Proto-Indo-European mythology

Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of <a href="/facts/Myths/kG8UTfem">myths</a> and <a href="/facts/Deities/doCvhDHj">deities</a> associated with the <a href="/facts/Proto-Indo-Europeans/HDhs6TuR">Proto-Indo-Europeans</a>, speakers of the hypothesized <a href="/facts/Proto-Indo-European_language/cVLNoM3p">Proto-Indo-European language</a>. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested – since Proto-Indo-European speakers lived in preliterate societies – scholars of <a href="/facts/Comparative_mythology/mK7GIpUK">comparative mythology</a> have reconstructed details from inherited similarities in mythological concepts found in <a href="/facts/Indo-European_languages/L34TfgSr">Indo-European languages</a>, based on the assumption that parts of the Proto-Indo-Europeans' original belief systems survived in the daughter traditions.
The Proto-Indo-European <a href="/facts/Pantheon_(religion)/z9bMoTq8">pantheon</a> includes a number of securely reconstructed deities, since they are both <a href="/facts/Cognates/nXETf5Y4">cognates</a>—linguistic siblings from a common origin—and associated with similar attributes and body of myths: such as *<a href="/facts/Dyeus/IHeMWbCV">Dyḗws Ph₂tḗr</a>, the <a href="/facts/Sky_deity/CUWJ9GLa">daylight-sky god</a>; his consort *<a href="/facts/Dh%C3%A9%C7%B5h%C5%8Dm/mnW4QVUI">Dʰéǵʰōm</a>, the <a href="/facts/Mother_goddess/Ky3Mxqbs">earth mother</a>; his daughter *<a href="/facts/Hausos/7xjPEYgj">H₂éwsōs</a>, the <a href="/facts/Dawn_goddess/Xb2dAgSu">dawn goddess</a>; his sons the <a href="/facts/Divine_twins/1IT380qQ">Divine Twins</a>; and *<a href="/facts/Seh%E2%82%82ul/rN11qhpG">Seh₂ul</a> and *<a href="/facts/Meh%E2%82%81not/rN11qhpG">Meh₁not</a>, a <a href="/facts/Solar_deity/Q2CS3IHN">solar deity</a> and <a href="/facts/Moon_deity/TJxTHy9r">moon deity</a>, respectively. Some deities, like the <a href="/facts/Weather_god/4JI0Prj5">weather god</a> *<a href="/facts/Perkwunos/agtjFE5E">Perkʷunos</a> or the herding-god *<a href="/facts/P%C3%A9h%E2%82%82us%C5%8Dn/M8T45mmX">Péh₂usōn</a>, are only attested in a limited number of traditions—Western (i.e. European) and <a href="/facts/Graeco-Aryan/6qYEycvr">Graeco-Aryan</a>, respectively—and could therefore represent late additions that did not spread throughout the various Indo-European dialects.
Some myths are also securely dated to Proto-Indo-European times, since they feature both linguistic and thematic evidence of an inherited motif: a story portraying a <a href="/facts/Trito_(Proto-Indo-European_mythology)/9eWTkHu4">mythical figure</a> associated with thunder and slaying a multi-headed serpent to release torrents of water that had previously been pent up; a <a href="/facts/Creation_myth/qB15K1b0">creation myth</a> involving <a href="/facts/Manu_and_Yemo/Mt3nblYI">two brothers</a>, one of whom sacrifices the other in order to create the world; and probably the belief that the <a href="/facts/Otherworld/CdEqE7KX">Otherworld</a> was guarded by a <a href="/facts/%E1%B8%B0%C3%A9rberos/LP37pNLS">watchdog</a> and could only be reached by crossing a river.
Various schools of thought exist regarding possible interpretations of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European mythology. The main mythologies used in comparative reconstruction are <a href="/facts/Indo-Iranian_mythology/gf5hW6No">Indo-Iranian</a>, <a href="/facts/Baltic_mythology/XzQWCqrP">Baltic</a>, <a href="/facts/Roman_mythology/sA0FnmbG">Roman</a>, <a href="/facts/Norse_mythology/hEKfeQql">Norse</a>, <a href="/facts/Celtic_mythology/jP7VnaSX">Celtic</a>, <a href="/facts/Greek_mythology/M7k4FvW8">Greek</a>, <a href="/facts/Slavic_mythology/s5J1THoF">Slavic</a>, <a href="/facts/Hittite_mythology/EMDUzqtA">Hittite</a>, <a href="/facts/Armenian_mythology/u4Nmj8l0">Armenian</a>, and <a href="/facts/Albanian_mythology/NJK8K1Ec">Albanian</a>.

Proto-Indo-European mythology open-in-new

Proto-Indo-European mythology