heaven. Indra is said to be prathamé víyomani, deva ̄ ́na ̄m
̇
sádane, ‘in the fore-
most heaven, the seat of the gods’ (RV 8. 13. 2). Only the gods’ lowest seats
(sáda ̄m
̇
si, plural of sádas-) are said to be visible to us.^11 The same expression,
‘seat of the gods’,θεω
ν or qθανα ́ των aδο, is used in Hesiod of the heaven
(ο1ρανο ́ ) and in Homer of Olympus.^12 aδο and sádas- are the same word,
whilesádanamand sádman- show the same root with different suffixes. It
appears also in Irish síd, literally ‘seat’, the term used for the hills or mounds
within which the old pagan gods were imagined to be dwelling.
Heaven, however, could not be thought of as the home of all the super-
natural powers whose activity impinges on our awareness. Some belong on
the earth, or under it. If one makes a distinction between the pure heaven
above the clouds and the lower air, there are clearly powers whose sphere of
operation is the latter. So it is not surprising if a division is made between
upper and lower gods.
In Hittite treaties the lengthy lists of divine witnesses often conclude with
‘the gods of heaven and the gods of the earth’.^13 The same dichotomy can be
found in Greek, for example in Aeschylus, Supp. 24 πατο τε θεο? κα?
βαρ3τιμοι χθο ́ νιοι θ κα κατχοντε, ‘both highest gods and chthonian ones of
heavy office who occupy tombs’;Ag. 90 0πα ́ των,χθονων; Euripides, Hec. 146
θεο7 το3 τ, Ο1ρανδα (v.l. ο1ρανου)το3 θ, 0π: γαα, ‘both the heavenly
gods and those below the earth’. Likewise in Latin, Livius Andronicus refictus
fr. 3 Courtney (rendering Od. 10. 64 τ τοι κακ: #χραε δαμων)inferus an
superus tibi fert deus funera, Vlixes?, Pacuvius Trag. 212 quis deos infernos
quibus caelestis dignet decorare hostiis?; CIL i.^2 2525 di superi et inferi; Livy
- 8 as quoted above; and by implication in the Oscan inscription
no. 19. 7 Buck, nip huntruis nip supruis aisusis‘nec inferis nec superis sacri-
ficiis’ (where hun- is related to Greek χθον-). In the first line of the Gaulish
defixio from Chamalières, andedíon... diíiuion risunartiu appears to mean
‘by the virtue of the Lower Gods’; these gods are referred to again in line 3
anderon‘inferorum’,ander- being etymologically identical with Latin infer-
(< *n
̊
- 8 as quoted above; and by implication in the Oscan inscription
dher-).
The Indians made a threefold division. The most exact statement in the
Rigveda is at 1. 139. 11, where the gods addressed are said to be eleven in
heaven (diví), eleven on the earth (pr
̇
thiviya ̄ ́m ádhi), and eleven dwelling in
the waters (apsuks
̇
ítah
̇). Several other hymns mention the tally of thirty-three(^11) RV 3. 54. 5. For the divine seat cf. also 9. 83. 5 máhi sádma daíviyam; 10. 96. 2 diviyám
̇
...
sádah
̇
.
(^12) Hes. Th. 128; Il. 5. 360, 367, 868, cf. 24. 144; Od. 6. 42; Hymn. Ap. 109, cf. Hymn. Dem. 341,
Hymn. Hom. 15. 7; Pind. Nem. 6. 3 f.
(^13) Beckman (1999), 14, 29, 47, 53.
- Gods and Goddesses 123