Dyeus

Dyēus (also *Dyēus ph₂ter, alternatively spelled dyēws) is believed to have been chief deity in the religious traditions of the prehistoric Proto-Indo-European societies. Part of a larger pantheon, he was the god of the daylight sky, and his position may have mirrored the position of the patriarch or monarch in society. In his aspect as a father god, his consort would have been Pltwih₂ Méh₂ter, "Earth Mother".

This deity is not directly attested; rather scholars have reconstructed this deity from the languages and cultures of later Indo-European peoples such as Greeks, Latins and Indo-Aryans. According to this scholarly reconstruction, Dyeus was addressed as Dyeu Ph₂ter, literally "Sky father" or "shining father", as reflected in Latin Iūpiter, Diēspiter, possibly Dis Pater and deus pater, Greek Zeu pater, Sanskrit Dyàuṣpítaḥ. As the pantheons of the individual mythologies related to the Proto-Indo-European religion evolved, attributes of Dyeus seem to have been redistributed to other deities. In Greek and Roman mythology, Dyeus remained the chief god, but in Vedic mythology, the etymological continuant of Dyeus became a very abstract god, and his original attributes, and his dominance over other gods, seem to have been transferred to gods such as Agni or Indra.

Later figures etymologically connected with Dyeus

• In Greek mythology Zeus
• In Roman mythology Jupiter (pronounced Iuppiter), and Dis Pater
• In Historical Vedic religion Dyauṣ Pitār
• Dionysus, especially with the Thracians and Sabines

Rooted in the related but distinct Indo-European word *deiwos is the Latin word for deity, deus. The Latin word is also continued in English divine, "deity", and the original Germanic word remains visible in "Tuesday" ("Day of Tīwaz") and Old Norse tívar, which may be continued in the toponym Tiveden ("Wood of the Gods", or of Týr).

Roman god Jupiter is a form of Dyeus.

Norse god Týr

The following names derive from the related *deiwos:

• Germanic Tīwaz (known as Týr in Old Norse)
• Latin Deus (originally used to address Jupiter, but later adopted as the name of the Christian god)
• Indo-Aryan deva: Vedic/Puranic deva, Buddhist deva
• Iranic daeva, daiva, diw, etc.
• Baltic Dievas
• Celtic e.g. Gaulish Dēuos, Scottish Gaelic dia, Welsh duw
• Slavic div(-ese) (miracle)

Estonian Tharapita bears similarity to Dyaus Pita in name, although it has been interpreted as being related to the god Thor.

Although some of the more iconic reflexes of Dyeus are storm deities, such as Zeus and Jupiter, this is thought to be a late development exclusive to mediterranean traditions, probably derived from syncretism with canaanite deities and Perkwunos. The deity's original domain was over the daylit sky, and indeed reflexes emphasise this connection to light: Istanu (Tiyaz) is a solar deity, Helios is often referred to as the "eye of Zeus", in Romanian paganism the Sun is similarly called "God's eye" and in Indo-Iranian tradition Surya/Hvare-khshaeta is similarly associated with Ahura Mazda. Even in roman tradition, Jupiter often is only associated with diurnal lightning at most, while Summanus is a deity responsible for nocturnal lightning or storms as a whole.

As an ordinary noun

Dyēus's name also likely means "the daytime sky":

• In Sanskrit as div- (nominative singular dyāus with vrddhi), its singular means "the sky" and its plural means "days".
• Its accusative form *dyēm became Latin diem "day", which later gave rise to a new nominative diēs. The original nominative survives as diūs in a few fixed expressions.
• Finnish taivas Estonian taevas, Livonian tōvaz etc. (from Proto-Finnic *taivas), meaning "heaven" or "sky," are likely rooted in the Indo-European word. The neighboring Baltic Dievas or Germanic Tiwaz are possible sources, but the Indo-Iranian *daivas accords better in both form and meaning. Similar origin has been proposed for the word family represented by Finnish toivoa "to hope" (originally "to pray from gods").

See also

• Proto-Indo-European religion
• Tengri

Bibliography

• .

Further reading

• .ja:デウス