*Dyēus
*Dyḗus (lit. "daylight-sky-god"), also *Dyḗus ph₂tḗr (lit. "father daylight-sky-god"),[1][2] is the reconstructed name of the daylight-sky god in Proto-Indo-European mythology. *Dyēus was conceived as a divine personification of the bright sky of the day and the seat of the gods, the *deywṓs. Associated with the vast diurnal sky and with the fertile rains, *Dyēus was often paired with *Dʰéǵʰōm, the Earth Mother, in a relationship of union and contrast.
Not to be confused with Deus.While its existence is not directly attested by archaeological or written materials, *Dyēus is considered by scholars the most securely reconstructed deity of the Indo-European pantheon, as identical formulas referring to him can be found among the subsequent Indo-European languages and myths of the Vedic Indo-Aryans, Latins, Greeks, Phrygians, Messapians, Thracians, Illyrians, Albanians and Hittites.[3][2]
Name[edit]
Etymology[edit]
The divine name *Dyēus derives from the stem *dyeu-, denoting the "diurnal sky" or the "brightness of the day" (in contrast to the darkness of the night), ultimately from the root *di or dei- ("to shine, be bright").[1][4] Cognates in Indo-European languages revolving around the concepts of "day", "sky" and "deity" and sharing the root *dyeu- as an etymon, such as Sanskrit dyumán- 'heavenly, shining, radiant',[5] suggest that Dyēus referred to the vast and bright sky of the day conceived as a divine entity among Proto-Indo-European speakers.[1][4]
A vṛddhi-derivative appears in *deywós ("celestial"), the common word for "god" in Proto-Indo-European. In classic Indo-European, associated with the late Khvalynsk culture (3900–3500),[6] *Dyēus also had the meaning of "Heaven", whereas it denoted "god" in general (or the Sun-god in particular) in the Anatolian tradition.[7] The suffix-derivative *diwyós ("divine") is also attested in Latin, Greek and Sanskrit.[4][8] The noun *deynos ("day"), interpreted as a back-formation of *deywós, has descendant cognates in Albanian din ("break of the day"),[9][10] Vedic Sanskrit dína- "day"[9] and divé-dive ("day by day"), Lithuanian dienà and Latvian dìena ("day"),[9] Slavic dъnъ ("day")[9] or Slavic Poludnitsa ("Lady Midday"),[11][12] Latin Dies, goddess of the day and counterpart to Greek Hemera, Hittite siwat ("day"), Palaic Tīyat- ("Sun, day"), Ancient Greek endios ("midday"), Old Armenian tiw (տիւ, "bright day"), Old Irish noenden ("nine-day period"), Welsh heddyw ("today").[13][14]
While the Greek goddess Pandeia or Pandia (Greek: Πανδία, Πανδεία, "all brightness") may have been another name for the Moon Goddess Selene,[15] her name still preserves the root *di-/*dei-, meaning "to shine, be bright".[16]
Epithets[edit]
The most constant epithet associated with *Dyēus is "father" (*ph₂tḗr). The term "Father Dyēus" was inherited in the Vedic Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́, Greek Zeus Patēr, Illyrian Dei-pátrous, Roman Jupiter (*Djous patēr), even in the form of "dad" or "papa" in the Scythian Papaios for Zeus, or the Palaic expression Tiyaz papaz.[17] The epithet *Ph₂tḗr Ǵenh1-tōr ("Father Procreator") is also attested in the Vedic, Iranian, Greek, and perhaps the Roman ritual traditions.[18]