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The Orders of Gods in Greece and Egypt (According to Herodotus)Author(s): J. Gwyn GriffithsSource: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 75 (1955), pp. 21-23Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies

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THE ORDERS

OF GODS

IN GREECE

AND EGYPT

(ACCORDING

TO

HERODOTUS)

HERODOTUS

has

several references

to the orders

or

companies

of

gods

in Greece and

Egypt,

and

they

involve

a

comparison

and a

contrast.

They

may

be

arranged,

in

translation,

as

follows:

()

II,

4,

2.

They say

that

the

Egyptians

first

used the names

of the twelve

gods,

and

that

the Greeks

adopted

them from

them.

(2)

II,

7,

2 mentions

the altar

of the twelve

gods

at

Athens

.

(3) II,

43,

2.

Concerning

Heracles I

heard

this

account,

that

he was one of the

twelve

gods.

(4)

II,

43,

4.

But

to

the

Egyptians

Heracles

is an

ancient

god;

and

as

they say

them-

selves,

there were

seventeen thousand

years

to

the

reign

of Amasis

since the

eight gods produced

the

twelve,

of

whom

they

consider Heracles to

be

one.

(5)

II,

46,

2.

The

Mendesians

hold Pan to be

one of the

eight gods,

and

they

say

that

these

eight gods

came

into

existence before

the

twelve.

(6)

II,

145,

I.

Among

the Greeks

Heracles

and

Dionysus

and

Pan are considered

to

be

the

youngest

of the

gods,

but

among

the

Egyptians

Pan is considered

very

ancient and one of

the

eight

gods

said

to

be the

earliest,

while Heracles is

one

of

the second

group,

and

Dionysus

one of

the third

group,

who were

produced by

the

twelve.

Following

his

frequent

custom,

Herodotus views the

information he

receives

in

the

light

of

Greek

tradition,

and

in

so

doing

seeks

resemblances and correlations. The Greek tradition

known

to

him

gave

pre-eminence

to

twelve

gods,

and he refers to

the Athenian

altar of

the twelve

not

only

in

II,

7,

2

but also in

VI,

Io8,

4.

According

to

Thucydides,

vi,

54,

6,

it was Pisistratus

the son

of

Hippias

who

erected

this

altar;

and an

inscription

I

shows

that it

was used

as

a

starting-point

for

measuring

distances. Other

references

2

indicate that

processions

used

to march

round

it.

Pindar 3

alludes

to

the

twelve

sovereign gods

at

Olympia.

It is

clear that

the Greeks

of the classical

period

regarded

this

group

of

gods

as a

kind

of

corporate body

.4

They

were

stated

by

Eudoxus,

a

pupil

of

Plato,

and

other later

writers,

to

be

Zeus,

Hera,

Poseidon, Demeter,

Apollo,

Artemis,

Ares,

Aphrodite,

Hermes, Athena,

Hephaestus,

and Hestia. In the

group

of

twelve

sculptured

on the east

frieze

of

the Parthenon Hestia is

absent,

her

place

being

taken

by Dionysus;

and the list

probably

varied

from

place

to

place

according

to

the local

prominence

of

different

deities.

Why

were

they

twelve

in

number

?

Weinrich

5

thinks

their

number

derives

from

the

twelve

Ionian

cities

on the

coast of

Asia

Minor.

Sch6mann

6

connected the

number with

the

twelve

months

of the

year,

and

this

was

an

idea

known at

least to

Plato.7

Herodotus

finds

a

company

of

twelve

gods

in

Egypt

also,

witness

five

of

the

passages

quoted

above.

But

in

three

of

them-(4), (5),

and

(6)-he

states

that a

group

of

eight gods

existed

before

the

twelve,

and that

the

twelve were

produced

by

the

earlier

group.

There can be

little doubt

that

the

eight

gods

he has in

mind are

the

Ogdoad

of

Hermopolis,

a

group

well known

in

Egyptian

religious

literature,

although

commentators

have

not

hitherto seen

this.8

A.

H.

Sayce

9

compares

the

Manethonian

account of a

primary

order of

seven

gods,

followed

by

a

dynasty

of

eight

heroes,

and

he

notes the

discrepancy

in

Herodotus

statements:

the

first

dynasty

contained

seven,

not

eight

gods;

and the

demigods

were not

twelve,

but

eight,

according

to

Manetho.

The

secondary

deities

were not

sprung

from

the primary. It is admittedly diffcult to find in the Egyptian

sources a

system

which

corresponds

in

all

particulars

to

that

described

by

Herodotus,

but

the

Ogdoad

of

Hermopolis

is

represented

as

a

primary

order of

gods.

The doctrine

concerning

the

Ogdoad

probably

arose

in

opposition

to the

doctrine of

Heliopolis,

which

gave

the

sovereign place

to

the

sun-god

as

the oldest of

the

gods

and

as

a

deity

who

had created himself. At

Hermopolis,

in

Middle

Egypt,

a

hare-goddess

had been the

original

deity,

but

Thoth,

the

ibis-god

whom the

Greeks

equated

with

Hermes

(hence

the name

Hermopolis),

became

prominent

there later.

Before

this

a

doctrine

emanated

from

Hermopolis

which

taught

that

the sun

originated

not

from its

own

power

but as

the result of

the creative

powers

of

four

pairs

of deities who had existed before the sun.

1

C.I.G.

(ed. Boeckh)

i.

525 (quoted

W.

G.

Waddell,

Herodotus

Book II

(London,

I939),

124).

[Cf.

IG

12

761-Ed.]

2

Pindar,

fr.

63;

Xenophon,

Hipparch.,

iii,

2

advises

this

route.

3

Olymp.

X,

49.

4

W.

K. C.

Guthrie,

The

Greeks

nd

their

Gods

(London,

I950),

II0.

5

In Roscher s Lexikonder Gr. a.

Rim.

Mythologies.v. Zwolf-

gotter.

6

Griechische

Alterthiimer4,

II

(Berlin,

i902),

i42,

n.

I (end).

7

Laws

828.

Cf. Phaedrus

246e.

8

H. G.

Woods,

G.

Rawlinson,

A.

H.

Sayce,

F.

L1.

Griffith,

E. H.

Blakeney,

and

W.

G. Waddell

either

deny

or

do not

mention

the existence of an

Egyptian group

of

eight.

Wiede-

mann

mentions

cycles

of

eight

or

nine.

How

and

Wells

refer

to

Brugsch s

explanation

of the

eight

as

corresponding

to

the

eight original

cosmogonic

deities,

but

without further

elucida-

tion. Godley talks of eight (or nine) gods as forming the

first

order

of

the

Egyptian

pantheon.

9

The

Ancient

Empireof

the East

(London,

1883),

150,

n.

6,

and

151,

n.

9.







22

J.

GWYN

GRIFFITHS

The oldest

of the

eight

was

Nun,

god

of

the

primeval

waters,

and

his wife Naunet

was named

after

him,

she

being

the

goddess

of

the subterranean

heaven.

The

other

gods

were

Huh,

god

of

the

inundation, Kuk,

god

of

darkness,

and

Amfin,

who

was the creative

wind

moving

over

the

primeval

waters,

and whose

name

signified

the hidden

one .

Just

as Nun

had Naunet

for

wife,

Huh

had

HIauhet,

Kuk, Kauket,

and

Amfin,

Amaunet,

the

wives

being

feminine

counterparts

in name

and

meaning.

It

was

Kurt

Sethe,

in

1929,

who set

forth the

Hermopolite

doctrine

in

his Amun und

die

acht

Urg tter

von

Hermopolis (Abh. Berl.

Akad.).1o

As

Herodotus

says

that the

Egyptians

hold

the

eight gods

to

be the

earliest,

it is

likely

that this was the doctrine

which

he

encountered.11

Further,

an

important point

in the

Hermopolite

doctrine was

that the

sun-god

was created

by

the

Ogdoad.

The

sun-god, according

to

the

teaching

of

Heliopolis,

was himself

the head

of

the

Ennead,

and

so

the

Ennead could be

represented

as

produced

by

the

Ogdoad, just

as

Herodotus

says

that

the

twelve were

produced

by

the

eight.

But how could

the

Ennead include twelve

gods?

Although originally

a

company

of nine

gods,

it

very early

lost its numerical restriction

to

nine.

The

Pyramid

Texts

(I66oa)

refer to

the

Great Ennead as

consisting

of

Atum,

Shu,

Tefnut, Geb,

Nut,

Osiris in

Abydos,

Osiris

among

the Westerners

(-Khentamenthes

?),

SEth, Horus,

RE ,

Khent-

yerty,

and

Wadjet.

This makes

up

twelve,

although

Osiris,

it

should be

noted,

is

included

in

two

forms. Another

reference

(I655a)

gives

the

names of nine

only.

But the

allusion first cited

shows

that

in

this

earliest

body

of

Egyptian

religious

texts-they

belong

to

the Vth and VIth

dynasties-the

term

Ennead is

already

a

flexible

one. The

Enneads,

unfortunately,

have

not

been

given

de-

tailed

study by

any

Egyptologist,

and an

error

of

long

standing

has been the idea that there

were

three of them, an idea which has led some commentators 12on Herodotus to talk of the three Enneads

as

the

source

of

the

mention of

three

divine

groups.

But

the

early

writing

of

three

groups

of nine

in

Egyptian

is

a

way

of

indicating

the

plural,

and it

points

to

the

undoubted

fact that

different

nomes

and

towns

had different

versions

of

the

divine

groups, just

as

the Twelve

varied

among

the

Greeks.13

Perhaps

it

is to

one

such local

group

that

Herodotus

refers

in

talking

of

a third

order.

How do

the

references to

Pan,

Dionysus,

and Heracles

fit

into

this

scheme

of

Ogdoad,

Ennead

(expanded

to

twelve),

and local

group?

In

II,

46,

2,

and

II,

145, I,

the

Egyptian

Pan is

said

by

the

Mendesians,

and

by

the

Egyptians

in

general,

to

be

one

of

the

eight gods.

He

is

stated

(II, 46, 2)

to

be

represented

with the

head

and

legs

of

a

goat,

and

to

be

called Mendes

in

Egyptian-that

is,

presumably,

he bore the

same name

as

the

nome.

Mendes as a

god

is

previously

mentioned

in

II,

42,

I,

where it

is

said

that

those who

possess

a

temple

of

his or

belong

to

the

Mendesian

nome

will

sacrifice

sheep

but

not

goats.

A

comparison

of

these

statements with

remarks

by

other

Greek

writers

shows that

Herodotus

is at

one

with

them in

describing

the

Mendesian

god

as a

goat-god,

as

Wiedemann

14

shows

in a

well-docu-

mented note. Here a strange puzzle confronts us: the Egyptian sources consistently show the

animal

as

a

ram.

To

explain

the

difference

in

tradition

is

not

easy.

Perhaps

the

goat

was to the

Greeks

a

more

familiar

symbol

of

fertility,

and the

Egyptian

ram of

Mendes was

certainly thought

of in

this

way,

as

the

quotations

given

by

Wiedemann

15

show. Mendes was

in

the East

Delta,

and

according

to

Ball

16

was on

the

site of

the

modern Tell

el-Rub . Its

Egyptian

name was

Djedet,

and

when

Herodotus

states

that

both

the

goat

and the

god

are

called Mendes

in

Egyptian,

he

implies

that

the

place-name

is

also

similar.

Assuming

that

the ram is the animal

really

referred

to,

and

that

Greek

tradition

had

already

replaced

it

by

the

goat

for

the

reason

suggested

above,17

we

may

then

see a

possible

basis for

the

remarks

about the

names:

the

Egyptian

for ram

was

ba,

the

god

was

called

Ba-neb-Djedet

(

the

ram,

the

lord

of

Mendes),

so that

the

two

names

began

at

any

rate

in

the

same

way.

Wiedemann

18

seeks

an

Egyptian

origin

for

the word

Mendes as it

stands,

and he mentions

the

name

of

the

god

Min

as

a

possible

source.

The

god

Min

was an

ithyphallic

god

of

fertility,

but

his

cult is

not

represented

at

Mendes.

His

animal

is not

the

goat

or the

ram,

but the

bull.

In

spite

of this

Herodotus

may

have

confused

Ba-neb-Djedet

with

him. That

the Greeks

identified

Pan

and

Min

is

shown

by

the name

they

gave

to Khemmis in

Upper

Egypt,

which was a centre of

the

cult of

Min;

they

called it

Panopolis.19

10

Cf.

also

his

Urgeschichte

und

alteste

Religion

der

Agypter

(Leipzig,

1930),

133-4

and

J.

Vandier,

La

Religion gyvptienne2

(Paris,

I949),

33-4.

H.

and

H.

A.

Frankfort

in

Before

Philosophy

(Pelican

Books,

i949),

i8,

consider

the

Ogdoad

an

example

of

speculative

thought

in

mythological

guise .

11

For

a

representation

in

Ptolemaic

times

(from

Philae)

of

the

Hermopolitan

Ogdoad

see

G.

Maspero,

The

Dawn

of

Civilization

:

Egypt

and

Chaldaea5

(London,

I910),

148.

12

E.

H.

Blakeney,

The

Egypt of

Herodotus,

II

I;

How

and

Wells,

A

Commentary

n

Herodotus,

,

239;

W.

G.

Waddell, I21.

13

See

further

the

writer s

forthcoming

article

on The

Egyptian

Enneads in

the

Annales

du

Service

des

Antiquitds

de

1

gypte.

14 Herodots Zweites

Buch

(Leipzig,

1890),

216-19.

15

Op.

cit.

218.

Cf.

the

god s

role in

The

Contendings

f

Horus

and Seth.

16

Egypt

in

the

Classical

Geographers

Cairo, 1942),

26.

17

Sourdille,

Hirodote et la

Religion

de

l Tgypte

(Paris,

19Io),

166,

following

Meyer,

makes the

very

unlikely

suggestion

that

the

Egyptian

monuments

erroneously

show

a

ram instead

of

a

goat.

Cf.

How

and

Wells,

I89, Perhaps

the monuments

are

wrong

.

.

. If this

is

so,

how can

we

explain

the

fact that

the

Egyptian

texts

invariably

refer

to the animal

as a

ram,

as

in

the

name

Ba-neb-Djedet?

A. W.

Lawrence,

by

the

way,

The

History of

Herodotus

(London,

I935), I69,

wrongly

gives

the

city-name

as

Banebtet

.

He

apparently

takes over

this

error,

and

others,

from Sourdille.

There is

an

Assyrian

form

Binteti

see

Ranke,

Keilschriftliches

Material

(Berlin,

1910),

49-

8

Op.

cit.

219.

19

Wilkinson

in

Rawlinson ad

II, 42 (pp. 76-7,

n.

7); Sayce,

op.

cit.

153;

E.

J.

Baumgartel,

Herodotus

on

Min

,

Antiquity

XXI

(i947),

146.

How and

Wells,

189,

wrongly

state

that

Min

of Chemmis

. . . is

goat-headed .

So,

too,

Lawrence,

p.

169.







THE

ORDERS OF GODS

IN

GREECE

AND EGYPT

23

Ba-neb-Djedet,

the

god

of

Mendes,

was

not a member of the

Ogdoad,

but

the ram was

pro-

minently

associated with

Amfin,

and

Amfin

was one

of

the

Eight.

Has Herodotus

thought

here

of

Amfin

as

the

equivalent

of

Pan?

In

II,

42,

however,

he shows

knowledge

of the fact

that

Amfin

(whom

he calls

Zeus)

is

depicted

sometimes with

a

ram s head. It

is more

likely

that

Min,

as

elsewhere,

is

the

equivalent

of

Pan,

and

that

the reason

for

his

location

in

Mendes

is the

strong

fertility

motif

which

is

common

to

his cult and that

of

Ba-neb-Djedet.

Min,

is

should be

noted,

although

not a

member

of

the

Ogdoad, occupied

an

important position among

the

gods

of the

Old

Kingdom.

Heracles was

variously equated

with

the

moon-god

Khonsu,

with

forms

of

Horus,20

and

with

Khnum and Shu.21 We cannot be sure what

identification Herodotus

had

in

mind,

but

it

is

worth

noting

that Shu

is a

deity

who,

with

others,

helps

RF

to

put

down the rebels

in

the

legend

of

The

Destruction

of

Mankind

22;

and

in

the

legend

of

Onuris

he is

identified with Onuris

himself,

the

warrior-god

who

champions

the

sun-god.23

Further,

Shu

is a

member

of

the

Ennead,

and

so

fits

the

pattern

here

suggested.

Dionysus

is

equated

with

Osiris

in

II,

42,

and

II,

I44;

and

Osiris,

together

with

Isis,

is

said,

in

II,

42,

to

be

worshipped

by

the

Egyptians

generally. According

to

the

Pyramid

Texts,

he

is

a

member

of

the

Ennead,

and

so

one

would

expect

Herodotus,

on

the

view

here

suggested,

to

include

him

in

the

Twelve.

At

the same

time,

he would

doubtless

occur often

in

a

local

group

of

gods,

and

such

an

occurrence

may explain

his

classification

here

in

the third

group.

These

correlations

have

at

least the

advantage

of

reconciling

Herodotus

main

statements

with what is known of Egyptian religion from the earlier sources; and where there are discrepancies

a

likely

explanation

is

at

hand.

UniversityCollege,

Swansea.

J.

GWYN

GRIFFITHS

20

See J.

G.

Milne

(in

an

essay

on

Graeco-Egyptian eligion)

in

Hastings Encyclopaedia f

Religion

and

Ethics,

VI,

382b.

21

See

Sourdille,

op.

cit.

173.

22

Erman-Blackman,

The Literature

of

the

Ancient

Egyptians

(London,

1927), 47.

Cf.

Wilkinson,

Manners

and

Customs

f

the

Ancient

Egyptians

2nd

Series, London,

1841),

II,

x6-18.

3

Vandier,

op.

cit.

66.





161006236 griffiths 1955 the orders of gods in greece and egypt according to herodotus

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