Abstract

Georges Dumézil's research on the myths, legends, rites, and social structures—in short, what he calls the “ideology”—of the Indo-Europeans has had, for the most part, considerable impact upon recent scholarly interpretation of the various Indo-European traditions. This holds not only for articles and monographs on specific matters. Better measure might be taken by noting the favorable discussion of his views and results in works whose intent is introductory or popular: Proinsias Mac Cana's Celtic Mythology (London, 1970), E. O. G. Turville-Petre's Myth and Religion of the North (New York, 1964), H. R. Ellis Davidson's Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (Penguin Books, 1964) and Scandinavian Mythology (London, 1969)—of whom none of the above are to be associated with Dumézil's “school”— and in responses pro and con by Iranicists. What one misses is a similar impact upon studies in two areas: Rome and India. And this is a remarkable and ironic fact, for it is Dumézil's work on these two pillars that, if one may say so, has fashioned the entrance to his edifice. It is not my intent to talk about Rome, but it is my impression that the situation is comparable to what one finds in the recent introductory and panoramic works on Hinduism: either no recognition of Dumézil's contribution at all (Thomas J. Hopkins, The Hindu Religious Tradition [Encino, Cal., 1971], Veronica Ions, Indian Mythology [London, 1967]), or facile dismissals (Robert C. Zaehner, Hinduism [London, 1966]).

Notes

1

For good bibliographical discussion of Duméziliana, see

Littleton C. Scott ,
The New Comparative Mythology: An Anthropological Assessment of the Theories of Georges Dumézil
(
Berkeley
:
University of California Press
,
1966
),
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revised 1973, with the bibliography in it and in
Puhvel Jaan , ed.,
Myth and Law among the Indo-Europeans
(
Berkeley
:
University of California Press
,
1970
).
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2

Sec discussion and references in Littleton
,
New Comparative Mythology
, pp.
164
–68.
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3

But see, on Rome, the total silence of such manuals as

Perowne Stewart ,
Roman Mythology
(
London
:
Paul Hamlyn
,
1968
)
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and
Robert M. Ogilvie ,
The Romans and their Gods in the Age of Augustus
(
New York
:
W. W. Norton & Co.
,
1969
).
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4

I use these terms for lack of more precise ones; much of Dumézil's work suggests that early arya India knew para-Vedic traditions; as to the terms of “Vedic” and “epic,” it is in the sathhitas and the Brahmanas (as well as other ritual texts), and in certain facets of the Mahābhārata that the most archaic traditions have been found.

5

See Dumézil's discussion in his
Archaic Roman Religion
, Philip Krapp, trans., 2 Vols. (
Chicago
:
University of Chicago Press
,
1970
), Vol.
I
, pp.
18
–
30
: “‘Numen’ or ‘Deus.’”
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6

See Zaehner Robert C. ,
Hinduism
(
London
:
Oxford University Press
,
1966
), pp.
19
–
20
,
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speaking of the “undeniable” or “indisputable” “naturalistic basis” of Agni, Indra, and Soma; see also
Hopkins Thomas J. ,
The Hindu Religious Tradition
(
Encino, Cal.
:
Dickenson
,
1971
), p.
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11, and
Ions Veronica ,
Hindu Mythology
(
London
:
Ham-lyn
,
1967
), p. 14 (here with less emphasis).
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7

See especially Thicme Paul ,
Mitra and Ar-yaman
. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy oi Arts and Sciences, Vol.
XLl
(
New Haven
,
1957
).
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8

For Dumézil's own assessment of this early work, sec his

Mythe et épopée, I: l'idéologte des trots fonctions dans les épopées des peuples indo-curopéens
[henceforth ME, I, etc. (
Paris: Éditions Gallimard
,
1968
), p. 12.
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9

Dumézil, “
La prchistoire indo-iranienne des castes
,”
Journal Asiattqtie
CCXVI
(
1930
),
109
–30, and more recently “La Rigspula et la structure so-ciale indo-européenne,” Revue de l'Histoire des Religions CLIV (1958),
1
–
19
,
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now translated in Dumézil,
Gods of the Ancient Northmen
, Haugcn Einar , ed. and trans. (
Berkeley
:
University of California Press
,
1973
), pp.
118
–25; and sec ME, I, P. 13.
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10

Most notably in
Mitra-Varuna: essat stir deux représentations indo-européennes de la souveraineté
(
Paris
:
Presses Universitaires de France
,
1940
),
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revised 1948, with many follow-up studies, especially
Naissance d'archanges: essai stir la formation de la théologie zoroastrienne
(
Paris
:
Gallimard
,
1945
).
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11

Initially, following Stig Wikander's path-breaking article

“
Pandavasagan och Mahābhāratas mytiska forutsattningar
,”
Religion och Bibel
VI
(
1947
),
27
–
39
,
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in Dumézil,
Jupiter Mars Quirinus, IV: Explication de texts indiens et latins
(
Paris
:
Presses Universitaires de France
,
1948
), and culminating in ME, I, Part 1, pp.
31
–
257
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(“La Terre soulagée”), and in an important chapter of
Gods of the Ancient Northmen
, pp.
49
–
66
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(“The Drama of the World: Balder: Hoder, Loki”), originally published in 1959. Sec also
Mythe et épopée. III: Histoires romaines
(
Paris
:
Gallimard
,
1973
), pp.
263
–91 (“La geste de Publicola“).
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12

See
Mythe et épopée, II: Types epiques irido-européens: tin heros, tin sorcicr, an roi
(
Paris
:
Gallimard
,
1971
).
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13

Archaic Roman Religion, Vol. I, p. xvi, also quoted, with the same implications for Germanic studies, by

Strutynski Udo , “Introduction, Part II,”
Gods of the Ancient Northmen
, p. xliii.
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14

ME, I, pp.
18
–
19
;
sec also Archaic Roman Religion
, p. xix.
Google Scholar

15

See Gods of the Ancient Northmen, pp. xxiv and xxxiv
, and ME, II, p. n; and cf. ME, III, pp.
14
–
15
.
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16

See Dumont Louis ,
Homo Hierarchies. The Caste System and Its Implications
, Mark Sainsbury, trans. (
London
:
Weidcnfcld and Nicholson
,
1970
), pp.
67
–
68
, and in agreement Madeleine Biardeau, “Études de mythologie hindoue: Cosmogonies purāniques,” Part 2, with “Appendice: Contribution à l'étude du mythe-cadrc du Mahābhārata” [henceforth EMH, 2] Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême Orient LV (1969). 98.
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17

See, e.g., ME, I, p. 221, ME, II, pp. 107–108.

18

See Littleton, New Comparative Mythology, especially p. 39: “It is upon these two fundamental assumptions—that divine beings arc necessarily 'collective representations' of important cultural and social realities, and that such representations necessarily give rise to categories of understanding—that Dumezil's conception of the nature of Indo-European mythology is founded.”

19

See Zaehncr, Hinduism, pp. 17–18: Dumezil's approach as the “ethnological school”; F. B. J. Kuiper, “Some Observations on Dumézil's Theory (with reference to Professor Frye's articles),” Nu-men VIII (1961), 36: “sociology prevails over mythology.”

20

ME, I, pp. 15–16.

21

Littleton, “
Introduction, Part I
,”
Gods of the Ancient Northmen
, p. x and n. 3.
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22

One thinks of “initial” gods like Heimdall, Janus, Dyaus, or of the reconstructed “solar mythology” concerning Usas and Mater Matuta; sec, in English,

Gods of the Ancient Northmen
, pp.
126
–40 and
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Archaic Roman Religion
, pp.
47
–
59
.
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23

One will best be able to evaluate these remarks by reading ME, II and ME, III; the third part of the former appears as

The Destiny of a King
, Alf Hiltebcitel, trans. (
Chicago
:
University of Chicago Press
,
1973
).
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24

Dumézil,

The Destiny of the Warrior
, Alf Hiltebeitel, trans. (
Chicago
:
University of Chicago Press
,
1970
), p. 73.
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25

ME, I, p. 12.

26

Ibid., p. 13.

27

Dumézil,
La Religion romaine archaīque
(
Paris
:
Gallimard
,
1966
), p. 8.
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28

Littleton, “
Some Possible Indo-European Themes in the Iliad
,”
Myth and Law Among the Indo-Europeans
, p. 238.
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29

The refinements are supported by his treatment of the Ṛiśupāla legend of the second book of the Mahābh–rata; see ME, II, Part I, reviewing the earlier study (

Destiny of the Warrior
, pp.
65
–
107
—first formulated
1956
) in which the Indian material was provided by Indra myths.
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30

For example, Littleton remarks that, in an articles on the Mahābhārata, Dumézil “concerns himself with relatively minor figures such as KKṛṣṇaa, Arjuna's faithful friend and charioteer, whom he identifies with ViKṣṇau” (New Comparative Mythology, P. I28); as if Kṛṣṇa is minor because Dumézil doesn't fit him into the three functions!

31

Sec Littleton,
New Comparative Mythology
, p. 139, n. 18.
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32

This is the main thrust of Jan Gonda's “Some Observations on Dumezil's Views of Indo-European Mythology,” Mnemosyne IV, 13 (1960).

33

Brough John , “
The tripartite ideology of the Indo-Europcans: an experiment in method
,”
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies XXII
(
1959
),
68
–
86
; for Dumezil's most recent response, see ME,
111
, pp.
338
–
61
.
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34

See Thicme,
Mitra and Aryaman
, and the good discussion in Littleton, New Comparative Mythology pp.
176
–82.
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35

Gonda, “Some Observations,” pp. 7–8.

36

See Gonda,
Some Observations on the Relations Between “Gods” and “Powers” in the Veda a propos of the Phrase Suntth Sahasah
(
s's-Graven-hage
:
Mouton
,
1957
);
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idem. Ancient Indian ojas, Latin *augos and the Indo-European Nouns -es/-os
(
Utrecht
: A. Oosthoek's Uuitgevers Mij.,
1952
);
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see also the unanswerable remark in Gonda,
The Vedic God Mitra
(
Leiden
;
E. J. Brill
,
1972
), p. 18: “I deliberately refrain from entering into a discussion of the ideas of Varuna and Mitra voiced by Dumezil, which I in general concur with Thicme in rejecting.”
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37

E.g., Held Garrett Jan ,
The Mahābhārata: An Ethnological Study
(
London and Amsterdam
,
1935
).
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passim, and
Bosch F. D. K. ,
The Golden Germ. An Introduction to Indian Symbolism
(
's-Gravenhage
:
Mouton
,
1960
), esp. pp.
60
–
88
.
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38

Similar points are made by Biardeau, EMH, 2, pp. 103–4 and Stig Wikander, “Germanischc und Indo-Iranische Eschatologie,” Kairos II (1960), 87, and anticipated by Bosch, Golden Germ, pp. 86–88.

39

Biardeau, EMH, 2, p. 97.

40

ibid.

41

E.g., on Bhīma, Ibid., p. 101, and Biardcau, Compte-rendu of “Conferences,” Annuaire de l'Étcole Pratique des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences Religieuses, LXXVIII (1970-71), 157-58, and. the brief discussion in my

“
The Mahābhārata and Hindu Eschatology
,”
History of Religions Journal XII
,
2
(
1972
),
105
–
6
and nn. 37 and 38.
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42

See my “
The Mahdbhdrata and Hindu Eschatology
,” esp. pp.
105
–22, and my forthcoming book,
The Ritual of Battle: Kṛṣṇa and the Mahdbhdrata
.
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43

See, e.g., Biardeau, EMH, 2, pp. 99-100; Kuiper, “Some Observations,” p. 432, n. 1; Gonda, Mitra, pp. 118–19, n. 7. Some have also raised difficulties concerning Bhīma's seniority to Arjuna, and Arjuna's associations outside of this structure, especially through his relations with Kṛṣṇa; in our opinion, however, these matters arc resolvable. For some important notes on Bhīma, sec

Dumézil, “
Noms mythiques indo-iraniens dans le folklore des Osses,” 1, Osse uaejttg, uaejyg ‘géant,’
”
Journal Asiatique
CCXLIV (
1956
),
349
–52, linking uaejug with Vāyu, and thus with Bhīma.
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44

Destiny of the Warrior, p. xiv.

45

Ibid., passim.

46

See ME, II, Part 3= (Destiny of a king).

47

See ME, I, pp. 208–37.

48

See ME, II, pp. 96–108. 122–24.

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