Dyeus
*DyÄ"us is the reconstructed chief god of the
Proto-Indo-European pantheon. He was the god of the daylit sky, and his position may have mirrored the position of
patriarch or
king in
society.
Later gods who are etymologically connected with Dyeus include:
Dyēus group:
*
Greek Zeus*
Roman Iuppiter*
Irish The Dagda*
Gallo-Roman Dis Pater*
Vedic *possibly
Dionysos, and
Phrygian
Sabazios (from Saba Zeus?)
Rooted in the related but distinct Indo-European word *deiwos is the
Latin word for
god,
deus, the word for the
Christian God used by the
Roman Catholic Church. The Latin word is also continued in English
divine,
deity, and the original Germanic word remains visible in
Tuesday (originally "Day of Tiwaz").
Deiwos group:
*
Germanic (later known as Tyr),
*
Latin Deus*
Baltic Dievas,
*
Slavic Div,
Dyeus was addressed as
Dyeu Ph2ter, literally "
Sky Father" or
"shining father", as reflected in Latin
Jupiter,
Dispater and
deus pater, Greek
Zeu pater, Sanskrit
. In his aspect as a Father god, his consort was
Pltvi Mh2ter, "
Earth mother".
As the pantheons of the individual mythologies related to the
Proto-Indo-European religion evolved, attributes of Dyeus were sometimes redistributed to other, newer gods. In Greek and Roman mythology, Dyeus remained the chief god, while in Vedic mythology, the etymological continuant of Dyeus became a very abstract god, and his original attributes, and his dominance over other gods, were transferred to gods whose names cannot be reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European times, such as
Indra.
*
Proto-Indo-European religion.
*
Julius Pokorny,
Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959).
