of chromosomes. In Indo-European theology, however, it would seem that
goddesses played only a minor part. In those areas where they are most
prominent, in southern and western Europe, it may be due to the influence of
earlier, pre-Indo-European populations.^64
We cannot reconstruct a feminine counterpart of *deiwós. Different lan-
guages created feminine forms in divergent ways. The Vedic devı ̄ ́ is matched
by Avestan dae ̄vı ̄, but not by Lithuanian die ̃ve ̇ or Latin dea. Although the
Greek θεο ́ is a different word, it is noteworthy that originally the same form
was used for masculine and feminine: in Attic ] θεο ́ remained normal, while
θεα ́ and θαινα were essentially poetic. They must have been secondary
creations, and the same applies to the distinct feminine forms in the other
languages.
In the Vedic pantheon, which in this regard may be considered our best
indicator of the Indo-European situation, such goddesses as there are play
little part in ruling the world, and they have no special connection with
mortal women.^65 They fall into the following categories:
Natural entities with feminine names, such as Pr
̇thivı ̄= Earth, Us
̇(i) as=
Dawn, Ra ̄trı ̄= Night, A ̄pah
̇= the Waters; the river Sarasvatı ̄.
(ii)Personified abstractions of feminine gender, such as Aditi (Freedom
from Bondage), Va ̄c (Utterance), S ́raddha ̄ (Trust), Laks
̇mı ̄
(Happiness).^66
(iii)Spouses or associates of male gods, named after their husbands by
means of a suffix, such as Su ̄rya ̄ (cf. p. 227), Rudra ̄n
̇̄, Varunı
̇a ̄nı ̄,
Agna ̄yı ̄.^67
Terrestrial goddesses such as the Apsaras nymphs and Aran
̇(iv) ya ̄nı ̄ the
Lady of the Forest (pp. 281, 284).Thefirst and fourth of these categories may certainly be taken as Indo-
European. The second is probably a later development, though paralleled and
extensively exploited in Greek and Latin.^68 The third is sufficiently paralleled
outside India to suggest that it is an inherited type. In the Younger Avesta
there is an Ahura ̄nı ̄ who is wife or daughter of Ahura Mazda ̄, and the
Waters are Ahura ̄nı ̄s, while the stellar god Tisˇtrya (Sirius) is accompanied by
(^64) Cf. M. Robbins, JIES 8 (1980), 19–29.
(^65) Cf. Usener (1896), 29–33; Macdonell (1898), 124 f.; Oldenberg (1917), 240 f.; Hillebrandt
(1927–9), ii. 398–401; Campanile (1977), 68 f., 73; id. in E. C. Polomé (ed.), Indo-European
Religion after Dumézil (JIESM 16; Washington 1996), 74.
(^66) Cf. Macdonell (1898), 119 f.; Hillebrandt (1927–9), ii. 394–8.
(^67) Cf. Schrader (1909), 38; Oldenberg (1917), 244; Oberlies (1998), 230 n. 390.
(^68) Cf. Usener (1896), 364–75; West (1966), 33 f.
- Gods and Goddesses 139