220401myth.html

A subscriber to the internet discussion group sci.archaeology, Eric Stevens, posted on 21st April 2001 some of his thoughts on oreichalkos, including the following excerpt:

'Whether the ancient Greek word "orichalc" meant copper, bronze, brass, a gold-silver alloy or amber, has been much debated in this news group. The following (translated) quotation from Pausanias, "Description of Greece" 5.7 ff may explain at least some of the source of the confusion ...

'"This amber of which the statue of Augustus is made, when found native in the sand of the Eridanus, is very rare and precious to men for many reasons; the other 'amber' is an alloy of gold and silver".

'It seems that Solon via Plato could well have been referring to amber when he used the term "orichalc"'.

[Note by A.G.: the quotation is from 'Description of Greece', book V, 12.7, according to my translation.]

Was oreichalkos a metal?

A second subscriber, unnamed, posted on 22 April 2001 (dates at my computer) a response including the following excerpt:

'The problem I see here is that our amber probably doesn't come in statue size lumps. I don't know what is found in the "sand of Eridanus" and I'm not sure what the phrase "...the other "amber" means, but if that one can be a metal, perhaps both meanings of the word refer to metals?

'I seem to recall some description of orichalc that involved flat plates which would again imply metal.

'This is totally tentative, just a thought to add to the discussion. I seem to have missed the orginal thread'.

My response: oreichalkos was boric acid

I responded to these observations, which I found helpful, with the following ideas, posted on the internet discussion groups sci.archaeology and alt.mythology on 22 April 2001:

The Argo reaches a volcanic lake

The elektron in the Eridanus river came from a volcanic lake, which belched up heavy steam clouds, and flame that killed birds in mid-course as they crossed the water. 'And far on sped Argo under sail, and entered deep into the stream of Eridanus; where once, smitten on the breast by the blazing bolt, Phaethon half-consumed fell from the chariot of Helios into the opening of that deep lake; and even now it belcheth up heavy steam clouds from the smouldering wound. And no bird spreading its light wings can cross that water; but in mid-course it plunges into the flame, fluttering. And all around the maidens, the daughters of Helios, enclosed in tall poplars, wretchedly wail a piteous plaint; and from their eyes they shed on the ground bright drops of elektron. These are dried by the sun upon the sand; but whenever the waters of the dark lake flow over the strand before the blast of the wailing wind, then they roll on in a mass into Eridanus with swelling tide' ('The Argonautica', IV.595-611). Some translators translate elektron as 'amber', but I think that elektron was boric acid or its salt, borax.

I suggested in my post 'Was Plato's oreichalkos "transparent copper"' (18th April 2001) that the most valuable form of oreichalkos might have been borax or boric acid, and noted that boric acid 'occurs in the volcanic steam jets of central Italy'.

Boric acid in hot lagoons in Tuscany

The Eridanus river has been identified with the Po, a river of northern Italy which receives several tributaries (Taro, Parma, Enzo, Secchia, Panaro) from the mountains that form a border of Tuscany. 'Webster's New International Dictionary' says that boric acid is a white crystalline compound 'occurring in solution in the hot lagoons of Tuscany'. 'It is used as an antiseptic and preservative, and in making glazes and glass...'.

Pearly scales and tabular crystals

Sassolite [from Sasso, in Italy] is native boric acid, 'usually occurring in small pearly scales as an incrustation' ('Webster's Dictionary').

Boric acid 'occurs as tabular triclinic crystals deposited in the neighbourhood of fumaroles, and known also in solution in the hot lagoons of Tuscany and elsewhere' ('Chambers Dictionary of Science and Technology'). Sassolite is 'A white or gray mineral consisting of native boric acid usually occurring in small pearly scales as an incrustation or as tabular triclinic crystals' ('McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms').

Flat plates

Your recollection, 'I seem to recall some description of orichalc that involved flat plates which would again imply metal' is consistent with 'tabular triclinic crystals' because tabular means 'having a flat surface'. It might also be consistent with 'small pearly scales', because scale can mean 'In animals, a small, more or less flattened, rigid, and definitely circumscribed plate...'.

Boric acid a disinfectant and preservative

The usefulness of boric acid as a disinfectant and preservative might have given it a high value in antiquity. (Could it have been used in preserving the corpses of wealthy people?) I suggest that it might also have been valuable as a flux in the welding of metals (by heating and hammering); certainly borax is used as a welding flux. The word borax comes from Persian burah.

Glazes and glasses

The usefulness of boric acid in making glazes and glass must also have given it a high value in antiquity.

If boric acid is heated it loses water and becomes boric oxide. When melted this forms a clear glassy substance, which later becomes opalescent on the surface.

Oreichalkos a valuable antiseptic, disinfectant, preservative and metal-welding flux, used also in making glazes, glasses and enamels?

I suggest that your post, and that of Eric Stevens, seem to confirm my hypothesis that the term oreichalkos referred to 'transparent fusible substances', and that these substances were boric acid, borax, glazes, glasses, enamels and Greek elektron, including amber.

(I sent this article to the internet discussion groups 'sci.archaeology' and 'alt.mythology' on 22 April 2001, where it was subsequently published. I have added the subheadings on this site to make the article easier to read.)

Published on this site 22 April 2001. © Andrew Gyles

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Was Plato's oreichalkos a 'transparent fusible substance'?

I suggested earlier that the name of Plato's fusible substance oreichalkos meant 'ox-copper', which was short for 'ox-hide copper', and referred to the ingots of copper in the shape of an ox-hide that have been found at various sites in the Mediterranean (see article below).

An alternative way of understanding the word would be to assume that it came from Greek orao 'to see or look...to let oneself be seen, appear' chalkos 'copper...bronze'. In other words, 'seeing-copper, looking-copper or transparent copper'.

Transparent means 'through-appearing', but it is not the transparent thing that 'appears': the transparent thing allows another object to be seen through it. Oreichalkos 'seeing copper' or 'looking copper' would be a fusible substance that allowed another object to be seen through it, or allowed a 'looker' to look into it or through it.

I am not a linguist. I note that Liddell and Scott's 'Greek-English Lexicon' shows different forms of orao, including Ionic oreo, and a form oreai. It seems to me that Ionic oreo could have been taken into the compound word oreichalkos.

Amber

Eric Stevens and Harald Henkel, in a discussion in the internet group sci.archaeology, suggested that Plato's fusible substance oreichalkos was amber. Amber is 'A yellowish to brownish translucent fossil resin. It takes a fine polish, and is used for pipe mouthpieces, beads, etc., and as a basis for a fine varnish. By friction it becomes strongly electric'. 'Resins soften and melt on heating...' ('Webster's New International Dictionary').

One can look into and through amber. In some pieces one can clearly see bubbles and beautifully preserved insects. Therefore I think that Eric Stevens and Harald Henkel are correct, and that the class of materials called oreichalkos included amber. It is similar in colour to copper or bronze, one can see into it and through it, and it melts on heating.

Glasses, glazes and enamels

However, I suggest that the term oreichalkos might have included other transparent or translucent substances that melt on heating, in particular various glasses, glazes and enamels, and metal-workers' fluxes. 'Glass was made in Egypt more than 4,000 years ago. It was much used for vases, etc., among the Greeks and Romans...' (Webster's Dictionary). Ordinary glass 'is made by melting a mixture of sodium carbonate (or sodium sulfate), limestone, and sand...' (Linus Pauling's 'General Chemistry'). This is called silicate glass.

Some glasses are made from borates or phosphates. Pyrex glass, used for chemical glassware and baking dishes, is a boro-alumino-silicate glass; it does not break when it is suddenly heated or cooled. Coloured glasses can be made by adding certain metallic oxides to the ingredients. Amber-coloured glass is used for beer bottles, as I clearly recall. It could be described as 'transparent copper', though not entirely seriously.

Glazes on ceramics, and enamels on iron objects, consist of easily fusible glass containing pigments or white fillers. A participant from Italy in a recent newsgroup discussion of oreichalkos said that it was 'glaze', and directed me to his website showing excellent photographs of glazed ceramics on brick buildings. I have been unable to trace his contribution or name him because my main newsgroup service (My Deja) disappeared and my 'fall-back' service fell over twice, thus permanently denying me access to early contributions to discussion threads.

Borax glass

Ordinary glass has one fault as a candidate for oreichalkos. Its ingredients would not have been rare and expensive, even in the time that Plato has Critias talk about. I suggest, therefore, that the term oreichalkos included borax, and borax glass. Borax, a sodium borate, is a rather rare mineral, found mainly in California, Nevada and Tibet. It is 'A white, yellow, blue, green or gray borate mineral and occurs as an efflorescence or in monoclinic crystals; when pure it is used as a cleaning agent, antiseptic and flux' ('McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms').

Borax as a flux

Borax is used in making some enamels and glasses and for softening water. Its use as a flux in welding metals 'depends upon the power of molten borax to dissolve metallic oxides, forming borates' ('General Chemistry').

A film of bound oxygen (oxide) on the surface of two pieces of metal to be welded at high heat by hammering will stop the two pieces from fusing together at their surfaces. That is why a flux is vitally important to the metal-worker. It is probably true to say that this kind of welding could not be done without a suitable flux. Here is a reason, I think, why oreichalkos (as borax) might have been 'more precious in those days than anything except gold' (Plato, 'Critias' 114.e).

Borax as an identifier of metal oxides

Another reason why borax might have been highly valued was its possible use in chemical analysis and in mineral prospecting. Ancient chemistry could not have suddenly emerged out of an intellectual vacuum. It had to grow, probably slowly, on a foundation of experiment and observation. Perhaps the chemists of the ancient world used borax in the following way:

'Borax, when heated, fuses to a clear glass. Fused borax dissolves some metal oxides giving glasses with a characteristic colour. The use of borax bead in chemical analysis is based on this fact' ('Chambers Dictionary of Science and Technology').

The 'borax bead' that I used in practical classes in my undergraduate days was formed by dipping a very small loop of platinum wire into borax powder and holding it in the flame of a bunsen burner. I imagine that it might have been invaluable to ancient prospectors for certain metals, helping them to identify ores (though they would not, of course, have had a platinum wire; presumably they used a ceramic holder of the bead if, indeed, they used the borax bead at all).

Borax is not expensive now: it is sold in supermarkets as a household cleaner and disinfectant. But it might have been costly in the ancient world, because of its rarity and its great value as a metal-welding flux and a prospector's ore-identifier. I do not know of sources of borax in the Mediterranean world, but boric acid 'occurs in the volcanic steam jets of central Italy' ('General Chemistry').

Soldering flux made from resin

Finally, it is interesting to note that a soldering flux called rosin is made from some resins. Any one who has had the pleasure of making a radio as a child will remember the incense-like smell of molten rosin flux. Rosin-cored solder is a tube of solder filled with rosin. So amber is like borax in that a metal-worker's flux could (in theory) be made from it. I do not know whether ancient metal-workers used any kind of solder.

(I sent this article to the internet discussion groups 'sci.archaeology' and 'alt.mythology' on 18 April 2001, where it was subsequently published.)

Published on this site 18 April 2001. © Andrew Gyles

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Plato's oreichalkos metal

Plato referred to a substance called oreichalkos that was 'dug out of the earth' long ago, 'being more precious in those days than anything except gold' ('Critias' 114, Benjamin Jowett's translation).

Oreichalkos is generally translated as if it were derived from Greek oreias 'of or belonging to mountains' and chalkos 'copper'. Liddell and Scott's 'Greek-English Lexicon' explains this term as 'copper ore, or copper made from it'.

I suggest here an alternative etymology: Greek ouros 'a buffalo' and chalkos 'copper'. I assume that Liddell and Scott meant by 'buffalo' a 'wild ox'.

Ourea is an Ionic spelling of oros 'mountain'. I suggest that ouros 'buffalo' (in my hypothetical etymology) was at some stage in the transmission of the myth and its interpretation mistaken for oros 'mountain'.

This suggestion is supported by the 'ox-hide ingots' of copper shown in Egyptian tomb paintings dating from the second millenium BC. Such ingots have been found at several Mediterranean sites and in ancient shipwrecks. Each is a slab of nearly pure copper cast in the shape of a dried and stretched ox hide, perhaps to make it easier to carry. Some have a mass of nearly 30 kilograms. The source of these ingots might have been Cyprus. (See for example the book on the impact of metals on the history of mankind, 'Out of the Fiery Furnace', by Robert Raymond, 1984; illustration page 31, text page 33).

I suggest that if the term 'ox-hide copper' was ever in use it could easily have become shortened to 'ox-copper'.

This etymology does not explain why oreichalkos was more precious than anything except gold. Was it always simply copper? In Desmond Lee's translation of 'Critias' 114 he refers to two kinds of mineral resources, 'solid materials and metals', and remarks in a footnote that 'The contrast is between solid materials like stone and marble and "fusible" substances, that is, in the main metals'. He says that oreichalkos (which he spells orichalc) was 'the most valuable metal except gold'.

I believe that the original precious 'fusible' substance could possibly be identified by a person with an encyclopaedic knowledge of chemistry.

(I sent this article to the internet discussion groups 'sci.archaeology' and 'alt.mythology' on 17 March 2001, where it was subsequently published.)

Published on this site 17 March 2001. © Andrew Gyles

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L'oreichalkos de Platon

Platon s'est rapporté à une substance appelée oreichalkos qui 'a été creusée hors de la terre' il y a bien longtemps, 'étant plus précieux en ces jours que n'importe quoi excepté l'or' (traduction de 'Critias' 114, de Benjamin Jowett, en l'anglais).

Oreichalkos est généralement traduit à comme si il ont été dérivés de oreias 'de, ou appartenant, les montagnes' et chalkos 'cuivre'. Liddell et Scott, 'Greek-English lexique', explique ce mot comme 'minerai de cuivre, ou cuivre fait à partir de lui'.

Je suggère ici un etymology alternatif: Ouros 'un boeuf sauvage' et chalkos 'cuivre'. Je suppose que Liddell et Scott signifiés par 'buffle' un 'boeuf sauvage'.

Ourea est une épellation ionique de oros 'montagne'. Je propose que ouros 'boeuf sauvage' (dans mon etymology hypothétique) aient été à un certain moment dans la transmission du mythe et de sa traduction confondus avec oros 'montagne'.

Cette suggestion est appuyée par les 'boeuf-peau' lingots de cuivre montrés dans les peintures de tombeau égyptiennes datant du deuxième millenium BC. Tels lingots ont été trouvés à plusieurs sites méditerranéens et dans des naufrages antiques. Chacune est un lingot presque pure de cuivre dans la forme d'une boeuf-peau sèche et étirée, peut-être pour la faciliter pour porter. Certains ont une masse de presque 30 kilogrammes. La source de ces lingots pourrait avoir été la Chypre. (Voyez par exemple le livre sur l'impact des métaux sur l'histoire de l'humanité, 'Out of the Fiery Furnace', par Robert Raymond, 1984; page 31 d'illustration, page 33 des textes).

Je propose que si le terme 'boeuf-peau cuivre' ait été jamais en service il pourrait facilement s'être raccourci à 'boeuf-cuivre'.

Cet etymology n'explique pas pourquoi l'oreichalkos étaient plus précieux que n'importe quoi excepté l'or. Était-il toujours simplement de cuivre? En la traduction en l'anglais par Desmond Lee de 'Critias' 114 il se réfère à deux genres de ressources minérales, 'les matériaux solides et les métaux', et remarque dans un renvoi de bas de page qui 'le contraste est entre les matériaux solide comme la pierre et le marbre et les substances "fusibles", c.-à-d., surtout métaux'. Il dit que l'oreichalkos (qu'il orthographie orichalc) étaient 'le métal le plus valable excepté l'or'.

Je crois que la originel substance 'fusible' précieuse pourrait probablement être identifiée par une personne avec une connaissance encyclopédique de chimie.

Andrew Gyles

Édité en langue française sur ce site 18 mars 2001. © Andrew Gyles

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Parallels in broad plot and fine detail between a Greek myth and a Maori myth

Summary

Orpheus descends to the underworld

In Greek myth Orpheus descended to the underworld to take his wife Eurydike, whose name means 'Wide-custom', back to the upperworld.

He was given permission by the king of the underworld to take her provided that he did not look behind him until she was safely back under the light of the sun.

But when he reached sunlight at the exit from the underworld he did look back to see whether 'Wide-custom' were still with him, and so lost her forever (Graves 28.c).

Mataora descends to the underworld

In Maori myth Mataora descended to the underworld to take his wife back to the upperworld; he was given permission by her chiefly father, Uetonga, to take her.

He was also given by her father a garment made by her called Haupapa-nui, 'Wide-custom-great', but they were compelled by Te Ku-watawata, the guardian of the exit from the underworld, to leave 'Wide-custom-great' at the guard-house of the exit from the underworld (Smith 182-193).

Maori Kuwatawata means 'Light seen through chinks': an almost perfect equivalent of 'the sunlight' at the exit of the underworld that caused Greek Orpheus to look back to see whether Eurydike were still behind him, and so lose her forever.

In both the Greek and the Maori story it was 'the light of day at the exit from the underworld' that caused the main characters to lose 'Wide-custom'.

First parallels examined in detail

The Greek myth; meanings of some names

It will be well known to readers with a European background that Eurydike, whom some called Agriope, 'Fierce-face', 'Savage-face' or 'Wild-face', was the wife of Orpheus, that the two settled among the savage Cicones of Thrace, that she fled from the unwelcome advances of Aristaeus, trod on a serpent and died of its bite, and that Orpheus descended to the underworld to bring her back.

There is little doubt that Eurydike means 'Wide-custom'. Greek eurys means 'wide, broad... far-reaching, far-spread'. Greek dike means 'custom, usage...'.

The Polynesian myth; meanings of some names

Maori hau can mean 'Project, overhang... Exceed, be in excess', and 'Famous, illustrious... resound, be published abroad, reported... '.

Tahitian hau can mean 'more, or beyond, in comparing adjectives, greater, larger, longer, etc'. Tuamotuan hau can mean 'to exceed, surpass, be superior to'.

The garment haupapa (sometimes called Rangi-haupapa) 'became the original pattern for the work of our women, such as can be seen today' (Smith 190). It was therefore, in my opinion, a pattern of 'custom, usage'.

Tuamotuan papa can mean 'to recite genealogy', and haka-papa means 'to recite, teach, ancient lore, genealogy, lineage; to expound'; (haka is the causative prefix that makes a noun a verb).

(Tuamotuan papa can also mean, in mythology, 'The basic rock-foundation that is supposed to hold up the land', and 'The name of the earth-mother, in distinction to the sky-father'.)

The correspondence between the Greek and the Maori could hardly be closer. (I should point out that the Maori, Tahitian and Tuamotuan languages are remarkably similar. The Tuamotuan Archipelago is near Tahiti, and the Maoris came to New Zealand from Tahiti.)

More parallels

Tautoru and Niwareka

Perhaps fewer readers will know that in Maori myth Mataora married a woman named Niwareka who had come up to this world from the underworld; he became jealous of his elder brother Tautoru, because he saw that he ardently desired Niwareka, and thrashed his wife.

She fled to the home of her ancestors and parents in the underworld; then Mataora lamented his losing her. He descended to the underworld, met his wife's chiefly father, Ue-tonga, was tattooed by him and then was led by his wife's younger sister, Ue-kuru, to their village of Taranaki, where Niwareka had been weaving the garment Te Haupapa-nui for her father (the printed word in the reference is Te Raupapa-nui; this is certainly a misprint; the correct spelling is shown several times elsewhere).

Eventually Mataora got permission from Ue-tonga to take his wife back to the upperworld (Smith 182-189).

Aristaeus and Eurydike

Greek Aristaeus, 'the best', tried to force Eurydike (Graves 28.c).

Meanings of more Maori and Greek names

Tautoru and Aristaeus

Maori Tautoru, who ardently desired the wife of Mataora, is the equivalent of Aristaeus. Tuamotuan tau can mean 'To be attractive, comely; of fine appearance. Comeliness, fine appearance, gracefulness', and 'To be insistent, persistent, unflagging...'.

Maori Tautoru means 'Orion's belt; part of the constellation'. Tuamotuan Tautoru means 'Orion's belt; a star cluster...'. In Greek mythology Orion, whose image was set among the stars, was 'the handsomest man alive' (Graves 41.a); that is to say, he was the 'best looking'. And so there is a fairly close connection in meaning between Maori Tautoru and Greek Aristaeus through the constellation Orion.

Niwhareka and Agriope

Maori Niwha means 'Resolute, bold, fierce, truculent'. This corresponds with Greek Agriope, 'Fierce-face', 'Savage-face' or 'Wild-face'. Niwha is similar in sound to Niwa.

Tuamotuan reka can mean 'Excellent. Delight; deliciousness. (= Hawaiian lea 'joy, gladness'.) Tuamotuan rekareka can mean 'Agreeable; to make agreeable; Voluptuous, sweet; Pleasant' (Tregear, Paumotuan dictionary).

Mataora and Kalliope

Maori Mata can mean 'Face'. Maori ora can mean 'Well, in health'. Tahitian ora can mean 'life, salvation, health; a Saviour, deliverer'. If Mataora meant 'Healthy-face' it would correspond fairly well, though not perfectly, with the name of Greek Kalliope 'Fair-face', who was the mother of Orpheus. It is perhaps not surprising that there has been a little drifting of names from persons in the course of thousands of years.

More parallels

Orpheus designed dances

Orpheus was a poet and musician, and in Thrace are some oaks still standing in the pattern of one of his dances, just as he left them (Graves 28.a): that is to say, he was a choreographer. We might therefore expect, if we accept that Orpheus = Mataora, that the latter too knew how to dance. And so we find it.

Mataora was a dancer

In the upperworld, when Mataora first met Niwareka, 'When the feast was over, he [Mataora] took his maipi [or halbert] and commenced dancing before the Turehus; after which he sat down'.

Niwareka and her company were dancers

'And then the company of Turehus stood up to perform a haka [or posture-dance] before Mataora. As they danced, one of the Turehu women came in front of the others and danced backwards and forwards in graceful attitudes, singing,

"Thus goes Niwareka, Niwareka,"

in which all the other Turehu joined. Their kind of haka was by holding one another's hands and dancing with high stepping, whilst others passed in and out under the arms of the rest, at the same time singing, "Niwareka! Niwareka!" And then the haka of the people ended'. (Smith 183).

The ascent to the upper-world

Many generations of readers have sympathised with Orpheus as he reached the sunlight again, turned to see whether Eurydike were still with him, 'and so lost her forever'. In the Maori version of the tale Mataora and Niwareka, in the November of the Summer, went to the ascent from the Underworld, accompanied by the owl, the bat and the land rail.

Mataora lost 'Wide-custom', but not Niwareka

When they reached the guard-house of the Underworld Mataora and Niwareka were asked by Te Ku-watawata, the guardian, what properties they had beneath them, and gave a true reply.

Then the guardian asked Niwareka what she was carrying on her back; she replied that it was only their old garments. The guardian replied, 'Te Rangi-haupapa is with you! Why did you conceal it?' She gave him that garment, and he said, 'It shall remain permanently here [in the guardhouse], Te Rangi-haupapa will never be returned to Rarohenga, let it remain as a pattern for the "enduring world"'. (Rarohenga is the Underworld.)

Let us console ourselves

And so Mataora did not lose his beautiful Niwareka. I think we may tentatively assume that Greek Orpheus kept his Agriope, and that she had to leave in the guard-house of Hades a garment that was the pattern for others, the Eurydike.

It is worth noting that Niwareka had carried Te Rangi-haupapa 'on her back'; that is to say, 'behind her'. Greek Orpheus lost Eurydike when he 'looked behind him'. The parallel is not perfect, but it is remarkably close after thousands of years of storytelling in places separated by a couple of oceans.

More parallels

The Greek women tattooed

Orpheus was torn limb from limb by Maenads at Deium in Macedonia (Graves 28.d). The Maenads, 'raging ones' or 'raving ones', were mad women who were part of the wild army of Dionysus (Graves 27.b). The Maenads who had murdered Orpheus also murdered their husbands; but the Thracian men who had survived the massacre 'decided to tattoo their wives as a warning against the murder of priests; and the custom survives to this day' (Graves 28.f).

Niwareka tattooed; men and women truly tattooed in the Upperworld

If we accept that Orpheus = Mataora we might expect that Mataora too was connected with tattooing. And so we find it: he had been tattooed on the face by the father of Niwareka in the underworld (Smith 187); when he returned to the upperworld he tattooed a man, and other men were later tattooed.

And, 'The tattooing of Niwareka was, two [crosses] on the forehead, two on the cheeks; there was neither chin nor lip-tattooing at that time on the women. In the times of Ti-whana-a-rangi, Ruhiruhi was tattooed on the lips for the first time. The chin pattern of the women originated here in this island [New Zealand], and was copied from a similar pattern cut on the neck of the calabashes; it was first tattooed on Ira-nui by Kahu-hura-kotare.

'Here ends my description of the origin of the moko [face-tattooing]' (Smith 192, 193).

We find convincing correspondence here. Mataora brought true tattooing up from the underworld; before his visit there, 'All tattooing was [in reality only] painting in blue clay and red clay [oxide of iron]; the very dark skinned people were painted with white and red clay' (Smith 184). After his visit both men and women were truly tattooed in the upperworld'.

Conclusion

I conclude that these two myths, one Greek and the other Maori, had a common origin.

There are too many points of precise resemblance between them, in broad plot, in fine detail and in the meanings of names of corresponding characters, to be explained by a theory of chance and coincidence. (That is, the explosion in a printing works that accidentally produces the complete works of Shakespeare.)

Nor, in my view, can they be explained by a notion that human minds work in the same way all over the world, and so are likely to produce the same stories.

References

GRAVES, R. 1960. The Greek Myths, second edition. (The references in the above text are to Graves's own chapters and verses.) Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

LIDDELL, H.G., and SCOTT. 1889. Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, founded upon the seventh edition of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon. London: Oxford University Press.

SMITH, S.P. 1913. The Lore of the Whare-wananga; or Teachings of the Maori College. Part I: Te Kauwae-runga. Memoirs of the Polynesian Society, volume III. New Plymouth: The Polynesian Society.

STIMSON, J.F. with the collaboration of MARSHALL, D.S. 1964. A Dictionary of Some Tuamotuan Dialects of the Polynesian Language. Massachusetts: The Peabody Museum and the Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology, The Hague.

TREGEAR, EDWARD. 1895. A Paumotuan Dictionary with Polynesian Comparatives. Wellington: Whitcombe and Tombs. [Paumotuan = Tuamotuan.]

WILLIAMS, H.W. 1957. A Dictionary of the Maori Language. Sixth edition, revised and augmented under the auspices of the Polynesian Society. Wellington: Government Printer.

(Note: This article is based on a more extensive 9000-word article I wrote in 1989, which was itself based on my long-standing notes. The correspondence between some Indo-European and Austronesion myths is a subject in which I have taken a close interest for several decades. Andrew Gyles.)

(I sent this article to the internet discussion group 'alt.mythology' on 14 December 2000, where it was subsequently published.)

Published on this site 14 December 2000. © Andrew Gyles

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Parallèles entre un mythe grec et un mythe maori

(Cet article a été traduit en premier lieu par un ordinateur d'Internet. J'ai essayé de les améliorer. Je fais des excuses pour tous les infelicities d'expression.)

Sommaire

Orpheus descend aux enfers

Dans le mythe grec Orpheus descendu aux enfers pour ramener son épouse Eurydike, dont le nom signifie la 'Large-coutume', à le monde supérieur.

Il a été donné la permission par le roi des enfers de la ramener à condition que il n'ait pas regardé derrière lui jusqu'à ce qu'elle ait été sans risque sous la lumière du soleil.

Mais quand il a atteint la lumière du soleil à la sortie des enfers il a regardé vers l'arrière pour voir si 'Large-coutume' étaient toujours avec lui, et ainsi la perdu pour toujours (Graves 28.c).

Mataora descend aux enfers

Dans le mythe maori Mataora descendus aux enfers pour rappeler son épouse à le monde supérieur; il a été donné à permission de la ramener par son père, Ue-tonga, un chef .

Il a été également donné par son père un vêtement fait par elle appelé Haupapa-nui , 'Large-coutume-grand', mais ils ont été obligés par Te Ku-watawata, le gardien de la sortie des enfers, pour laisser 'Large-coutume-grand' à la garder-maison de la sortie des enfers (Smith 182-193).

Kuwatawata (maori) signifie 'léger vu par les chinks' : un équivalent presque parfait de ' la lumière du soleil ' à la sortie des enfers ce qui a fait regarder Orpheus vers l'arrière pour voir si Eurydike étaient toujours derrière lui, et ainsi la perdu pour toujours.

Dans l'histoire grecque et l'histoire maorie c'était 'la lumière du jour à la sortie des enfers' qui ont fait perdre les caractères principaux la 'Large-coutume'.

Les premiers parallèles ont examiné en détail

Le mythe grec; des significations de quelques noms

Il sera bien connu aux lecteurs avec un fond européen qu'Eurydike, que certains ont appelé Agriope, 'Féroce-visage' ou 'Sauvage-visage', était l'épouse d'Orpheus, que les deux ont arrangé parmi le Cicones sauvage de Thrace, qu'elle s'est sauvée des avances fâcheuses d'Aristaeus, marché sur un serpent et mort de sa morsure, et qu'Orpheus est descendue aux enfers pour la ramener en arrière.

Il n'est guère douteux qu'Eurydike signifie la 'Large-coutume'. Eurys (grec) signifie 'au loin, large... de grande envergure, loin-ont écarté'. Dike (grec) signifie la 'coutume, utilisation...'.

Le mythe polynesian; significations de quelques noms

Hau (maori) peuvent signifier le 'projet, surplomb... Excédez, soyez dans les excès, et '... le resound célèbre et illustre, soit édité à l'étranger, enregistré...'.

Hau (tahitian) peut signifier 'plus, ou au delà de, en comparant des adjectifs, plus grand, plus grand, plus long, etc...'. Hau (tuamotuan) peut signifier 'pour excéder, surpassent, soient supérieur à'.

Le vêtement Haupapa (parfois appelé Rangi-haupapa) 'est devenu la configuration initiale pour le travail de nos femmes, telles que peut être vu aujourd'hui' (Smith 190). C'était donc, à mon avis, une configuration de 'coutume, utilisation'.

Papa (tuamotuan) peut signifier 'au genealogy de recite', et haka-papa signifie 'au recite, enseignent, lore antique, genealogy, lignée; pour exposer'; (haka est le préfixe causatif qui fait à un nom un verbe).

(Papa tuamotuan peut également signifier, en mythologie, 'la roche-fondation basique qui est censée soutenir la terre', et 'le nom de la terre-mère, dans la distinction au ciel-père'.)

La correspondance entre le grec et le maori a pu à peine être plus étroite. (Je devrais préciser que les langages maoris, tahitian et tuamotuan sont remarquablement semblables. L'archipel de Tuamotua est près du Tahiti, et les Maoris sont venus à Nouvelle-Zélande de la zone près du Tahiti.)

Plus de parallèles

Tautoru et Niwareka

Peut-être peu de lecteurs sauront que, dans le mythe maori, Mataora a épousé une femme nommée Niwareka qui avait monté à ce monde des enfers; il est devenu jaloux de son frère plus âgé Tautoru, parce qu'il a vu qu'il a désiré ardentement Niwareka, et a battu son épouse.

Elle s'est sauvée à la maison de ses ancêtres et parents dans les enfers; alors Mataora a déploré sa perte d'elle. Il est descendu aux enfers, a rencontré le père de son épouse, Ue-Tonga, un chef, était tatoué par lui et puis a été mené par une plus jeune soeur de son épouse, Ue-kuru, à leur village de Taranaki, où Niwareka avait tissé le vêtement Te Haupapa-nui pour son père. (Le mot imprimé dans la référence est Te Raupapa-nui; c'est certainement une faute d'impression; l'épellation correcte est montrée plusieurs fois ailleurs).

Par la suite Mataora a obtenu la permission de Ue-Tonga de ramener son épouse à le monde supérieur (Smith 182-189).

Aristaeus et Eurydike

Aristaeus 'le meilleur' essayé de violer Eurydike (Graves 28.c).

Plus de significations des noms maoris et grecs

Tautoru et Aristaeus

Tautoru (maori), qui a désiré ardentement l'épouse de Mataora, est l'équivalent d'Aristaeus. Tau (tuamotuan) peut signifier 'pour être attrayant, avenant; de l'aspect fin...' et 'pour être insistant, persistant; ne diminuant pas... '.

Tautoru maori signifie 'la ceinture d'Orion; une partie de la constellation'. Tautoru tuamotuan signifie 'la ceinture d'Orion; une batterie d'étoile...'. En mythologie grecque Orion, dont l'image a été placée parmi les étoiles, était 'l'homme le plus bel vivant' (Graves 41.a); c'est-à-dire, il était celui avec le 'meilleur' aspect. Et tellement il y a peut-être une légère connexion en signification entre Tautoru (maori) et Aristaeus (grec) par la constellation Orion. Cependant, je ne compte pas considérablement sur cette connexion.

Niwhareka et Agriope

Niwha maori signifie 'résolu, hardi, féroce, truculent'. Ceci correspond à Agriope grec, 'Féroce-visage' ou 'Sauvage-visage'. Niwha est semblable dans le son à Niwa.

Reka (tuamotuan) peut signifier 'Excellent. Plaisir; pour être délicieux'. [= lea (hawaïen) 'joie'.] Rekareka (tuamotuan) peut signifier 'agréable; pour rendre agréable; Voluptueux, doux; Plaisant' (dictionnaire Paumotuan de Tregear).

Mataora et Kalliope

Mata maori peuvent signifier le 'visage'. Ora maori peut signifier 'bien, dans la santé'. Ora tahitian peut signifier 'vie, salut, santé; un sauveur, libérateur'. Si Mataora signifié 'Sain-visage' il correspondrait assez bien, bien que pas parfaitement, avec le nom de Kalliope grec 'Beau-visage', qui était la mère d'Orpheus. Il n'étonne peut-être pas qu'il y a eu dériver des noms des personnes au cours des milliers d'années.

Plus de parallèles

Orpheus a composé des danses

Orpheus était un poèt et un musicien, et dans Thrace sont quelques chênes se tenant toujours dans la configuration d'un de ses danses, juste comme lui les a laissés (Graves 28.a): c'est-à-dire, il était un choreographer. Nous pourrions donc prévoir, si nous recevons ces Orpheus = Mataora, que le dernier est également un danser. Et ainsi nous le trouvons.

Mataora était un danseur

Dans le monde supérieur, quand Mataora a rencontré la première fois Niwareka, 'quand le régal a été terminé, il [Mataora] a pris son maipi ['hallebarde'] et a débuté danser avant les Turehus; après quoi il s'est assis '.

Niwareka et sa compagnie étaient des danseurs

'Et alors la compagnie des Turehus tenue jusqu'à exécutent un haka [posture-danse] avant Mataora. Pendant qu'ils dansaient, un des femmes de Turehu est venu devant les autres et a dansé vers l'arrière et avancé dans des attitudes gracieuses, chantant,

" va ainsi Niwareka, Niwareka, "

dans ce que tout l'autre Turehu a joint. Leur genre de haka était en tenant les mains de chacun et en dansant avec l'progression élevée, tandis que d'autres passaient dedans et dehors sous les bras des autres, en même temps chantant, " Niwareka! Niwareka!" Et alors le haka du peuple a terminé' (Smith 183). (Haka [maori] peut signifier 'danse'.)

La montée au monde supérieur

Beaucoup de générations des lecteurs ont eu la sympathie pour Orpheus comme il a atteint la lumière du soleil encore, tourné pour voir si Eurydike étaient toujours avec lui, 'et ainsi perdu lui pour toujours'. Dans la version maorie du conte, en novembre de l'été Mataora et Niwareka est allé à la montée des enfers, accompagné du hibou, d'une batte et d'un autre oiseau.

Mataora a perdu la 'Large-coutume', mais pas Niwareka

Quand ils ont atteint la garder-maison des enfers, Mataora et Niwareka ont été demandés par Te Ku-watawata, le gardien, quelles propriétés ils ont eues sous eux, et répondu vraiment.

Alors le gardien a demandé à Niwareka ce qu'elle a porte sur son dos; elle a répondu que c'était seulement leurs vieux vêtements. Le gardien a répondu, 'Te Rangi-haupapa est avec vous! Pourquoi vous l'avez caché?' Elle lui a donné ce vêtement, et il a dit, 'Il restera de manière permanente ici [dans la garder-maison], Te Rangi-haupapa ne sera jamais retourné à Rarohenga, laissez lui restez comme configuration pour le "monde durable"'. (Rarohenga est les enfers.)

Nous pouvons nous consoler

Et ainsi Mataora n'a pas perdu sa belle Niwareka. Peut-être nous pouvons à titre d'essai supposer qu'Orpheus a gardé son Agriope, elle a dû laisser dans la garder-maison de Hades un vêtement qui était la configuration pour d'autres, l'Eurydike.

Il vaut la peine de noter que Niwareka avait porté Te Rangi-haupapa 'sur son dos'; c'est-à-dire, 'derrière elle'. Orpheus a perdu Eurydike quand il 'a regardé derrière lui'. Le parallèle n'est pas parfait, mais il est remarquablement étroitement après des milliers d'années de le dire d'histoire dans les endroits séparés par un couple d'oceans.

Plus de parallèles

Les femmes grecques tatoué

Orpheus aient été membre déchiré de membre par Maenads chez Deium dans Macedonia (Graves 28.d). Les Maenads, 'ceux faisants rage' ou 'ceux délirer', étaient des femmes folles qui faisaient partie de l'armée sauvage de Dionysus (Graves 27.b).

Les Maenads qui avait assassiné Orpheus également a assassiné leurs maris; mais les hommes Thracian qui avaient survécu le massacre 'ont décidé de tatouer leurs épouses comme avertissement contre le meurtre des prêtres; et la coutume survit à ce jour' (Graves 28.f).

Niwareka tatoué; les hommes et les femmes tatoué vraiment dans le monde supérieur

Si nous recevons cet Orpheus = Mataora, nous pourrions compter que Mataora aussi a été relié à tatouage. Et ainsi nous le trouvons: il avait été tatoué sur le visage par le père de Niwareka dans les enfers (Smith 187); quand il est revenu à le monde supérieur il tatoue un homme, et d'autres hommes étaient tatoué plus tard.

Et, 'tatouage de Niwareka était, deux [des croix] sur le front, deux sur les joues; il n'y avait ni menton ni lèvre-tatouage à ce moment-là sur les femmes. Dans les temps du Ti-whana-a-rangi, Ruhiruhi était tatoué sur les lèvres pour la première fois. La configuration de menton des femmes a eu son origine ici en cette ile [Nouvelle-Zélande], et a été copiée d'une configuration semblable coupée sur le cou des calebasses; elle était tatoué la première fois sur Ira-nui par Kahu-hura-kotare.

'Termine ici ma description d'origine du moko [visage-tatouage]' (Smith 192, 193).

Nous trouvons une correspondance persuasive ici. Mataora a apporté tatouage vrai vers le haut des enfers; dans avant que sienne visite là, 'tout tatouage ait été [en réalité seulement] peinture l'argile bleu et l'argile rouge [oxyde de fer]; les personnes pelées très foncées ont été peintes avec de l'argile blanc et rouge' (Smith 184). 'Après sa visite les hommes et les femmes étaient tatoué vraiment dans le monde supérieur'.

Conclusion

Je conclus que ces deux mythes, un grec et l'autre maori, ont eu une origine commune.

Il y a trop de points de ressemblance précise entre d'eux, dans le large traçage, dans le détail fin et dans les significations des noms des caractères correspondants, d'être expliqué par une théorie de chance et de coïncidence. (C'est-à-dire, l'explosion dans une usine d' impression qui produit accidentellement les productions complets de Proust.)

Ni, dans ma vue, peuvent ils être expliqués par une notion que les esprits humains fonctionnent de la même manière partout dans le monde, et ainsi sont susceptibles de produire les mêmes histoires.

Reférénces

GRAVES, R. 1960. The Greek Myths, second edition. (Les références dans le texte ci-dessus sont aux chapitres et aux vers de Graves.) Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

LIDDELL, H.G., and SCOTT. 1889. Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, founded upon the seventh edition of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon. London: Oxford University Press.

SMITH, S.P. 1913. The Lore of the Whare-wananga; or Teachings of the Maori College. Part I: Te Kauwae-runga. Memoirs of the Polynesian Society, volume III. New Plymouth: The Polynesian Society.

TREGEAR, EDWARD. 1895. A Paumotuan Dictionary with Polynesian Comparatives. Wellington: Whitcombe and Tombs. [Paumotuan = Tuamotuan.]

WILLIAMS, H.W. 1957. A Dictionary of the Maori Language. Sixth edition, revised and augmented under the auspices of the Polynesian Society. Wellington: Government Printer.

Andrew Gyles

(Note: Cet article est basé sur un article plus étendu de 9000-mots que j'ai écrit en 1989, ce qui était soi-même basé sur mes notes de longue date. La correspondance entre quelques mythes indo-européens et d'Austronesion est un sujet dans lequel j'ai eu un vif intérêt pendant plusieurs décennies. AG.)

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