*Péh₂usōn

Proto-Indo-European pastoral god
*Péh₂usōn
Equivalents
Greek equivalentHermes (most aspects), Pan (some aspects) see § Pan and Hermes for more info
Hindu equivalentPushan
Roman equivalentMercury (most aspects), Faunus (some aspects) see § Pan and Hermes for more info

*Péh₂usōn ("Protector") was a proposed Proto-Indo-European pastoral god guarding roads and herds.[1][2][3]

He may have had a bushy beard and keen sight.[4][3] He was also closely affiliated with goats or bucks: Pan has goat's legs while goats are said to pull the car of Pūshān (the animal was also sacrificed to him on occasion).[3][5]

History

The deity was first proposed due to association between the Greek god Pan and the Vedic god Pūshān first identified in 1924 by German linguist Hermann Collitz.[6][7]

The minor discrepancies between the two deities could be explained by the possibility that many of Pan's original attributes were transferred over to Hermes,[8][5] the two of which were likely originally the same deity.[9][10]

According to West, the reflex may be at least of Graeco-Aryan origin: "Pūshān and Pan agree well enough in name and nature—especially when Hermes is seen as a hypostasis of Pan—to make it a reasonable conclusion that they are parallel reflexes of a prototypical god of ways and byways, a guide on the journey, a protector of flocks, a watcher of who and what goes where, one who can scamper up any slope with the ease of a goat."[11]

References

  1. ^ Puhvel 1987, p. 63.
  2. ^ Mallory & Adams 2006, pp. 415.
  3. ^ a b c West 2007, p. 282.
  4. ^ Jackson 2002, p. 84.
  5. ^ a b Jackson 2002, p. 85.
  6. ^ Beekes 2009, p. 1149.
  7. ^ Collitz 1924.
  8. ^ Mallory & Adams 2006, pp. 411 and 434.
  9. ^ Mallory & Adams 2006, pp. 411, 435.
  10. ^ West 2007.
  11. ^ West 2007, p. 302–303.

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