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UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Birth Narratives in Indo-European Mythology Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/71m1f09s Author Pagé, Anna June Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Birth Narratives in Indo-European Mythology A dissertation submied in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Indo-European Studies by Anna June Pagé 2014 © Copyright by Anna June Pagé 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Birth Narratives in Indo-European Mythology by Anna June Pagé Doctor of Philosopy in Indo-European Studies University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Joseph F. Nagy, Chair is dissertation presents a study of the shared themes and parallel narrative structures of a set of stories about extraordinary birth. Stories about extraordinary birth form a universal story-type that displays widespread and striking similarities in narrative traditions throughout the world. Stories of this nature are typically told about various types of important persons, such as heroes, kings, gods, and saints, and have most frequently been treated within the context of the “heroic biography’’ paern. Because of how well-aested this type of story is in all narrative traditions, a comparison of birth narratives from different Indo-European mythologies offers an ideal case study in the comparison and reconstruction of aspects of the Proto-Indo-European mythological system. While my primary focus is on stories from Indo-European sources, and particularly from Celtic, Greek, and Indic myth, several non-Indo-European examples of this type of narrative are also included in my discussion. e stories under consideration here can be defined as stories that describe a birth (oen including conception and gestation) that in some way or another, and to a greater or lesser extent, deviates from what one would consider a “normal” or “ordinary” birth, from a social or biological standpoint. Stories about extraordinary births tend to emulate the progression of normal birth to some degree, though at every step the possibility for the distortion, inversion, and violation of the natural order is present. Because these stories mimic actual birth, a specific narrative structure is inherent to stories of this type and provides the starting point for ii a comparative exploration of these stories in the cultures and contexts in which they appear. iii e dissertation of Anna June Pagé is approved. Stephanie W. Jamison H. Craig Melchert Timothy R. Tangherlini Joseph F. Nagy, Commiee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv F P In memory of my grandfather, who inspired me to do this in the first place. Edouard Pagé 1909-2008 v C Symbols and Abbreviations x 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Birth Narratives . 1 1.2 Approaches To e Study Of Birth Narratives . 7 1.3 Indo-European Mythology . 18 1.4 Overview of Dissertation . 25 2 Conceiving the Hero 28 2.1 Introduction . 28 2.2 Defining e “Hero” And His Nature . 28 2.2.1 e Hero of the Heroic Biography Paern . 32 2.2.1.1 e Biography of Deirdre . 34 2.2.2 Conception and Ambiguity . 38 2.3 A Typology of Conception . 41 2.3.1 Sexual vs. Asexual Conceptions . 41 2.3.2 Biologically vs. Socially Problematic Conceptions . 46 2.3.3 Hybrid Conceptions . 50 2.4 Consequences of Ambiguity . 51 2.4.1 Deficient Categories: Autochthony and Incest . 51 2.4.1.1 Autochthony: e Case of Conall Cernach . 52 2.4.1.2 Incest: e Cases of Sinotli and Lugaid Ríab nDerg . 60 2.4.2 Excessive Categories: Demi-Gods and Monsters . 65 2.4.3 Controlling Ambiguity . 68 2.5 Conclusion . 70 vi 3 e Obstacle of Birth 72 3.1 Introduction . 72 3.2 “Failed Birth and Rebirth” . 76 3.3 e Birth of Pryderi . 84 3.4 e Birth of Cú Chulainn . 88 3.5 e Birth of Dionysus . 91 3.6 Dionysus and Cú Chulainn . 95 3.7 Conclusion: An Indo-European Myth? . 96 4 Comparing the Births of Conobar, Indra, and Herakles 99 4.1 Introduction . 99 4.2 e Birth of Conchobar mac Nessa . 102 4.2.1 e Texts . 102 4.2.2 Conception . 106 4.2.2.1 e Conception Takes Place On An Appointed Day . 106 4.2.2.2 Confusion Regarding Conchobar’s Paternity . 107 4.2.2.3 e Conception takes place via the worms that Ness ingests . 110 4.2.3 Gestation . 113 4.2.4 Birth . 116 4.2.4.1 e Birth Takes Place on an Appointed Day . 116 4.2.4.2 e Delay Of e Birth . 119 4.2.4.3 Birth Takes Place On An (Appointed) Stone . 121 4.2.4.4 e Significance Of e River Conchobar . 125 4.2.4.5 Conchobar Is Born Holding Two Worms . 126 4.2.5 Some Preliminary Conclusions and Interpretations . 127 4.3 Irish Parallels for Conchobar’s Birth . 128 4.3.1 Conception . 129 vii 4.3.1.1 e Timing Of e Birth And Prophecy . 129 4.3.1.2 Confused Paternity . 134 4.3.1.3 Conception Via Worms . 136 4.3.2 Gestation . 139 4.3.3 Birth . 141 4.3.3.1 e Timing Of e Birth And e Use Of Prophecy . 141 4.3.3.2 e Delay Of e Birth . 143 4.3.3.3 Birth On A Stone . 146 4.3.3.4 Association with serpentine creatures . 149 4.3.3.5 e Importance of Water . 150 4.3.4 A Template for Irish Birth Tales . 151 4.4 Indic and Other Parallels . 153 4.4.1 e Buddha . 153 4.4.2 e Birth of Māndhātar . 159 4.4.3 e Birth of Indra . 163 4.4.4 Egyptian . 166 4.4.5 Zurvanist . 167 4.4.6 Algonquin . 170 4.5 e Birth of Herakles . 171 4.5.1 Conception . 171 4.5.2 Gestation . 173 4.5.3 Birth . 175 4.6 Conclusion . 177 5 Conclusion 179 Appendix: e Structure of Celtic Birth-Tales and Formulations of the Heroic Biography Pattern 183 viii Bibliography 186 ix S A * indicates a reconstructed form AKS Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra BhP Bhagavata Purāṇa CA Cóir Anmann DS Diodorus Siculus Library of History GRETIL Göingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages IE Indo-European Il. Iliad JB Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa JN Jātaka-nidāna KS Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā LL Book of Leinster LU Lebor na hUidre LV Lalitavistara MA Buddhagoṣa Majjhimanikāya Commentary MBh Mahābhārata Mtu Mahāvastu PB Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa PIE Proto-Indo-European RV Rig Veda TBC Táin Bó Cúailnge TS Taiirīya Saṃhitā ViP Vishnu Purāṇa x A First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the members of my dissertation com- miee, Joseph Nagy, Stephanie Jamison, Craig Melchert, and Tim Tangherlini, for their sugges- tions and support. I have had the pleasure of working with all of them in other capacities as well, as a student, as a teaching assistant, and as a research assistant, which has been immensely rewarding and of great benefit to me, both personally and professionally. Calvert Watkins was originally a member of my commiee, and I am grateful to have had his support for this work even for a brief time. I also wish to thank Annee Teffeteller for my first introduction to the wonderful world of Indo-European, and for being a continual source of encouragement, support, and wisdom. Above all I must offer my thanks to Joseph Nagy. I cannot adequately express what a wonderful thing it is to be his student, and I’m sure it will take years for me to fully understand just how much I have learned from him. I would like to acknowledge the financial support that have I received from the following sources, which has permied me to conduct research, aend summer schools, and present my work at a number of national and international conferences: the fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture, the UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship, the University of California President’s Society of Fellows in the Humanities, the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and the generous support of the late Richard A. Diebold to the UCLA Program in Indo- European Studies as a whole. I have been fortunate in the many friends and colleagues who have enriched my work through stimulating conversation, insightful comments, assistance with source materials, and above all constant support. I must in particular express my gratitude to Elizabeth ornton, Tracy Jami- son Wood, Jessica DeLisi, Steve Faulkner, Mahew Holmberg, Mac Harris, Mayas Huggard, Christina Skelton, Jennifer Dial, and Sherrylyn Branchaw. I am also grateful to the friends that have been encouraging me, listening to me, keeping me calm, making me laugh, and giving me xi wonderful advice for many many years, and even decades in some cases. To Lynsey Billing, Alexandra Body, Dana Herman, Jason Kalman, Izabella Czyzewska, Jacqueline Peters, Lidia Cuc- cia, Evan aler-Hickey, and my wonderful UCLA friends: I might never have made it this far without your encouragement, and it certainly would not have been as much fun! I am very thankful to have had the support of my family as I spent far longer than expected working towards this goal, especially my parents, Peter Pagé and Cheryl Holmes. I am also very grateful to my in-laws Bernhard and Ulrike Koller, who have been so supportive and whose home was a wonderful place to finish writing this dissertation during the summer of 2014. Finally, I thank my wonderful husband Bernhard Koller for making everything so much beer, and for at least a thousand other things.
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