| Anatolian mythology is a rich
mixture from different cultures and histories.
There were always many civilizations in Anatolia
throughout prehistoric and historic ages. With
migrations, battles and commercial transactions,
Anatolia has influenced and been influenced by
other civilizations. Most of the 12 major deities
came from Anatolian origins. Zeus is the most
prominent deity in mythology. He is clearly of
Indo-European origin and is a celestial deity
related to and symbolized by the sky and is a
phenomena of the sky. He is the thunderbolt, a
god of lightning, a god of rain. He is a father
ruler, a sovereign figure and controller. In Homer, Zeus is a
reigning god who sits on a throne at the top of
Mount Olympus. He is attended by his council of
deities: Hera, Apollo, Poseidon, Artemis and
Athena. Each of these has his or her own dwelling
on Olympus. The palace and walls were built by
Hephaestus.
Poseidon is the
creator of thunder but more often the wild horse.
In the time of Homer he was called earth-shaker
and this name may be related to the sound of
horses' hooves. Several stories tell of
Poseidon's mating with goddesses in the form of
mares.
Dionysus is
probably Phrygian in origin as the god and his
cult were widely spread. The myth of his birth
suggests that his mother was Semele and that he
was fathered by Zeus. When Hera, Zeus's wife,
learned of Zeus's infidelity and the approaching
birth, she disguised herself as Semele's nurse
and convinced Semele to demand that Zeus reveal
himself in the totality of his godliness to her.
Zeus appeared to Semele in the fullness of his
thunder and lightning. The appearance struck
Semele dead, but just before her death Zeus
snatched Dionysus from her womb, cut open his
thigh and placed the child therein. Nine months
later Dionysus was born from the thigh of Zeus.
Dionysus was the so-called "twice-born"
from the womb of Semele and the thigh of Zeus.
Dionysus's
appearances always seemed to be accompanied by
some violent activity that presented a threat to
conventional order. As the center of an orgiastic
mystical cult, he tended to break the bonds of
social life.
Apollo stands in
contrast to Dionysus. Whereas Dionysus oriented
his devotees to wild orgiastic rites, Apollo was
the god of moderation and represented the legal
or statutory meaning of religion. Apollo was
foremost a god of law in being the source of law.
In his role as provider of law, Apollo is to be
referred to as the precedents for the gods and
laws of the city.
Apollo, like
Dionysus, was related to the oracle of Delphi and
his devotees there were enthusiastic and
ecstatically possessed. W. K. C. Guthrie, in The
Greeks and Their Gods, suggests that Apollo
originated in Siberia and that the ecstatic
powers attached to his cult were derived from the
tribal shamanism of that area rather than from
the Dionysian cult at Delphi.
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