ISSN 0258-0802. LITERATŪRA 2015 57 (3)

CULTURE HERO’S INTREPID PAST (PROMETHEUS, LOKI, SYRDON… COYOTE…)1

Fatima Eloeva Department of Classical Philology Vilnius University Erika Sausverde Centre of Scandinavian Studies Vilnius University

Abstract. The paper compares Loki of the Scandinavian and Syrdon of the Caucasian material (the Nart epic tradition) with the evolution of the character of Prometheus as described in the early texts (Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod) and with his later transformation as described in Prometheus Bound by Aeschilus. This comparison makes it possible to demonstrate the general pattern of evolution which can be described as (chthonian) deity → trickster → culture hero. In this we do not agree with Eleazar Meletinskij’s statemwent, according to which the culture hero – Demiurge – is the most ancient character in the world folklore, while the trickster is a subsequent transformation of the image of the culture hero. Employing the Greek model (Hesiod’s Theogony) as our starting point, we will argue that an intriguer / a trickster is the most ancient mythological character, while the culture hero emerges as a result of later developments. Keywords: trickster, culture hero, chthonian deity, metaphor, myth, comparative mythology, semantic evolution, idea of progress.

Before the High and Far-Off Times, O my Best Beloved, came the Time of the Very Beginnings; and that was in the days when the Eldest Magician was getting Things ready. […] He took the Elephant–All-the-Elephant-there-was–and said, ‘Play at being an Elephant,’ and All-the-Elephant-there-was played. […] But there was one Elephant […] who was full of ’satiable curtiosity [sic] and that means he asked ever so many questions. And he lived in Africa, and he filled all Africa with his ‘satiable curtiosities. […] He asked questions about everything that he saw, or heard, or felt, or smelt, or touched, and his uncles and his aunts spanked him. Rudyard Kipling

No method requires more erudition than the comparative, and yet none is less fruitful. Nevertheless, the comparative method continues to dominate research on individual myths. M. I. Steblin-Kamenskij 1 The shorter version of this paper see in Eloeva, Sausverde, 2015.

98 Introduction1 Loki versus Syrdon (Dumezil 1959; Ker- enyi 2010; Mikhailov 2011). Research- Opening our paper with the quotation from ers studied them mostly at the synchronic Mikhail Steblin-Kamenskij’s book Myth level, statically, attempting in this way (Steblin-Kamenskij 1982, 28; 2003, 230) to reconstruct the proto-stage. We, how- we pay once again homage to the great ever, aim to examine their development scholar whose legacy continues to be held diachronically, in evolution3. The idea is in high regard in the academic world. Be- to compare Loki of the Scandinavian and sides, comparative mythology is a fasci- Syrdon of the Caucasian material (the nating realm that has mesmerized human- Nart epic tradition) with the evolution of ity for centuries. We too cannot resist the the character of Prometheus as described temptation. Nevertheless we believe that in the early texts (Theogony and Works Steblin-Kamenskij’s statement is rather and Days by Hesiod”) and with his later debatable. Comparative mythology offers transformation as described in Prometheus approaches and models through which the Bound by Aeschilus. We believe that this human mind perceives and analyses the comparison will help us to demonstrate the world. For this reason one can hardly call general pattern of evolution which can be it useless. described as (chthonian) deity → trickster This paper deals with the question that → culture hero. has been extensively discussed in Indo- The comparison of these three charac- European comparative mythology. It is ters allows us to suggest that, at least ten- the question of the parallels and affinities tatively, they all belong to the model of the which can be observed between certain so-called trickster which can be found in epic and mythological characters – An- the Coyote spirit in some Native American cient Greek Prometheus, Syrdon of the mythologies, who stole fire from the gods Narts’ epos and Scandinavian Loki. Previ- (or stars, or sun). A similar motive can be ously the three characters have been exam- found in the stories about the Rabbit in the ined in pairs – Prometheus versus Loki,2 South Eastern United States or the Raven

1 2 Apparently, the first scholar to compare Loki and 3 An exception in this trend for the synchronic ap- Prometheus was George Dumezil, in his early work of proach to Loki’s character is found in the analysis of- 1924 (Dumezil 1924). Jan de Vries calls Loki in his fun- fered by Anatoly Liberman in his book The Word Heath damental research on the history of Old Germanic reli- (1994) and especially in the brilliant etymological retro- gion the “Germanic Prometheus” (de Vries 1967, 272). spective given in the Postscript, which characteristically The resemblance of the two characters two different bears the title “How Loki Laufeyjar Son Lived Up to mytho-poetic traditions has been noted regularly by var- His Name.” Liberman states that the Loki myths were ious researchers (see, for example, Rooth 1961; Simek determined by the “punning possibilities inherent in his 1995; Meletinskij 1988). This comparison was based name”. He goes on to say that the development of the mainly on the motive of punishment of both characters, hero starts from a kind of chthonic divinity (initially the their bounded state, their suffering caused by torture name Loki meant “somebody who locks, delimitates”) and, finally, their liberation. Their similar Kulturträger later transforming into the Ruler of the Down World, characteristics were considered to be less significant. God of Fire (versus Lucifer), trickster etc. Liberman Referring to Dumezil (1924), Jean-Paule Vernant briefly demonstrates convincingly, how in accordance with commented that the inherent ambivalence of the two pre-Saussourian logic, the initial name Loki shapes and heroes and their specific intellectuality challenged the determines the subsequent modifications and functions ruling gods (Vernant 2003). of the hero, see Liberman 1994.

99 which stole fire from his uncle beaver and senting an early stage of the development eventually gave it to people. of myth, while Prometheus of Aeschylus There is nothing new in this assertion – belongs to the world of fiction. it has long been accepted by comparative mythology. Here we are dealing with a The Concept of Myth kind of mythological universalia. In this Creating myths and subsequently analys- paper we will attempt to prove that the ing them from the point of view of their trickster and intriguer – a character who origins and construction seems to have transgresses the rules because of his “sati- become one of the distinctive occupations able curtiosity,” as Kipling put it – consti- of Homo Sapiens and, arguably, one of his tutes the first stage in the transformation most favoured and ancient pursuits. from a character into a culture hero (Long The study of the origins of myths and 2005). mythology is a well-established area of In this we do not agree with Eleazar Me- scholarly enquiry (Steblin-Kamenskij letinskij’s statement, according to which 1982). It was in Ancient Greece (where the culture hero – Demiurge – is the most many theories had been put forward and ancient character in the world folklore, rejected before restarting their life in the while the trickster is a subsequent trans- general history of the “world of the mind”) formation of the image of the culture hero that numerous attempts were made to in- (Meletinskij 1959). Employing the Greek terpret myths allegorically. Empedocles model (Hesiod’s Theogony) (Athanassakis was among the first to offer a symbolic 1983) as our starting point, we will argue analysis of Greek mythology. In his in- that an intriguer /a trickster is the most terpretation, Poseidon represents water, ancient mythological character, while the Apollo – light, etc. (Russel 1967, 81). culture hero emerges as a result of later Critical interpretation of myths goes as far developments (Aeschylus, Προμηθεὺς back as the Pre-Socratic tradition. Euhe- Δεσμώτης, Prometheus bound). One can merus viewed them as accounts of actual suggest that the moment the culture hero historical events, which later became dis- emerges, myth disappears and gives way torted on account of numerous retellings. to fiction. Analysing the Neo-Platonic perception In this paper we will focus on the ques- of myths, Sergei Averintsev remarked that tion of whether the semantic development symbol per se is probably as old as Homo attributed to these characters – chthonian Sapiens. Yet, he argues that the strict divi- deity → trickster → culture hero – corre- sion between symbol and object, as well lates with the transformation and changing as the concept of allegory, is relatively value of the idea of progress within differ- new (Averintsev 2004). The distinction ent cultures. Our inferences are based on between symbol and allegory was es- the belief that while reconstructing pos- tablished at the end of the 18th and early sible transformations of a character, one 19th centuries within the tradition of Ger- should make use of Greek material, where man Romanticism, notably in Schelling’s Prometheus of Hesiod acts according to works. Thus, Greek antiquity begins with the behaviour model of a trickster thus pre- myths that were alive and evolving and

100 for this reason, could not be isolated and of the interpretation of myth by anthro- analysed. Myth supposes integrity of its pologists – theories of mythology share a symbolic content and its material mani- common logical basis, there is no inherent festations and excludes any possibility of contradiction between them. While inter- analytical approach or speculation. In sub- preting a particular myth one can combine sequent periods myth came under severe the approaches of Claude Lévi-Strauss and criticism. After the scorn poured over it by Lucien Lévy-Bruhl and also find a link Xenophanes and after the critique of the between the ideas of Sir Edward Burnett Sophists, myth could no longer be under- and Max Müller. In his short review of the stood and interpreted literally, without an history of myth studies, conducted in his element of reflection (ibid. 161). usual humorous, at times verging on para- Hence, according to Averintsev, a third doxality style, Steblin-Kamenskij criti- stage in the transformation of myth has to cises the structuralist approach adopted by be considered. Lévi-Strauss and at the same time admits In the early stages of the philosophical that that the structuralist vision has had a development of the category of myth the deep influence on him. figure of Plato emerges. Averintsev com- We recognise the potential of the struc- pares him to the two-faced Janus, looking tural analysis to bring a certain order into in two opposite directions. the chaos of mythological data. But it is Averintsev stresses the double nature important to remember that applying the of Plato who scorns and sarcastically criti- structuralist approach to the interpretation cizes ancient mythology, mocks Homer of myths, one is not decoding but rather and Hesiod, and at the same time proceeds encoding the chaotic material into (as to construct a new mythology, a mythol- D’jakonov (2004, 245) puts it) “a system ogy of the second order, not reflective but of abstract notions which were intrinsi- post-reflective (ibid.). cally alien to the primitive mind.” Following this logic we can assume It seems obvious that at present the that the figure of a trickster belongs to general theory of mythology should be reflective period, while a culture hero is discussed in conjunction with the theory part of the post-reflective stage. The nine- of the cognitive metaphor. The potential teenth century saw an increased interest of the cognitive studies is revealed in the in the phenomenon of myth. The changes hypothesis offered by Johnson and Lakoff in the methods of enquiry and the evolu- (1980) and their entirely new approach tion of scholarly traditions in this area of to metaphor. Metaphor is perceived as a study make a fascinating subject, since very important mechanism of structuring every new emerging theory seems to act the system of notions possessed by a hu- not like the Hegelian negation of negation man being. According to the Johnson and but rather like further development and Lakoff theory, metaphors reflect the basic enrichment of the main line of argument cognitive process and play a crucial role in (Zajcev 2005). the process of cognition. One thing is obvious – there is a sin- The decisive role in the process of cog- gle feature that marks the development nition seems to belong not to formalized

101 procedures, but to analogy, in other words, ity of myths and the enduring human in- to the process of transformation of mean- terest in them. We believe that the trans- ing from one semantic field into another. formation (and distinction) “metaphor → Hence, metaphor is viewed as a linguistic allegory”4 can be juxtaposed to that of reflection of the processes of human cog- “myth → fiction”. We will attempt to show nition based on analogy. Johnson and La- that the transformation from a trickster koff’s hypothesis became a turning point into a culture hero can be combined with in modern linguistics. To this day it is con- elements of creative approach to mate- sidered to be the only valid innovation, the rial – in other words, with fiction. At the only new hypothesis offered by cognitive same time a new myth – the myth of In- studies. Still, if one compares it with the definite Progress associated with the ideal- history of mythology studies its close con- ized character of Prometheus – has been nection with the theory of myth, especially created (Alfonseca 1998). with the ideas of Lévy-Bruhl, becomes ap- One can suggest that here we deal with parent. It is also worth remembering that the transformations myth → allegory, in his La scienza nuova Giambattista Vico metaphor → symbol. In traditional cul- expressed the idea that a metaphor is just tures the idea of any change is viewed a small myth. negatively. Yet, there is no doubt that even Following the traditional (similar to conservative societies fall under the charm that of Giambattista Vico) and quite ma- of the ambivalent figure of a trickster. Æsir terialistic approach, favoured by Igor cannot help enjoying the tricks and inven- D’jakonov, we will regard myth as a tions of Loki while Narts admire “their method of expressing man’s cognition of misfortunate”, treacherous Syrdon. It is the world in the period of his development evident that Prometheus belongs to the when he has not yet created an apparatus same category of characters. Aeschylus’s of abstract notions required to arrive at fantasy transforms a trickster into a hero logical conclusions. D’jakonov proposes and in the process creates a new myth – the to view myth as an extended metaphor. idea of Indefinite Progress. “Yet, one should not exaggerate the power which urges a primitive human being to Prometheus – Loki – Syrdon. analyse and to interpret the world around Common features. Ambivalence and him,” warns Igor D’jakonov in his last complexity of the initial character book Archaic myths of East and West. He Apparently tricksters do not change their then continues: “The interpretative aspect mischievous behaviour even after they of perception was absolutely indispensable had become the object of investigation, only on the periphery of human practices. and cause the scholars’ problems similar No interpretation was possible without to those they used to cause gods’. It is an generalization and Homo Sapiens lacked accepted fact that any review of scholarly the mechanism of language-based abstract thinking (D’jakonov 2004, 11). 4 An interesting approach to the division meta- Even the most superficial approach to phor – comparison – gradation is presented in an article mythological studies can reveal the vital- of Anna Wierzbicka (1990).

102 discourse involving the interpretation of simplified by humanity while it developed Loki, Syrdon or Prometheus comes against its capacity for abstract speculation. the extremely complex, confusing and am- Similar approach is proposed by bivalent nature of these characters. They Nikolai Mikhailov. Concentrating on the are always regarded as outsiders and stran- character of Prometheus he proposes to re- gers. As aptly put by Stephanie von Schn- construct a kind of a Proto-trickster valid urbein, “Loki, the outsider in the Northern on the Indo-European level. His ambiva- Germanic pantheon, confounds not only lence and dualist nature should not be re- his fellow deities and chronicler Snorri garded as a result of later development but Sturluson [referring to the Prose Edda] but as a set of initial features of his character. has occasioned as much quarrel among his Analyzing the character of Prometheus, interpreters.” (von Schnurbein 2000, 121). depicted in Hesiodʾs works, Mikhailov The traditional method of interpreting proposes to reconstruct an ambivalent these characters has been to reconstruct proto-hero who would combine qualities the process of their transformation by es- of culture hero and trickster, forming the tablishing their starting point or their main unique image of Prometheus-Epimetheus features: the God of Fire (Jakob Grimm), (Mikhailov 2011, 82). He is referring to Lucifer of Christian Norse Mythology, Kerenyi who advanced the hypothesis Hypostasis of Óðinn (Folke Ström), figure claiming the existence of an Ur-hero Pro- of trickster (de Vries 1933),5 spider (Rooth metheus/Epimetheus in the pre-Hesiod 1961),6 chthonic deity (Liberman 1994), mythology (Kerenyi 1979, 120). etc. The ability to view a hero as a carrier Adopting the concept of myth as a way of one leading quality is linked to the phe- of explaining and describing the world, we nomenon of abstract thinking, “alien to the refer to the aforementioned statement by primitive mind” (D’jakonov 2004, 243). D’jakonov in which he claims that “a sys- Thus we can see the possible development tem of abstract notions is intrinsically alien of a character from being complex, ambiv- to the primitive mind” (D’jakonov 2004, alent and concrete to becoming “simple” 243). Using this assertion as a starting and hence more abstract. This is similar to point, we aim to reconstruct the ambiva- the ancient strata of onomatopoeic words lent, complex character of the Ur-trickster, in the languages which do not have a writ- which has been analysed, interpreted and ten tradition or to children’s speech, the so called “ideophones,” which tend to de- 7 5 By trickster de Vries means a “Konzentra- scribe the whole situation. tionfigur” which attracted all sorts of intricately com- Let us consider some of the examples bined traditions (bisexuality, mantic wisdom etc). Ac- illustrating the ambivalence of the charac- cording to de Vries such complex nature lies in Loki’s character of mischief-maker. De Vries accepts the idea of Dumezil about the striking resemblance of Syrdon 7 “Ideophones” or onomatopoetic words, (indexes, and Loki and their “impulsive mind” (de Vries 1933). in the terminology of Charles Pierce), specific words – 6 In 1961, by way of excluding all non-Scandina- pictures, describing the whole situation. It is particularly vian mythological parallels and interpreting the plau- characteristic of children’s speech or languages with no sible etymology of locke “spider” (Medieval Swedish), literary tradition. They are presumed to belong to the Anna Birgitta Rooth concluded that Loki was originally primary lexicon (Pierce 2001; Voejkova, Čistovič 1994; a spider (Rooth 1961, 266). Tolskaya 2011).

103 ters discussed. One of the most important clearly seen. We know that he is prepared texts providing us with the most complete to commit crime but he comes across as description of Loki is the Lokasenna of the a rather unusual sort of a criminal. He Poetic Edda. Lokasenna (‘Loki’s Quarrel’ does not seem to be aware of the crime in Old Norse) of the Poetic Edda (Bellows he commits and is perfectly confident he 1936) focuses on Loki arguing with other will find a way to persuade the gods to let gods. In the beginning Ægir gives a feast him take part in the feast. It seems he is in- in his hall. There the gods praise Ægir’s tent on provoking the gods, trying to push servants. Loki cannot bear to hear this and the boundaries of their tolerance. One can kills one of the servants, Fimafeng. After suggest that that Loki’s main trait is that chasing Loki into the woods, the gods re- of “insatiable curiosity,” the feature men- turn to the hall and continue their feast. tioned above. Loki comes out of the woods, and meets The dialogue with Óðinn presents one Eldir outside of the hall. Loki greets Eldir of the numerous mysteries of Loki. The and asks him to tell him what the gods words about the blood mixed together in are discussing over their ale inside the the bygone days lead scholars to interpret hall. Eldir responds that they discuss their Loki as a hypostasis of Óðinn (Ström, “weapons and their prowess in war” and 1956). In any case, Loki combines mys- no one there has anything friendly to say terious, chthonic qualities with a unique about Loki. Loki says that he will go to the humour, and a strange ability to initiate a feast, and that, before the end of the feast, catastrophe and then to save the situation. he will initiate a quarrel among the gods The same ambivalence and tendency and “mix their mead with malice.” Loki to initiate some misfortune and then to re- then enters the hall, and everyone there store the status quo, or even to ameliorate falls silent upon noticing him. Breaking the situation at the last moment, is charac- the silence, Loki says that, thirsty, he had teristic of Syrdon – the hero of the Narts come to these halls from a long way away epic tradition. (The only exception seems to ask the gods for a drink of “the famous to be the parallel stories of the tragic fate mead.” Calling the gods arrogant, Loki of the solar heroes of Scandinavian and asks why they are not willing to speak to Caucasian traditions, Baldr and Soslan, him, and demands that they assign him a whose deaths had been provoked by Loki seat at the feast, or tell him to leave. Loki and Syrdon respectively. Here our person- appeals to Óðinn, and says: ages go too far and the catastrophe cannot Do you remember, Odin, when in bygone be reversed.) days we mixed our blood together? Practically in all narratives where Syr- You said you would never drink ale don features, he acts in the same impulsive unless it were brought to both of us. manner, driven by his curiosity and his ma- (Bellows 1936, 135) licious and inventive mind, changing rap- In this passage the contradictory idly his tactics and strategy, intermittently character of Loki in all its ambivalence, acting as a positive and as a negative hero. paradoxality, strange compelling charm, For example, in his travels with Narts he mixture of spontaneity and malice can be decides to take revenge after being humili-

104 ated by them and brings them to the brink power. Hesiod describes the trick, played of disaster – but later, in accordance with on Zeus by Prometheus at Mecone during his usual model of behaviour, he saves the a sacrificial meal marking the “settling of lives of the Nart heroes who are stuck to accounts” between mortals and immortals, the benches of giants by some magic glue. (Thg. 545–557). Prometheus placed before In his usual way he doesn’t miss the oppor- the Olympian two offerings: a selection tunity to humiliate his companions while of beef hidden inside an ox’s stomach (an saving their lives. appealing offering hidden inside an unat- tractive cover) and bull’s bones wrapped Prometheus and Loki. in “glistening fat” (inedible staff hidden Theft during sacrifice inside an attractive cover). Zeus chose the It is evident that in the case of Prometheus latter, setting a precedent for future sacri- we deal with the transformation of a trick- fices. Henceforth, humans would keep that ster (as seen in Hesiod) to a character who meat for themselves and burn the bones becomes the gods’ adversary (as seen in wrapped in fat as an offering to the gods. Aeschylus). The heroic opposition of Pro- This angered Zeus, who in retribution hid metheus to Zeus and his subsequent pun- fire from humans. In this version of the ishment are very similar to the permanent myth, humans already knew how to use feud between Æsir and Loki which caused fire, but this skill had been taken away by the corresponding revenge of gods (the Zeus. In the second part of the Younger Æsir). Syrdon in his turn very often pro- Edda of Snorri Sturluson the Skáldskapar- vokes the Narts to oppose and fight the mál or “Language of poetry”, in Bragarö- gods. In the case of Syrdon we can see the dur (‘Brage’s Talk’), Æsir – Óðinn, Loki opposition Gods – Narts. On the one hand, and Hœnir went on a journey across the Syrdon opposes Gods, on the other, he is in mountains and heaths, found a herd of cat- permanent conflict with Narts. The opposi- tle, took one ox and proceeded to boil it. tion of Loki to the Æsir is somewhat dif- After a long time, they discovered that the ferent because the Æsir are actually gods. meat did not get cooked. Following this, There are two plots in Hesiod The- they heard a voice in the oak above them. ogony, featuring Prometheus. They are A giant eagle (transformed giant Þjazi) brought together in fragment 507-616 – the told them that if they gave him his portion trick played by Prometheus on Zeus during of the ox, the broth would be cooked. They the “first sacrifice” and the theft of the fire agreed to this. But after Þjazi snatched two with the subsequent myth of Pandora (561- thighs of the ox and then both shoulders 616). Mikhailov proposes to compare on and started eating the meat, infuriated Loki typological level two fragments of myths snatched a large pole and hurled it at the belonging to Greek and Scandinavian tra- eagle. The eagle recovered from the blow ditions – the narrative about the first sacri- and flew away. One end of the pole at- fice (Thg. 535-564) and the confrontation tached itself to the eagle’s body, and the of Loki and Þjazi (Skáldskaparmál,1). other end got stuck to Loki’s hands. Þjazi In Theogony of Hesiod Prometheus declared that Loki would never get free is introduced as a challenger to Zeus’s unless he pledged to bring Idun and her ap-

105 ples from Ásgarðr. Loki promised this and The significance of the inner form of was set free. This gave rise to the story of the two names – Prometheus – Epimetheus the theft of the apples of youth. As a result has been discussed many times (Kraus of the theft of the apples of eternal youth, 1957). Epi-metheus causes disaster, ac- the gods became old and grey and Loki cepting Pandora and her terrifying gifts to was forced to save the situation which he, humanity. This happens because he is not as always, managed quite well. very intelligent, he is reluctant to act, he In both cases we are dealing with the thinks after the event, while Pro-metheus sacrifice of an ox to deity – in the case of foresees everything and his malicious acts Prometheus – to Zeus, in the case of Loki – are deliberate. to Þjazi. The bull is meant for the Æsir (the Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff classical sacrifice) but also for Þjazi (peace claimed that there are different variants of offering). Then there is a certain condition Prometheus – the first – Attic-Ionian (cul- attached – one part for you, one part for ture hero) and the second – Beotian (the me (Zeus and mortals; Þjazi and the Æsir). titan who opposed the gods). This idea In both situations Prometheus and Loki act was later developed by Sechan (1951) and like transgressors and they are punished Vernant (1979, 274-275). This distinction for their crime. holds true, but we agree once again with Mikhailov’s view when he suggests that Pairs of heroes and twins this division of the initially ambivalent It is interesting to note that quite often this and unique character of Prometheus arises Ur-Trickster has a positive counterpart. much later, while the earlier Prometheus This dualistic nature of the First Trick- was a kind of combination Prometheus / ster is crucial. Dualistic myths featuring Epimetheus (a hypothesis proposed by two culture heroes arranging the world Kerenyi, 1979). in a complementary fashion can be found It seems that there is an obvious link in different cultures: Romulus and Re- between Loki and Baldr, Syrdon and So- mus, Ashvins – Dioscures, Prometheus – slan. Loki’s hate for Baldr matches that of Epimetheus etc. In Germanic mythology Syrdon for Soslan. There is a kind of se- and the Nart epic tradition of the Northern cret to be discovered in order to harm their Caucasus these pairs are strangely attract- adversaries and Soslan / Baldr and Loki / ed to each other: Baldr – Loki, Syrdon – Syrdon find it. They do not kill them- Soslan. The two characters are intimately selves but provide counselling to someone connected and one of them eventually else how to carry out the killing. Soslan’s causes the other’s death. young ally is prevented by Syrdon from re- According to Meletinsky, “the two he- viving him, just as Baldr is prevented from roes may compete or collaborate; they may being revived by Loki. be conceived as neutral or opposed to each What is striking here, is not so much other, as good versus evil; they can be of the correspondence in the details of the the same statue or differ as powerful versus stories, as the profound connection be- weak; they can be brothers (even twins) or tween Syrdon’s and Loki’s psychological not related at all” (Meletinskij 1982, 25). make up. Both are mean characters which

106 for a long time keep their meanness in feature has been interpreted as a shaman- check by causing relatively little harm, istic one. Such figures appear in Native even being useful sometimes, until their American and First Nations mythologies, mischief making reaches the point where where they are said to possess a double- they cross the line of acceptability. After spirit nature. Loki, the Norse trickster, this they perform the appalling crime of also displays gender variability; on one killing the solar hero. This similarity of occasion even becoming pregnant. He their common journey from nastiness to shares the ability to change genders with crime is absolutely striking. Óðinn, the chief Norse deity, who also possesses many features of the Trickster. Chthonic origin. Loki’s pregnancy came about when he was Belonging to the Other World forced by the Gods to prevent a giant from erecting a wall in seven days. He solved Tricksters are usually of mixed (chthonic- the problem by transforming himself into a divine) origins – Prometheus is the son mare and drawing the giant’s magic horse of Titan Iapetus and the goddess Themis away from its work. Sometime later he (Aeschylus) or Oceanid Clymene (He- returned with a child he had given birth siod); Syrdon is the son of the river deity to – the eight-legged horse Sleipnir, who Gatag and Dzerassa – the daughter of the served as Óðinn’s steed. Syrdon, too, often god of the sea Donbettyr; Loki is the son of changes his gender. He transforms into an Jǫtunn Fárbauti and Laufey whose origins elderly lady and even into a whole array are unclear. of objects.

Insatiable Curiosity Loki – Syrdon similarities It seems to be a cultural universal that with George Dumezil was the first to observe the initial intention to amuse himself the the strong resemblance between Syrdon trickster deity transgresses the rules set by and Loki (Dumezil 1948). However, in gods. Dumezil’s opinion, of greatest importance There is a well-known theory that the was the similarity of the general atmos- origins of the so-called Ancient Greek mir- phere, temperaments, modality and not the acle lie in the phenomenon that the Greeks coincidence of separate details. Both char- called σχολή “leisure” and the Romans acters are cunning, curious, possess out- “otium”, which meant “free time”. So there standing mental abilities, are strongly con- is something deeply touching about the fact nected to the Other World, perform magic, that the first shoots of Progress were due to possess shamanistic features. Syrdon even leisure and entertainment and not to strict has some Pythagorean skills – “numbers protestant values. The logic of the evolu- are not mystery to him”. Discussing the is- tion of myth appears to support this idea. sue, Dumezil remarks that the only “mate- rial coincidence” between the two charac- Gender and form variability ters is present in two narratives that appear More often than not the Trickster figure to be parallel: exhibits gender and form variability and 1. While crossing the river, bound to swops gender roles. Traditionally this the tail of a horse of Soslan Syr-

107 don is nearly drowned – in this way later comes close to creating the net. Pro- Soslan shows his contempt to his metheus (depicted by Aeschylus), Loki eternal adversary. Exactly the same and Syrdon share features of prophets. thing happens to Loki who is bound Often they help their companions by giv- to Þór’s belt while crossing the riv- ing them useful advices. On the other hand er. when they foresee the misfortunes, which 2. Syrdon steals pieces of iron when will befall their community, Loki and Syr- Barsag’s will is forged by the Heav- don display real joy. Both Loki and Syrdon en’s smith Kurdalagon. As a result, cause the death of solar heroes. the power of Barsag’s will weakens. The motive of the punishment for the Loki spoils Þór’s hammer while it is committed crime is not so evident in Syr- being forged by a dwarf (Dumezil don’s case, in spite of the fact that he is 1976, 121). Remarkable as they are, called Narty fydbylyzh ‘the misfortune of Dumezil, considers these obvious the Narts’. In his turn, Loki is known as the coincidences to be insignificant. evil of the Æsir. The Narts repeatedly try Both Loki and Syrdon have some po- to find the way of punishing and torturing tential for developing into culture heroes – Syrdon, but he invariably manages to find Loki invents the net, while Syrdon invents some kind of solution for his predicament. the first lyre of the Narts (fandyr). The Frequently Narts and Æsir show their de- story of these “inventions” (if they can be spise for Loki and Syrdon. considered as such) is very typical for the evolution of culture heroes. Their cultural Loki and Syrdon. endeavours are rarely systematically and Some new parallels methodically planned. Quite often an im- portant landscape or culture feature is a It is evident that the coincidence in general consequence of some kind of chance or of atmosphere is observed more easily than their light-minded behaviour rather than a the matching of the concrete features mak- result of their creative activity). ing up the characters of our heroes. And Loki’s relation with gods varies. Loki still there are some details, which seem sometimes assists them and sometimes strikingly similar and have apparently causes problems for them. Loki and Syr- escaped the researchers’ attention. There don are experienced shape and gender is a certain affinity between the plots of shifters. Loki assumes the form of a salm- Baldr’s death caused by Loki and Syrdon’s on, a mare, a fly, an old woman. Syrdon son’s death caused by Soslan. Syrdon, too changes his form easily and often turns wanting to get an ox from every Nart fam- into an old woman, a dog etc. ily, proposes to use his own son as a target Loki and Syrdon both dwell in strange and to shoot at him using their bows. “If secret houses. Syrdon lives either in a lab- you kill him I need no compensation, but if yrinth under the earth or next to the river you miss you give me an ox“. Syrdon, who (this detail underlines his chthonic nature). like Prometheus and Loki possesses some Loki has a strange house in the mountains prophetic qualities, is aware of the fact that where the Æsir try to get hold of him, for some unknown reason, no Nart except but he escapes turning into a salmon and for Soslan can cause harm to his son. Syr-

108 don knows that Soslan is absent and hence So here we are dealing with a remarkable cannot participate in the dangerous game. coincidence that so far appears to have But Soslan returns, meets a witch who tells passed unnoticed. him that he is the only person who can hit The stories go like this: After Baldr’s the target and kill the boy (interestingly, death the Æsir capture Loki. They bring in the Narts epos we usually meet Syrdon him into a cave, take three flat stones and himself in the role of the old witch, who, drill a hole in each of them. Then they take like Loki, can perform this kind of trans- Loki’s sons, Váli and Nari (or Narfi). Váli formations). Syrdon recognizes Soslan’s is transformed by Æsir into a wolf and arrow because it produces a peculiar sound tears Narfi into pieces. After that Æsir take while in flight. After this incident Syrdon Narfi’s entrails and bind Loki to the stones becomes Soslan’s worst enemy. This story (Gylfaginning, Snorri Sturluson’s Prose is strangely reminiscent of the well-known Edda, chapter 50). narrative of the killing of Baldr by Loki As for Syrdon, he seems to be deeply (which in its turn presents a certain paral- attached to his sons. According to some lel to the story of the peril of Soslan caused versions, his wife died after having given by Syrdon)8. birth to his three sons; in other versions he One of the most striking aspects in the had a wife and twelve sons. Syrdon’s sons resemblance between Prometheus and became victims of Soslan and Hamyts. Loki is the fact that the two heroes are At some point Syrdon stole the cow be- punished in the same way – being bound longing to Hamyts. He took it to his secret to a rock. Their punishment gave rise to house, boiled the cow in a cauldron and the motive of torture, suffering and subse- prepared a meal for his wife and twelve quent liberation. sons. Hamyts on discovering the crime, Loki is eventually bound by the gods found Syrdon’s secret house, came there in with one of his sons’ entrails, while Syr- his absence, killed Syrdon’s wife and chil- don creates the first musical instrument dren, cut them to pieces and threw parts of of Narts – fandyr – using his son’s veins their bodies into the boiling cauldron tak- (Narty 1990, 224-238) (the boy was killed ing with him the cooked meat of his cow. by Hamyts and boiled in a cauldron in re- Having discovered what happened to his venge for Syrdon’s stealing of his cow)9. family, Syrdon plunged into despair. In the cauldron he finds his son’s hand and pulls over it his twelve veins. This is how Syr- 8 In his monography “The problem of Loki” Jan de Fries (1933) argues that the character of Loki is Óðinn’s don creates the Nart lyre – fandyr (Narty negative counterpart. He believes that initially Loki pre- 1990, 224-238). Narts admire this wonder- sented the type of an innocent trickster, who under the ful musical instrument and allow Syrdon influence of Christianity has developed much more dark traits, eventually becoming the enemy to gods. His in- back into their community. volvement in Baldr’s death, according to de Fries (and to Mogk 1923) is a later version of the myth. In any case, the parallel with the sufferings of Syrdon’s son is striking. 9 This fact seems to have been missed by Dumezil. Three volumes of the Narts Epos have been published in being prepared. Hence we can hope for the introduction Ossetia and an electronic corpus of Ossetian language is of a new valuable material.

109 Trickster and intriguer lished values. Hence the Judaic concept of as the original model the ‘Fall of Man’, and the idea of the world in decline – the process which started in the While discussing a culture hero it seems Golden Age.10 In this context the negative fitting to refer to Greek material (Hesiod) role of the trickster (serpent) who is trying as it was the Greek written tradition that to destroy the existing stability through his recorded the earlier stages of myth. Al- novel behaviour becomes absolutely clear. ready in Aeschylus one can trace the sub- The idea of the Golden Age and the return sequent transformation of metaphor into to nature was revived by Rousseau and has symbol and allegory and observe how not lost any of its attraction in our times. myth becomes literature. We can presume Xenophanes put forward the idea that the that applying the Greek model, we can re- gods did not reveal to man the whole truth, construct a plausible route of hero’s trans- and from the beginning of time humanity formation. Scandinavian and Ossetian ma- was forced to invent and discover things terial does not offer such opportunity, so unaided. Diogenes was convinced that to analyze it, we should resort to analogy. the severe punishment meted out to Pro- By analysing Works and Days, The- metheus was fair – he hated progress (Rus- ogony by Hesiod (Hesiod 1982) and partly sel 1967, 290). He hardly appreciated the Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus – the ear- idea of progress. liest Greek texts about Prometheus – the When following the development of ambivalence of Prometheus’s character becomes obvious (Kerenyi 1979; Meletin- the characters in question we observe a skij 1958, 1982; Ivanov 1987). Aeschylus gradual change in the features attributed begins to transform him into a noble and to the culture hero. In the subsequent liter- generous hero prepared to sacrifice himself ary interpretations of the role of cult and in order to help the mankind. In Hesiod’s of the changes in the perception of the mythological phenomena, the culture hero texts Prometheus is a trickster, a mischief appears in an increasingly positive light. maker, whose involvement, guilt and re- Thus, we are dealing here with a radical sponsibility for the tragedies brought upon change in the perception of the role of a the mankind can be compared to that of the Kulturträger. serpent in the Paradise Lost. Nikolai Mikhailov offering a thorough Already in ancient Greece (where quite analysis of Hesiod’s text stresses the point a few theories have been invented and that people seem to have managed to es- rejected before restarting their life in the cape chaos after having received a kind of general history of the “world of mind”), ‘sacral injection’ (Mikhailov 2011). This starting from Prometheus bound by Ae- injection enables them to escape chaos but schylus, Prometheus is regarded as a sym- they act inappropriately and transgress the bol of Indefinite Progress. And since Ae- established rules. They can be thrown back schylus, mankind tries to decide whether to the depths of chaos and nothing can the idea of Progress should be regarded as protect them from suffering, disasters and positive or as negative. On the one hand, any change is looked upon as dangerous 10 Compare the description of the Golden Age by for humanity as it undermines the estab- Hesiod in the 8th century B.C.

110 catastrophes. For this reason we have to prevent the implementation of Zeus’s will. follow the strict order according to which ἐρίζειν βουλάς . The epithets describing this world functions. It is obvious that the Prometheus are connected to the notions of traditional societies which hold such world cunningness, of being crafty and mobile – view will regard any progress as negative. ποικίλον αἰολόμητιν (Thg. 511), δολίη One is not supposed to take a remedy with- τέχνη, (Thg. 560: δολίης ἐπελήθεο τέχνης), out an advice from an experienced doctor; Προμηθεὺς ἀγκυλομήτης (Thg.546), of in the same way, one is not supposed to be hiding (καλύψας), of stealing (κλέψας), initiated into progress without strict advice of an ability to see into the future, δολίη and benevolence of gods. τέχνη, τέχνη. Quite often a cultural hero is a thief, In Works and Days, in the myth about trickster, transgressor of taboos – all of this the theft of fire and the creation of Pan- being the testimony to the negative aspects dora (Op. 42-105) Prometheus’ main traits of their activities. Following this logic we remain unchanged (Op. 48: Προμηθεὺς can reconsider the image of Prometheus. ἀγκυλομήτης; Op. 55: κλέψας; φρένας The fact is that later fictional interpreta- ἠπεροπεύσας). tions have embellished it hugely. After Hence one can conclude that in Hesi- Aeschylus’s portrayal of Prometheus as a od’s Theogony not a single positive state- generous hero, a benefactor of the human- ment can be found about Prometheus’ ac- ity, his image became very positive (Frazer tions as a Kulturträger, whereas the nega- 1993; Kejper 1986; de Vries 1970). tive consequences of the damage caused There is no doubt that Prometheus by his transgressions of Zeus’s laws are is a cultural hero, but his actions are to a really tremendous. Not only Prometheus certain extent destructive because of the but the whole of mankind were severely methods he resorts to and the results he punished for his crime. Moreover, there achieves. Hesiod’s Theogony contains two is a certain lack of justice here as Pro- narratives involving Prometheus. The first metheus’s punishment is temporary, while one describes the cheating of Zeus by Pro- mankind is doomed to suffer eternally. metheus during the first sacrifice (Thg. 555- According to Zeus’s orders, Pandora be- 560), while the second features the theft of came responsible for the future sufferings the fire and the myth of Pandora (who is of mankind. Following Prometheus’ theft, connected with Prometheus’ brother with the degradation of human beings appears etymologically ‘twin’ name Epimetheus). to be quite logical and easily predictable. In some chronological dissonance with It seems that these Kulturträger’s actions this fragment is the story of Prometheus’ bring about a flood, a real catastrophe for punishment and his subsequent liberation mankind, where the only person saved is by Heracles. It is said only οὕνεκ’ ἐρίζετο Prometheus’ son Deukalion (Kirk 1987, βουλὰς ὑπερμενέι Κρονίωνι (Thg. 534) 146-147). It transpired that fire had been “because he opposed the will of the pow- known to mankind before Prometheus’ in- erful Kronides” (Hesiod 1982, 167). One terference, and its introduction was carried can conclude that he was punished for his out with Zeus’ approval, in other words, destructive actions and for his attempts to legally. Kirk believed that showing Pro-

111 metheus as the benefactor of mankind was Stones, hills, lone trees are the products of just a pretext to reveal his nature of a trick- their actions. Some of them rise into the ster (Kirk 1987, 146-147). sky and turn into planets and stars. Very According to Meletinsky, the cultural often they are supposed to have aided the hero – demiurge – is one of the most an- delivery of fire to people, participating in cient characters of the world folklore. Yet, the initiation rites etc. The creation of the as we have attempted to show above, Mele- totemic ancestors is usually attributed to tinsky’s argument does not seem convinc- early antiquity, to the period of dreams. ing enough. We believe that culture hero And now in perfect accordance with the is a later, post-mythological development laws of folklore we return to the begin- and want to reiterate the statement made ning of the article. A wonderful stylization above. The culture hero begins his life the of such myths belongs to Rudyard Ki- moment mythology (or at least ‘primitive pling (in perfect accordance with the laws mythology’) comes to an end and fiction of folklore (my end is my beginning) we begins. bring our reader back to the epigraph of In most cultures (one can refer to the article. Greek, Norse, Native American, South- western United States, Pacific Northwest, Conclusion Alaska and Russian Far East examples) the trickster deity breaks the rules of gods or In this paper we have focused our atten- nature, sometimes maliciously, sometimes tion on the question of whether the seman- with positive effects, his initial intention tic development attributed to certain char- being to amuse himself. It seems that cul- acters – chthonian deity, trickster, culture ture hero per se emerges as a subsequent hero – correlates with the transformation interpretation of certain authors – compare and the changing value of the idea of pro- Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus. gress within different cultures. Our infer- Meletinsky demonstrates that as a rule ences were based on the idea that while the mythical culture hero cannot be re- reconstructing the possible transformation garded as an object of a religious cult. As a of this character one should use the Greek matter of fact the cultural hero almost nev- material, where Hesiod’s Prometheus acts er evolves to become god. In most cases according to the model of a behaviour of a no sacralisation of the cultural hero takes trickster and undoubtedly presents an ear- place and he becomes part of the oral epic lier stage of the development of the myth, tradition. In our opinion, it is one more ar- while Aeschylus’s Prometheus belongs to gument that supports our hypothesis that the world of fiction. the culture figure is a relatively recent phe- We tend to regard myth as a tool for nomenon. expressing man’s cognition of the world More archaic than tricksters seem to in the period of his development where he be the images of totemic ancestors – half has not yet created an apparatus of abstract people, half animals who are wander- notions required for arriving at logical ing in groups or alone, eating and killing conclusions. We believe that myth can be each other, dying and coming alive again. regarded as an extended metaphor.

112 The idea of any change has been re- and Syrdon characters demonstrate cer- garded negatively in traditional cultures tain similarities. One of the most striking (the present society, surely, preserves aspects in the resemblance between Pro- many features of this addiction to stabil- metheus and Loki is the fact that the two ity and repetition). Yet, there is no doubt heroes are punished in the same way – be- that even conservative societies felt the ir- ing bound to a rock. resistible charm of the ambivalent figure The matching process identified new of trickster. Æsir cannot help enjoying features of similarity: Loki is eventually Loki’s tricks and inventions, and Narts bound by the gods with one of his sons’ admire ‘their misfortune’ – the treacher- entrails, while Syrdon creates the first mu- ous Syrdon. It is evident that Prometheus sical instrument of Narts – fandyr – using belongs to the same category of charac- his son’s veins. This seems to be a remark- ters. Aeschylus’s fantasy transformed the able coincidence that so far appears to trickster into a hero and in the process cre- have passed unnoticed. ated a new myth – the idea of the Indefi- ‘My end is my beginning’ – we some- nite Progress. how wistfully return to the quotation from When discussing a culture hero it Steblin-Kamenskij, which we used as an seems fitting to refer to the Greek material epigraph of this article. As a matter of fact, (Hesiod) because it was the Greek written it is extremely difficult to verify any hy- tradition that recorded the earlier stages of pothesis in the field of comparative my- myth . Already in Aeschylus one can trace thology – the subject matter is too delicate. the future transformation of metaphor into And still one should persevere because it symbol and allegory and observe how concerns us, our way of thinking and of myth becomes literature. Presumably, us- modeling the world around us in the most ing the Greek model, one can reconstruct direct way. We can only reiterate our initial a plausible itinerary of the hero’s transfor- idea – myth comes to an end when fiction mation. Scandinavian and Ossetian mate- starts, and Snorri Sturluson in the 13 cen- rial does not offer this possibility, so to tury was much closer to the phenomenon analyze it, we can resort to analogy. of mythological thinking than Aeschylus It is evident that Prometheus, Loki was in the 5 century BC.

REFERENCES

Alfonseca, Manuel. 1998. The myth of progress cism of the mythopoetic mind. Image of Antiquity) in the evolution of Science. End-of-year lecture, for- St. Petersburg: Azbuka-klassika. warded by the author. Madrid. (http://arantxa.ii.uam. Bellows, Henry Adams. 1936. The Poetic Edda: es/~alfonsec/docs/end.htm). Translated from the Icelandic with an Introduction Athanassakis, Apostolos N. 1983. Hesiod. The- and Notes. Princeton University Press. American Scandinavian Foundation. ogony; Works and days; Shield. Introduction, trans- D’jakonov, Igor’ Mihajlovič. 2004. Arhaičeskije lation, and notes. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univer- mify Vostoka i Zapada. (Archaic myths of East and sity Press. West) Moskva: Nauka. Averintsev, Sergei Sergeevič. 2004. Neopla- de Vries, Jan. 1933. The Problem of Loki. tonizm pered licom platonovskoj kritiki. Obraz Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia Societas antičnosti. (Neoplatonism exposed to Plato’s criti- Scientiarum Fennica.

113 de Vries, Jan. 1967. Altnordische Literaturge- of Prometheus – the Culture Hero in Myth and Epic schichte, 2 vols. Vol. 1 (Grundriß der germanischen Tradition). Vestnik istorii mirovoj kul’tury 3(9), 114– Philologie 15), Berlin-Leipzig: de Gruyter. 132. de Vries, Jan. 1970. Altgermanische Religions- Meletinskij, Eleazar M. 1982, Kul’turnyj geschichte, 3rd edition. Berlin and Leipzig: Walter geroj (The Culture Hero). Mify narodov mira: de Gruyter & Co. Ènciklopedičeskij slovar’ 2, 25–27. Dumézil, Georges. 1924. Le festin d’immortalité. Meletinskij, Eleazar M.1988. Loki. Mify naro- Étude de mythologie comparée indo-européenne. dov mira: Ènciklopedičeskij slovar’ 2, 67–68. Annales du Musée Guimet. Paris: P. Geuthner. Mikhailov, Nikolai. 2011. On some aspects of Dumézil, Georges. 1976. Iz knigi Loki. Osetin- philanthropic activity of Prometheus. Ètimologija skij èpos i mifologija. (Ossetian epic Tradition and i mifologija. (Etymology and Mythology) Studia Mythology) Vasilij Ivanovič Abaev, ed. Moskva: mythosemeiotica 2, 84–101. Madrid: Editiones del Nauka. Hebreo Errante. Dumézil, Georges. 1959. Loki. Darmstadt: Mogk, Еugen. Novellistische Darstellung my- Darmstadt Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft. thologischer Stoffe Snorris und seiner Schule. Hel- Eloeva, Fatima, Sausverde Erika. 2015. Culture sinki: Suomalainen Tiedakatemia. (FFC, 51). Hero as a Former Intriguer. Indo-European Linguis- Murray,Gilbert. 2003. Five Stages of Greek Reli- tics and Classical Philology – XIX. Proceedings of gion. New York: Dover Publications. the 19th Conference in Memory of Professor Joseph Narty. 1990. [Нарты]. Narty. Osetinskij M. Tronsky. Nikolai N. Kazansky, ed. St. Peters- geroičeskij epos. (Ossetian Heroic Epos) Moskva: burg: Nauka, 229–241. Nauka. Frazer, James George. 1993. Miti sull’origine Pierce, Charles. 2001. Èlementy logiki. Gram- del’ fuoco. (trans. V. Cucchi). Milano: Xenia. matica speculativa. Semiotika. Antologija. Moskva: Hesiod. 1982. Hesiod with an English transla- Akademičeskij proekt, 166–168. tion by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, London: Loeb Clas- Rassel, Bertrand. 1967. A History of Western sical Library. Philosophy and its Connection with Political and Ivanov, Vjačeslav V. 1987. Antropogoničeskie Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the mify. ( Anthropological Myths) Mify narodov mira. Present Day. New York: Simon & Schuster. T.1. Moskva: Nauka, 87–89. Rooth, Anna Birgitta. 1961. Loki in Scandina- Johnson Mark, Lakoff George.1980. Metaphors vian Mythology. Lund: Gleerup. we live by. London: University of Chicago Press. Séchan, Louis. 1951. Le myte de Prométhée. Kuiper, Franciskus B. J. 1986. Indijskij Prom- Myths et Religions, No 28, Paris: Presses Universi- etej? (An Indian Prometheus?) Trudy po vedijskoj taires de France. mifologii. Tat’jana Jakovlevna Elizarenkova, ed. Simek, Rudolf. 1984. Lexicon der germanischen Moskva: Nauka. Kerenyi, Karoly. 1979 (2010). Prometeo: il mi- Mythologie. Stuttgart: Kröner. tologema greca dell’esistenza umana. Miti e misteri. Steblin-Kamenskij, Mihail Ivanovič. 1982. Trans. Angelo Brelich. Torino: Bollati Borighieri. Myth. The Icelandic Sagas & Eddas. Translated by Kerenyi, Karoly. 2009. Gli dei e gli eroi della Mary P. Coote with the assistance of Frederic Amo- Grecia. Milano: Il Saggiatore. ry. Ann Arbor: Karoma. Kirk, Geoffrey S. 1987. La natura dei miti grae- Steblin-Kamenskij, Mihail Ivanovič. 2003. Mif ci. Roma: Bari. (Myth). Trudy po filologii. Sankt-Peterburg: Philo- Kraus, Walther. 1957. Prometheus. Paulus Re- logicheskij Fakultet SPbGU. alenecyklopaedie der classischen Altertumwissen- Ström, Folke. 1956. Loki: Ein mythologis- schaft. Bd. XXIII,1, München, 689–690. ches Problem. Acta universitatis Gothoburgensis. Liberman, Anatoly. 1994. Word Heath. Rome: Goteborgs Universitets Årsskrift, 62,8. Goteborg: Il Calamo. Elander. Long, Jerome H. 2005. Culture Heroe. Lindsay Tolskaya, Maria. 2011. Ideophones as positive Jones et al., Encyclopedia of Religion, V. 3 (2nd ed.). polarity items. MA Thesis. Harvard University. Macmillan Reference USA: Thomas Gale. Vernant, Jean-Pierre. 1978. Mito e pensiero Meletinskij, Eleazar M. 1958. Predki Prometeja presso I greci. Studi di psicologia storica. Torino: (Kul’turnyj geroj v mife i èpose) (The Forefathers Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi.

114 Vernant, Jean-Pierre. 2003. Mito e religione in of Loki in Snorri Sturluson’s “Edda”. History of Grecia antica (Mythe et religion en Grèce ancienne, Religions, 40 (2), 109–124. 1990), trans. Riccardo Di Donato. Roma: Donzelli, Wierzbicka, Anna.1990. Sravnenie, gradacija, 227–277. metafora. (Comparison, Gradation, Metaphor) Voejkova, Marija D. & Čistovič, Ilarion A. 1994. Teorija metafory. Nina Davidovna Arutjunova, ed. Pervye slova russkogo rebenka The first words of Moskva: Progress, 133–152. a Russian child). Bjulleten’ fonetičeskogo fonda Zajcev, Aleksandr Iosifovič. 2005. Grečeskaja russkogo jazyka 5, 108–115. religija i mifologija (Greek Religion and Mythology), Von Schnurbein, Stefanie. 2000. The Function Moskva: Akademija.

BEBAIMĖ KULTŪRINIO HEROJAUS PRAEITIS (PROMETĖJAS, LOKIS, SYRDONAS…KOJOTAS…) Fatima Eloeva, Erika Sausverde Santrauka Straipsnyje nagrinėjami panašumai ir paralelės tarp triksterio archetipui. Šis archetipas Kojoto dvasios trijų mitologinių personažų – senovės graikų Pro- pavidalu aptinkamas Amerikos indėnų mitologijoje metėjo, Syrdono iš nartų epinės tradicijos ir senovės (Kojotas pavogė iš dievų ugnį, žvaigždes ir saulę), skandinavų Lokio. Anksčiau šie trys herojai buvo panašių motyvų galima rasti ir pietryčių Jungti- nagrinėti poromis: Prometėjas lygintas su Lokiu, nių Amerikos Valstijų pasakose apie Triušį (angl. Lokis – su Syrdonu. Šie ryšiai dažniausiai buvo ty- Rabbit) arba Varną (angl. Raven), kuris pavogė ugnį rinėjami sinchroniniu lygiu, statiškai, bandant atkur- iš savo dėdės bebro ir galiausiai atidavė ją žmonėms. ti konkrečius personažų evoliucijos etapus. Šiame Mes keliame klausimą, ar semantinė transfor- straipsnyje mes pažvelgėme į šią problemą iš diach- macija chtoninė dievybė → apgavikas (triksteris) → roninės perspektyvos. kultūrinis herojus koreliuoja su kintančiu pažan- Skandinavų Lokis ir Kaukazo Syrdonas (nartų gos (progreso) idėjos turiniu skirtingose kultūrose. epinė tradicija) yra lyginami su Prometėjo charak- Mums atrodo, kad šiai rekonstrukcijai reikia naudoti terio evoliucija, aprašyta ankstyvuose tekstuose (He- graikiškąją medžiagą. Hesiodo Prometėjas veikia pa- siodo Teogonijoje ir Darbuose ir dienose), taip pat gal triksterio (apgaviko) elgesio modelį ir, be abejo- su jo vėlesne transformacija, kuri yra vaizduojama nės, atitinka mito ankstesnius etapus, o Aischilo Pro- Aischilo tragedijoje Prikaltasis Prometėjas. Šis pa- metėjas jau priklauso grožinės literatūros pasauliui. lyginimas leidžia konstruoti bendrą personažo raidos Tyrimas leido atskleisti naujų mitų panašumų ir modelį, kuris gali būti apibūdintas kaip evoliucija sutapimų. Pavyzdžiui, mito pabaigoje dievai Lokį nuo chtoninės dievybės iki apgaviko (triksterio) ir suriša jo sūnaus žarnomis, o Syrdonas panaudoja (paskutiniame etape) – kultūrinio herojaus. savo sūnaus venas pirmajam muzikos instrumen- Šių trijų herojų palyginimas leidžia mums many- tui – nartų „fandyrui“ sukurti. Šis sutapimas iki šiol ti, kad visi jie priklauso universaliam vadinamajam nebuvo pastebėtas.

Gauta: 2015-09-30 Autorių adresas: Priimta publikuoti: 2015-10-07 Filologijos fakultetas Vilniaus universitetas Universiteto g. 5 LT-01513 Vilnius El. pašto adresai: Fatima Eloeva:[email protected] Erika Sausverde: [email protected]

115