliad. 18. 239
Rigvedic scriptures mention the sun deity Savitr following a "great path" ("," " "),Rigveda. 4.53.4. while the Homeric Hymn to Selene depicts the moon goddess also traversing a "great path" (" ," "").Homeric Hymns 32. To Selene. 11. The term utilized to describe these occurrences in their respective languages both descend from the Proto-Indo-European words "" and "." According to Matasović, the Proto-Indo-European people may have conceptualized a heaven-like afterlife existing at the end of the Sun's path. Matasović notes that the Ancient Greek term ("," "bliss") may derive from Proto-Indo-European ("that which goes towards the Sun") and is perhaps related to Sanskrit ("," "paradise"). Beekes, however, suggests a possible Pre-Greek origin for the word .
Light of the Sun god Although the sun was personified as an independent deity, the Proto-Indo-Europeans also visualized the sun as the "lamp of ," as seen in various reflexes. For instance, the 5th-century BCE Athenian playwright Euripides references "the god's lamp ("," ""Euripides. Medea. 352.) in his play Medea and mentions "rays of the Sun" ("," "") in the play Ion.Euripides. Ion. 1467. Numerous kennings describing the Sun appear throughout Old English literature. In Beowulf, reference is made to "heaven's candle" (""Beowulf. 1965.) and a "world's candle" (""). The poem Andreas, another piece of Anglo-Saxon writing, mentions two separate "sky's candles" (""Andreas. 372. and ""), while the poem Battle of Brunanburh mentions a "lamp of the lord God" ("").The Battle of Brunanburh. I In a Hittite prayer, the Sun-goddess of Arinna is also called "the land of Hatti's torch." Both the Vedic sun god Savitr and the Greek god Helios are described as lighting up the world for its inhabitants. In the Rigveda, it is stated that Savitr raises "his banner" and produces "light for all the world of creatures."Rigveda. 4.14.2. Similarly, in the Odyssey, it is stated that Helios leaves "the beauteous water surface" and "sprang up into the brazen heaven to give light to the immortals and to mortal men on the earth."Homer. Odyssey. 3.1-3.
All-seeing Sun god
Eye of the Sun In Greek mythology, Helios is referred to as the eye of Zeus, while in Zoroastrian religion Hvare-khshaeta is described as the eye of Ahura Mazda. According to the 5th-century BCE Roman author Macrobius, the "ancients" ("") referred to the Sun as the "eye of Jupiter" ("").Macrobius. Saturnalia. 1.21.12 Another Roman author, Ovid, portrays the Sun god referring to himself as "the world's eye" (""), he "who beholds all things" (""), and the one through whom "the earth beholds all things" ("").Ovid. Metamorphoses. 228. Likewise, the Rigveda describes the god Surya as the "eye of Mitra and Varuna" ("").Rigveda. 10.37.1 In the play Electra by the 5th-century BCE Athenian playwright Euripides, the Sun is connected with the title ("," ""),Euripides. Electra. 740. Such a description parallels the epithet "golden-eyed" ("," ""), which is utilized in the Rigveda to describe the god Savitr.Rigveda. 1.35.8.
Ferdowsi, a 10th-century CE Persian poet, also details a myth involving the character of Goshtasp, in which it is stated that a tree provided "such thick shade" that it could conceal "the eye of the Sun." Furthermore,Yazidis refer to the sun as "the eye of Şêşims" (). Albanian solemn oaths are taken "by the eye of the Sun" (), which is related to the Sky-God worship (Zojz). Further connections possibly derive from a segment in the play by Aristophanes, in which the character of Euripides describes a creation myth in which Aether is stated to have created the eye according to the "image of the solar disc" ("").Aristophanes. Thesmophoriazusae. 16-17.
In Old Norse poetry, the phrase "," meaning "Suns of the forehead," is utilized as a kenning to describe eyes. The names of Celtic sun goddesses such as Sulis and Grian may also allude to this association: the words for "eye" and "sun" are switched in these languages, hence the name of the deities. In one Scots Gaelic folksong recorded by the folklorist Alexander Carmichael in the 19th-century, the Sun is described as the "eye of great God" (""). The term utilized to designate "God" within this verse is descended from Proto-Indo-European , which is itself related to the name of the sky god . The Old Armenian word for the Sun, (""), may be a compound of the word ("," "Sun") and "" ("," "eye"). Additionally, the 5th-century CE Classical Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi recounts a supposedly ancient hymn to the mythical hero Vahagn, at the end of which it is stated that "his eyes were Suns." The Sun as cosmic overseer
In a Rigvedic poem—the Sun is described as he who "beholds ("," "") the universe."Rigveda. 4.13. 3-4. Within Germanic literature—more specifically, within the Old English poem Phoenix—it is stated that the Sun "surveys the world" ("").The Phœnix. 210. Similarly, the Latvian sun goddess Saule is described—in the —as witnessing all the occurs in the world. According to the religious scholar Jiří Dynda, the notion of the Sun protecting and observing the world may be reflected in the terms Lithuanian and Latvian terms and , both of mean "world" and morphologically are composed of elements meaning "under" and "the Sun." Similarly, various words in Slavic languages meaning "Sun" derive from Proto-Slavic ("light, world"), which itself derives from Proto-Indo-European ("to shine").