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THE FAMILY OF ZEUS IN EARLY GREEK POETRY AND MYTHS

In early epic poetry it is evident that certain differences exist in both traditions, mainly due to the fact that Homer’s epic poems were written on the western coast of Asia Minor and the surrounding islands, while Hesiod’s poems were composed on mainland Greece. From the analysis, it becomes clear that the development of the cult of an Indo-European Sky Father differs significantly from the assumed Proto-Indo-European tradition. His family is completely different from that in the Indo-European tradition. His wife is the goddess Hera, whom Homer calls ‘old’, as opposed to the Hesiodic tradition, in which Hestia and Demeter are older than her. Homer makes no mention whatsoever of Hestia. The ‘daughters of Zeus’ are the goddesses Athena and Aphrodite, and the ‘son of Zeus’ is Apollo. The family of Zeus according to Homer also differs from the archaeological findings of the tradition on land. Hera of Samos bears no resemblance to Hera of Argos. The oldest large temples are connected to her, as well as to the memory of Oceanus and Thetis as parents to the gods, which is a direct influence of the Mesopotamian myths of Apsu and Tiamat. Homer’s Zeus from Mount Ida, Hera of Samos, Apollo of Cilla, and Tenedus and Artemis of Ephesus are closer to the Anatolian tradition.


INTRODUCTION
It is evident in Homer's epic poems that the family of the IE 'Sky Father' Ζεύς 1 has already been defined, as opposed to that of Mycenaean times. 2 From the analysis what can be noted is that the most frequentlymentioned god in the poems is Zeus himself, followed by Athena, Ares, Apollo, Hera, and so on. 3 The gods (θεοί) live on Mount Olympus, 4 and, as such, are called Olympians (Ὀλύμπιοι), 5 whose master is the Olympian (Ὀλύμπιος) 6 Zeus. 7 They are Heavenly Gods, θεοὶ Οὐρανίωνες, 8 but even the goddess Thetis, who lives in the depths of the sea, can easily get to Olympus. The chthonic gods such as Hades and Persephone are masters of the Underworld and the shadows of the dead, 9 but as the brother of Zeus, Hades can always, when necessary, reside on Olympus. 10

HERA
The analysis of the early epic poems indicates that the family of the Indo-European Sky Father did not continue to exist in its first form at the 1 end of the Aegean Geometric and the beginning of the Archaic period (see Table 1). There are no traces of the pair in the Vedic hymns; in the Proto-Indo-European *Pltwi mater, 11 it is replaced by the Argaean Hera, as the wife of Zeus. The union of Zeus and Hera represents a typical example of a "sacred marriage" (hieros gamos) between a divine god and a chthonic goddess, which is nicely presented in the Iliad: ἦ ῥα καὶ ἀγκὰς ἔμαρπτε Κρόνου παῖς ἣν παράκοιτιν: τοῖσι δ᾽ ὑπὸ χθὼν δῖα φύεν νεοθηλέα ποίην, λωτόν θ᾽ ἑρσήεντα ἰδὲ κρόκον ἠδ᾽ ὑάκινθον πυκνὸν καὶ μαλακόν, ὃς ἀπὸ χθονὸς ὑψόσ᾽ ἔεργε. τῷ ἔνι λεξάσθην, ἐπὶ δὲ νεφέλην ἕσσαντο καλὴν χρυσείην: στιλπναὶ δ᾽ ἀπέπιπτον ἔερσαι.  Undoubtedly, this description in Book xIV links the goddess with fertility, yet in early epic poetry, apart from being the wife and sister of Zeus, and an enemy of the Trojans, there is no mention of her function as an earthly goddess, except for her connection to birth among the people, a function she shares with her daughter Eileithyia. 12 In Homer's poetry, Hera 13 is the daughter of Cronos, 14 but her connection with Oceanus and Thetis, as her parents, 15 invariably leads to confusion. The "holy marriage" results in Hebe, Ares, Eileithyia, and Hephaestus, 16 all of whom, except for Hebe, are evidenced on Crete during Mycenaean times, while "their mother" Hera is evidenced solely on the mainland. 17 It is of special significance that the oldest temples from the 8 th century are dedicated to 11 Burkert (1979: 133) feels that the name was retained in the toponym Πλάταια (Hom. Il. II 504). 12 Hom. Il. VII 270. 13 On the etymology of Hera and the connection with Oceanus with quotes and comments, see in more detail Pötscher 1965, Burkert 1985: 131, Milani 2005 14 Hom. Il. VIII 383;xIV 193, 243. 15 West 2007: 145, Duev 2012 Hes. Th. 922. According to Hesiod (Th. 927), Hera gave birth to Hephaestus alone, similar to the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus, but Homer clearly states that Hephaestus, too, is a son of Zeus (Hom. Il. I 578; xIV 338; xVIII 396; xxI 332; Od. VIII 312). 17 Duev 2012: 202. the goddess Hera. 18 The magnificent Heraion of Argos also corresponds to the epithet that Homer attributes to her as Ἀργείη 'Argaean', 19 who led the Argaeans under Troy and was their protector. This may be related to the attempt to link her origins to the pre-Greek population of Peloponnesus, but a similar such temple dedicated to the goddess, in the same period, was also erected on the island of Samos. 20 This massive Ionic building with numerous columns had, in the central area, an altar dating back to the 10 th century BC. 21 As well as the temple, the altar also underwent a number of reconstructions, until it reached the colossal size of 40 m. 22 In the excavations of the temple, a number of objects were discovered, which had been brought over from various centres in the Eastern Mediterranean, such Egyptian objects made of ivory, antelope and crocodile skulls as trophies, as well as various bowls, figurines, corals, among others. According to ancient tradition, the temple was founded by the Argonauts, who had brought over their cult statue of the goddess of Argos, but the Samians, in accordance with their tradition, said that the goddess had been born on the island under the lygos, 23 which was kept in the sanctuary, and that the temple had been founded by the Carians. The annual holiday celebrating the goddess was called Tonaia, 'Binding', when the statue of the goddess was taken to the sea to be cleansed, after which a meal of barley cookies was given in her honour, at which time, branches of lygos were tied to the statue. The ritual symbolised the annual circle of the abundance of nature and the mercy demonstrated by Hera, the protector of the city, responsible for their well-being and prosperity, as well as the connection to her birth place, the island of Samos. 24 The cult procession of Hera, the ritual bathing and dressing of the statue of the goddess resembles the rituals performed during the New year's 18 Larson 2007: 29ff;Burkert 1985: 131. 19 Hom. Il. IV 8. 20 About which Herodotus states that it is the biggest temple he has ever seen (Hdt III 60). 21 Larson 2007: 32. 22 Larson 2007: 32.

23
Vitex agnus-castus, also called vitex -chaste tree, or chasteberry. 24 Larson 2007: 32. festival in Babylon. 25 The connection with fertility can be attested by the gifts discovered, such as acorns and pomegranates (real or made of clay and ivory). The offerings of pomegranates gradually disappears in the 6 th century BC, most likely due to the strengthening of the cult of Zeus on the island, as well as the role of Hera as his wife, which led to a deterioration in her presence as a powerful and independent goddess. 26 However, the discovered wooden models of ships, as well as two whole ships, dedicated to the temple in the archaic period, 27 point to the fact that the cult of the goddess Hera, apart from that of fertility, was also connected to the successful navigation and trade of the Samian seafarers. Undoubtedly, the connection between Hera and the sea was of great significance on an island like Samos, whose main economic branches were seafaring and trade with peoples overseas.
Of the epithets that Homer attributes to the goddess, contained in metrical colon following the caesura after the third trochaeus, the most frequent are "...βοῶπις πότνια Ἥρη," 28 'ox-eyed lady Hera'. The poet ascribes the epithet πότνια to all mothers. 29 For the epithet βοῶπις there 25 Dalley, Reyes 1998: 98. It is difficult to determine why these Mesopotamian rituals were included in the cult of Hera on the island of Samos. It may be that their origin is connected with the Assyrian traders or Greek mercenaries returning from Babylon (Burkert 1992: 77). In any case, the evidence points to a Mesopotamian influence (Noegel 2007: 30). 26 Larson 2007: 33. 27 Simon 1986: 74-91. 28 Hom. Il. I 555,568;IV 50;VIII 471 etc. 29 Hom. Il. I 568, 551; IV 50; VIII 471ff (boōpis potnia Hērē); VIII 198,218;xIII 826;xIV 197,300ff (potnia Hērē); Od. IV 513. The epithet the poet uses is potnia thērōn for the goddess Artemis (Il. xxI 470), then, potni' Athēnē (Il. VI 305), potnia Hēbē (Il. IV 2), potni' Enyō (Il. V 592), potni' Kalypsō and potnia nymphē (Od. V 149), even the enchantress Circe is potnia Kirkē (Od. VIII 448; x 394, 549; xII 36). Especially frequent is the formula potnia mētēr 'lady mother', which the poet uses for the mothers of the heroes and heroines in the poems, like the goddess Thetis (Il. I 357; xVI 37, 511ff; Od. xI 546), the mother of Achilles, mortal mothers like Hecuba (Il. xxII 352; xxIV 126, 710), Arete, the mother of Nausicaa (Od. VI 30, 151), Anticlea, the mother of Odysseus (Od. xI 158, 215; xIx 462; xxIV 332), Penelope, and what is most surprising is that the same is used for the mother of the swineherd, Eumaeus (Od. xV 385, 461), and even for the mother of the impudent beggar Irus (Od. XVIII 5). In the Theogony, Hesiod attributes this epithet to Hera, Thetis (Th. 368), and Athena (Th. 926), while in the Works and Days, to Peitho. This indicates that, in all likelihood, every are interpretations that it is a remnant of the older phase of the cult of the goddess Hera, connected with totemism, 30 whereas that the origin of the whole formula 'βοῶπις πότνια Ἥρη' dates back to Mycenaean times. 31 The third most frequent epithet is λευκώλενος Ἥρη, 32 'whitearmed Hera.' Even though Homer attributes this epithet to the goddess Hera, white-armed are also the beautiful queen of Sparta, Helen, 33 the Phaeacian queen, Arete, 34 her daughter, Nausicaa, 35 the Trojan princess, Andromache, 36 as well as the servants of Nausicaa 37 and Penelope, 38 while 'ox-eyed' is Clymene, 39 Helen's servant in Troy, as well as the Boeotian queen Philomedousa. 40 It is evident that 'white-armed' and 'ox-eyed' depict more the beauty of the goddess Hera, 41 which is further proved by the fact that the poet, apart from the goddess, assigns these two epithets to beautiful and noble women. Contrary to Homer, Hesiod mother, whether divine or mortal, is potnia for her children. Even though the epithet is mostly attributed to Hera, nevertheless, I am of the opinion that it may essentially be an issue of the metric quantity of the formula for the poet, since the name of the goddess is spondaic, Hērē (--), as is mētēr. The form boōpis potnia Hērē (u ---uu --), according to quantity, fits into the second colon of the dactylic hexameter. It is evident that the epithet is directly attributed to names comprising of two syllables, possessing the metric quantity of a spondeus, contrary to potnia, which is dactylic; polysyllabic names, on the other hand, are either substituted by the terms mētēr and thērōn, or the -а of potnia is elided so that it links up with the following word, which must begin with a short vowel. It is significant to note that the form always comes at the end of the line, 5 and 6 foot, while when the last syllable of potnia is elided, it always comes in 1 and 2 foot, as in potni'Athēnē. However, C. J. Rujgh feels that the hiatus that appears between the two words point to a Mycenaean origin of the formula (Ruijgh 1967: 53).

30
O 'Brien 1990'Brien -1991Hainsworth 1978: 45. Rinon looks at the formula from the aspect that the poet uses it in the joint episodes of Hera and Hephaestus in the Iliad (Rinon 2006: 5). 31 Ruijgh, 1995: 75ff. On the origin of the epithet 'ox-eyed', see attributes the epithet 'white-armed' not only to Hera, 42 but also to Persephone. 43 What is especially interesting is that Hesiod assigns the epithet 'ox-eyed' to Oceanid Plouto, 44 while Homer attributes it to the Nereid Halia. 45 Another epithet attributed to Hera, πρέσβα 'old', which is found in a formulaic verse in the Iliad, points to a different tradition connected to the goddess: Ἥρη πρέσβα θεὰ θυγάτηρ μεγάλοιο Κρόνοιο. 46 It is evident that for Homer, Hera is πρέσβα θεὰ 'an old goddess', as well as the eldest (πρεσβυτάτη) daughter of the 'crooked' Cronos. 47 The same epithet, πρέσβα, is attributed to Ate, 48 who, for Homer, is the 'old daughter' of Zeus. 49 As above, the poet once again attributes the same epithet to a noblewoman, Queen Eurydice, the wife of Nestor. 50 Interestingly enough, Zeus himself in the Odyssey points to the god Poseidon as the eldest, πρεσβύτατoς. 51 There is no doubt that for both Homer and Hesiod, Zeus and Hera are children of Cronos and Rhea; however, according to Hesiod, Hestia is the eldest, followed by Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and, finally, 'wise' Zeus. 52 It is evident that different myths are encountered in both poets. This may be due to the fact that Homer's po- Hom. Il. XVIII 40. It is interesting to note that this epithet is not encountered in the Odyssey, despite the fact that the goddess Hera is mentioned in seven lines, but most frequently as the wife of Zeus. 46 Hom. Il. V 721;VIII 383;xIV 194,243. 47 Il. IV 59. The most frequent epithet for Cronos is 'crooked', ἀγκυλομήτης.

48
In Homer, goddess of misfortune, who makes both gods and people do unreasonable acts that lead them to their downfall. For Hesiod, she is a daughter of Eris 'the Discord', later becoming goddess of revenge which catches up with everybody that goes 'contrary to faith' and has committed an act of hybris (Аesch. Choeph. 381). 49 Hom. Il. xIx 91. M.D. Petrushevski (1995: 331) translates it as 'the eldest', but it is evident that the poets use the superlative πρεσβύτατoς/η 'the eldest' when they want to emphasize the eldest child in the family (Il. IV 59; Hes. Th. 234, 363). Hom. Od. III 452. In this case, it appears more that the poet is thinking of the older daughter of Clymene. 51 Hom. Od. xIII 142. The poet uses the superlative πρεσβύτατoς/η to refer to the eldest descendant, like, for example, Hippodameia, the eldest daughter of Anchises (Il. xIII 424), Agamede, the eldest daughter of Augeas (Il. xI 740), Boucolion is the eldest son of Laomedon (Il. VI 24), while Coon is the presbygenes of Antenor (Il. XI 249).
ems are more consistent with the Ionian tradition, having been written on the islands as well as the western coast of Anatolia, while Hesiod's are closer to mainland Greece, especially Boeotia. For Hesiod, Hera is neither 'old' nor 'the eldest' goddess; rather, that is Hestia, 53 whom Homer makes absolutely no mention of. 54 Contrary to Homer, Hesiod attributes the superlative πρεσβύτατoς/η to Nereus, the eldest of the children of the Sea, 55 whom she calls an 'Old Man', to the Oceanids, 56 the daughters of Oceanus and Thetis, whose eldest daughter is the river in the Underworld, Styx, 57 which the gods swear upon.
'Old' is an epithet of the sea and Oceanus and their descendants, but the epithet 'old' linked with the goddess Hera, contrary to traditional genealogy, in connection in the Iliad with Oceanus and Thetis, points to a layer of the cult toward the goddess that also explains the connection of the island of Samos with her cult. Large temples were unheard of up to the 8 th century BC in the Aegean, of which the oldest are connected with the goddess Hera herself, whose structures are motivated by the powerful Semitic influence present in this period. The 'Sacred Marriage' with Zeus shows that syncretism was inevitable due to the great respect that the goddess enjoyed in the Aegean, even though in early epic poetry Hera was only the wife of the supreme god and queen of the gods,

53
Hestia is the virgin goddess, primarily of the hearth and its sacred fire, to which her name points; Έστία is old Greek for "hearth/fireside". Among primitive peoples, fire was maintained with difficulty and was highly respected due to its essential significance in daily uses and religious ceremonies. In the beginning, the hearth was the centre of the family, and then it became a part of a larger political unit: tribe, city and state. Transferring the sacred fire from one place to another represented a sacred link of feelings and traditions. Thus, both the family and the social hearths were considered to be sacred, and were believed to be looked after by the goddess. In the classical period, Hestia was frequently given priority during feasts, as well as in the rituals of sacrificing, being especially highly-respected as the first-born child of Cronos and Rhea, and for this reason her absence from the Homeric epics is so surprising. 54 In the same way Poseidon is not the eldest son (compare Hes. Th. 453-458). 55 Hes. Th. 233-236: Νηρέα δ᾽ ἀψευδέα καὶ ἀληθέα γείνατο Πόντος, / πρεσβύτατον παίδων: αὐτὰρ καλέουσι γέροντα, / οὕνεκα νημερτής τε καὶ ἤπιος, οὐδὲ θεμιστέων / λήθεται, ἀλλὰ δίκαια καὶ ἤπια δήνεα οἶδεν, etc. holding no special function, nor was she a 'mother' to the gods or the people. She was completely subordinate to Zeus.

ΔΙΟΣ ΘΥΓΆΤΗΡ
The Indo-European *Diwos dhugatēr, 'Ἠώς', Eos 'Dawn', is evidenced in Homer's poems, but not as 'a daughter of Zeus', Διὸς ϑυγάτηρ. Every day, she rises to the sky from Oceanus so as to announce the arrival of the Sun to the mortals and the gods. 58 According to Hesiod, Eos is the daughter of the titans Hyperion and Theia, together with Helios (the Sun) and Selene (the Moon). 59 In Homer's poetry, 60 the title Διὸς ϑυγάτηρ, 'daughter of Zeus', which must certainly originate from the Proto-Indo-European tradition, 61 is attributed to other goddesses:

ΔΙΟΣ ΥΙΟΣ
There is also no trace of the Indo-European twins, sons of the Sky, *diwos nepoth 1 (*Diwos sūnū), 78 nor is there any mention made of the Διοσκούροι in the two poetic traditions, the later term for Dioscuri. In the Iliad they are mentioned by their individual names, Castor and Pollux, as the brothers of Helen. 79 In the Odyssey 80 they are mentioned as sons of Leda and Tyndareus, who Zeus honours as gods even in the Underworld in that one day they live on earth, then they die, and the following day they are in the Underworld. These lines point to their divine nature, but as gods of vegetation and fertility, similar to Persephone, who would reside in Hades during the winter, and spend the remaining part of the year with her mother, Demeter, on earth. 81 In Homer's poems, the formula Διὸς υἱός 'son of Zeus' is most frequently attributed to the god Apollo, 82 once to Hermes, 83 and also many times to the heroes who had their origin from Zeus, such as Heracles, 84 Ramon (2012: 448ff), in the analysis of di-ri-mi-jo diwo, i-je-we of Py Tn 316, 'Drimios, the son of Zeus', concludes that despite not appearing in Mycenaean tablets, according to a linguistic analysis of the epithet *δριμυ-βελής and due to the fact that Homer most often attributes the formula Διὸς υἱός to the god Apollo, behind the name Drimios, in fact, stands Apollo. However, Homer attributes the epithet to heroes, too, it is not exclusively tied to Apollo, but to all the sons of Zeus, and this cannot be confirmed from the tablets themselves. The conflict and the syncretism during the time of the aoidoi led to the creation of a different family to that of the Indo-European 'Sky Father' Zeus. It is evident that, apart from Zeus, Athena, Ares, Apollo, and Hera are the most frequently mentioned gods in Homer's Iliad. The presence of Ares is due to the battles which comprise the majority of the songs. However, in the Odyssey "the daughter of Zeus", Athena, holds a dominant role as the goddess of good counsel, wisdom, warfare, protector of heroes and cities. 88 There are no allusions concerning her birth, or her mother, which may correspond to the myth of Hesiod, and to the later tradition that she was borne of the head of Zeus, 89 after Zeus swallowed Wisdom, Metis (Mῆτις). 90 Both poets attribute the epithet μητίετα, 'wise', solely to Zeus. 91 The connection between Zeus and Athena and Apollo may be noted through the formulaic line with which a prayer is addressed to them: αἲ γὰρ Ζεῦ τε πάτερ καὶ Ἀθηναίη καὶ Ἄπολλον... 92 With this, Agamemnon entreats Father Zeus, Athena and Apollo to give him more counsellors like Nestor 93 or heroes like both Aeantes, 94 Nestor begs for the power he had when he was young, 95 Achilles entreats them that not one single Trojan should escape death, 96 Menelaus begs for Odysseus to appear amongst the suitors, 97 Alcyoneus implores to have a son-in-law like Odysseus, 98 Telemachus pleads for the downfall of the 88 Otto 1954: 43ff. Besides this, she was also a goddess of weaving and a number of other skills and crafts. It is interesting to note that W. Otto analyzes under separate headings in the chapter "Olympian deities" only Athena, Artemis and Apollo, Aphrodite and Hermes, noting that Zeus is mentioned throughout, and, as such, he does not have a separate heading for him (Ibid. suitors, 99 and Laertes pleads for youth. 100 On the other hand, Homer presents Athena to us as a protector of the Achaeans, together with Hera, 101 while Apollo is depicted as a protector of Troy. However, they may watch the battle together, 102 they may be jointly respected as gods, 103 but they may also be rivals. 104 Both theonyms appear for the first time at this period, 105 yet they bear no Indo-European etymology. 106 However, what is interesting is that like Hera, as evidenced by Homer too, both Apollo and Athena are honoured in temples. 107

APHRODITE
For Homer, Aphrodite is without a doubt a daughter of Zeus, but also a daughter of Dione. 108 In the episode 109 where the goddess is wounded in the battle by Diomedes, Aphrodite, with the help of her brother Ares, heads for Olympus, to her mother Dione, at which time her father Zeus lightly reprimands her that war is not for her, but, rather, 'acts of love and weddings'. The god Apollo is not referenced in the Mycenaean period, while the name of the goddess Athena may appear in the name of a place a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja (DMic. s.v.). It is possible that the name of the goddess originates from the name of the city. As a goddess of war who protects the kings and fortresses, she resembles the Near Eastern goddesses Ishtar and Anat, as well as the Egyptian goddess Neith (Larson 2007: 41). Usually, the temples dedicated to Athena were erected in the central areas of the cities, on fortified hills like the Acropolis in Athens. It is possible that her connection with crafts and war, like taming horses, training soldiers, building boats, weaving and metal processing is related to the Mycenaean period, reminiscent of the economy of Bronze-Age palaces.

106
See in greater detail Otto 1954: 43ff;Burkert 1985: 139ff;Morford 2003: 157ff. 107 Larson 2007 For more on Dione, see Duev 2012: 195-205. 109 Hom. Il. V 343-431. the foam of the castrated genitals of Uranus that had been thrown into the sea, 110 who first set foot on the island of Cythera, on the basis of which she was attributed with the epithet Kythereia, and from there she moved on to the island of Cyprus, hence the epithet Kyprogeneia. Interestingly enough, for Hesiod the goddess is not a daughter of Zeus, rather she is born of the seed of Uranus, and, as such, she is older than the Olympian gods. The different tradition also affected the attempts of the researchers to confirm her origin. Even though Homer attributes the goddess with a different genealogy, she is, nevertheless, even to him, Kypria, 111 'Cypriote', from the island where the Proto-Greek newcomers and seafarers were from a very early time exposed to the influences of the Near Eastern cultures. Due to the great similarity with the Semitic Ishtar/Astarte, as well as the lack of evidence from Mycenaean times, a number of researchers feel that the goddess of love and passion has been borrowed from the Phoenicians and later placed in the Pantheon. 112 Some scholars feel that she has Indo-European origins connected to Eos, having been brought over to Cyprus by the Mycenaeans during the late Bronze Age, 113 yet his others feel that she is the original Cypriot goddess possessing elements from the East when the Greeks brought her inside their Pantheon. 114 Undoubtedly, for both poets, her home is the island of Cyprus, where her cult sanctuary is located, in the city of Paphos. 115 Doubtless, the numerous attributes point to the fact that the ancient Semitic goddess of love, Ishtar-Astarte (Ashtart), is the one hiding behind the goddess Aphrodite. 116 The name Ourania corresponds to the title of the goddess Astarte 'Queen of the Heavens' in the Old Testament. 117 The names of the islands connected with her cult, Cyprus and Cythera, have no Greek origin. It may be possible that the name of the island of Cythera 110 Hes. Th. 188-207. 111 Hom. Il. V. 330, 422, 458, 760, 883. 112 Burkert 1985: 152ff;Bonnet 1999: 249-273;Марковић 2001: 11ff;West 2007: 186. Herodotus also makes note of her Phoenician origins (Hdt I 105, 131). 113 Dunkel 1988113 Dunkel -1990Boedeker 1974: 1-17;Otto 1954: 92. 114 Karageorghis 1977: 199-227;cf. Budin 2003: 243-282;Larson 2007: 114s. 115 Hom. Od. VIII. 361-366; see table 1. 116 West 1997: 56;Burkert 1985: 152. 117 Јеr. VII 18; xIV 17-19. is connected with the name of the Ugaritic smithing-god Kothar, 118 which links to the Homeric description in the Odyssey of the god Hephaestus as the husband of the goddess, 119 as well as the connection of her temples with the older temples of the smithing-god and the numerous mints in Cyprus. According to that, it is possible that the epithet of the goddess Cytherea represents the female counterpart of the Ugaritic god Kothar. 120

DIONE
For Homer, the parents of Aphrodite are Zeus and Dione, theonyms with a clear Indo-European etymology, derived from the same root. 121 However, as previously-mentioned, for Hesiod, Dione is an Oceanid, daughter of Oceanus and Thetis. 122 Homer makes mention of her solely on one occasion, in the episode where Aphrodite is wounded, and he sets her on Olympus. 123 In the later tradition she is known as a counterpart to Zeus in his prophecy and sanctuary in Dodone, in Epirus, where Zeus reveals his prophecies through the sacred oak-tree. This is the reason why so many see the goddess, mainly due to the etymology of the name, as the Indo-European goddess of the earth. 124 Homer mentions the prophecy in Dodone in the Odyssey, when Odysseus, disguised, lies to Penelope that 118 West 1997: 57. 119 Hom. Od. VIII 266-366. 120 The subsequent myth about Aphrodite and Adonis, noted for the first time by the poetess Sappho, about the goddess' boy-lover who dies every year, mourned by Aphrodite and her female followers, presents the goddess in the role of a goddess of the earth and fertility, and her lover-god, whose name in Semitic adôn and adōnî means '(my) God'. The myth corresponds to the Semitic cults Baal and Tamuz, of which Tamuz originates from the Sumerian myth about Dumuzi, the shepherd-lover of the goddess Innana, while Baal is a widely used Semitic word for 'Lord' (Acadian bēlu, Hebr. ba 'al etc. West 1997: 57). In Greek mythology, Baal appears as Belos, the father of Danaus and Aegyptus, uncle of Agenor, and grandfather of Adonis. he has heard from the Thesprotians that Odysseus has left for Dodone to seek a prophecy from Zeus, to hear his will from the sacred oak-tree. 125 Apart from this, in the Catalogue of Ships 126 in the Iliad, Achilles, offering a libation, entreats Zeus to keep Patroclus safe in the battle using the epithet 'Dodonean': Ζεῦ ἄνα Δωδωναῖε Πελασγικὲ τηλόθι ναίων Δωδώνης μεδέων δυσχειμέρου, ἀμφὶ δὲ Σελλοὶ σοὶ ναίουσ᾽ ὑποφῆται ἀνιπτόποδες χαμαιεῦναι. 127 The opinion that Dione has Indo-European origins is mainly based on the etymology, and those very lines that precede this quote are offered by G.E. Dunkel as evidence that proves his hypothesis that she is the 'lost' Indo-European Mother Earth who remained in the cult of Zeus in Dodone, and that the major epithets of the Indo-European Sky Father, out of whom separate Gods developed in the sky, are evidenced in this very quote: 128 εὔχετ᾽ ἔπειτα στὰς μέσῳ ἕρκεϊ, λεῖβε δὲ οἶνον οὐρανὸν εἰσανιδών: Δία δ᾽ οὐ λάθε τερπικέραυνον: 129 But, these very lines link up to the preceding ones, where Zeus, apart from Dodonean, is also called Pelasgian. For the Greeks, the Pelasgians were the older inhabitants of Greece, who had their own special language. 130 Homer, in the Catalogue of Ships, references them as allies to the Trojans, before the Thracians, 131 as well as a part of the numerous peoples on the island of Crete. 132 Dunkel 1988Dunkel -1990 Hom. Il. xVI 231-231. The words have been underlined according to Dunkel 1988Dunkel -1990 Hdt I 56-58 etc.; Thuc. I 3, 2; IV 109, 4. standing alone, these very lines point to a different Zeus, rather than a reminiscence of the Proto-Indo-European Sky Father. According to the description Homer provides, Zeus' Oracle in Dodone is located in the distant cold regions of northwest Greece, in the region called Thesprotia, far away from the centres of Greek civilization. 133 Thesprotia was home to the river called the Acheron, like the river of the same name in the Underworld. 134 The remains of the sanctuary date back to the 8 th century BC, 135 but the temple of Zeus was erected as early as in the 5 th century, and in the time of Homer it was probably under an open sky, 136 in the centre of which was the sacred oak-tree, as evidenced by ancient sources. 137 Homer mentions the witch-doctors (interpreters of signs), Selli, the prophets of Zeus, while the description 'who sleep along the ground with unwashed feet' points to the fact that they slept on the ground so as to keep their prophesying powers from the ground itself, and perhaps receive messages as they slept. 138 Interestingly enough, apart from the 133 Johnston 2008: 60; Kearns 2004: 63. Travelling by land routes was difficult, but travelling by sea took a long time, for example, for the Athenians, who had to go around Peloponnesus and sail to the north. 134 Evans 1974: 112ff. It may be possible that the sanctuary is also essentially connected with the cult of the dead. 135 On remains of older communities, but it must be pointed out that there are no traces of previous religious activities (Johnston 2008: 62). 136 Johnston 2008: 62. 137 Similarly, the temple of Apollo in Didyma, in Asia Minor, opened out to the sky (Johnston 2008: 62). 138 Johnston 2008: 62ff;Larson 2007: 26. Hesiod calls the region around Dodone, Helopia (fr. 181), while, in the later tradition, the Selli were also known as Helli (Pindar fr. 59, Strabon VII 7, 10). It is unclear whether the term 'doves' refers to birds or priestesses, but it is interesting to note that doves (birds) are connected to the cult of Aphrodite, whom Homer references as a daughter of Zeus and Dione, the gods of Dodone. Herodotus transmits the Egyptian story about two priestesses kidnapped by the Phoenicians, at which time, one is taken to Lybia, where she founds the prophecy of Amun, and the other to Dodone, founding the prophecy of Zeus. However, the mythistorian had heard a different story from the priestess in Dodone -that two doves (birds) had once flown over to Lybia and Dodone from Egypt. One of them landed on the sacred oak-tree in Dodone, and began to speak in a human voice that the center of the prophesying should be erected in that very place. In an attempt to rationalize and join the two stories, Herodotus notes that the woman who had been taken to Dodone is called a 'dove', because to the locals the unfamiliar speech of the Egyptian sounded like the chirping of birds, while she was given the term 'black dove' because of the dark prophesying Zeus in Dodone, in the early epic poems no mention is made of the most famous sanctuary of the god Apollo -the Pan-Greek Oracle in Delphi. yet, who is the Dodonean Zeus, the prophet God, the 'Pelasgian' God? By using the epithet 'Pelasgian' it is as if Homer wants to separate the Dodonean Zeus from the Olympian Zeus, as though dealing with a non-Achaean god. The sacred oak-tree is connected to a thunder or lightning god, but the prophesying is connected to supreme gods who are neither divine nor thunder and lightning, like the Egyptian god Amun, who is all-present, but invisible, like the wind. 139 In early epic poetry, Dione is not directly referenced as the partner of Zeus in Dodone; the etymology of the theonym 'Mistress of the Sky', as the female counterpart of Zeus, points once again, to a great extent, to the connection with Egypt, where such an occurrence was quite common, as the female counterpart Amunet to the supreme god Amun. 140 For Hesiod, she is an Oceanid, tied to Oceanus. 141 What links the goddess Aphrodite to Dodone, apart from her parents, are the doves which were a part of the cult of the goddess. However, according to the numerous unusual parallels in Homer, what needs to be reiterated is the Mesopotamian tradition, in which the parents of Ishtar are Anu and Antu (the Sky God and the Sky Goddess), 142 which, to a large extent, also corresponds to the genealogy of Aphrodite. Homer shapes the name of Dione as a calque of Antu. 143 In the episode where Aphrodite is wounded, apart from Dione, the name of he who injures the goddess, the hero Diomedes, stems from the same root. Perhaps his origin from Argos points to the fact that he has no concomplexion of the Egyptians. She was the first dove-priestess from a long line of such priestesses in Dodone, where later it became common to have up to three at the same time, like in Delphi (Hdt II 52-57).

139
Pinch 2002: 100. His prophesies were the link between the divine and humankind. Like the later Nordic supreme god Odin, Wōðanaz 'Lord of *wōð-', meaning 'inspiration', both poetic and divine, connected with the Lat. vātes 'prophet, prophesier' and Old Irish fāith 'poet, prophet' (West 2007: 137 Burkert 1992: 98;West 1997: 362. A similar way of adaptation may also be the Тethys/Tawtu, more in terms of the narrative structure and divine characters than cosmic mythology.
nection to the genealogy of the goddess Aphrodite, but there is evidence of his presence in Salamis on Cyprus, where in the rituals people were sacrificed for Diomedes himself during the month of Aphrodisios, in a sanctuary where the goddess Athena also had a part. The victims were killed with spears. 144 Again, Hesiodic tradition diverges from the Homeric one, because for him both Aphrodite and Dione rise from the sea, though Aphrodite is from the seed of Uranus 'the Sky', who is also the father of Oceanus and Thetis, the parents of Dione. 145

ΔΙΆ 'DIVINE'
Dione is also connected to the Mycenaean Diwija 146 through the Homeric epithet δία, with the masculine form δῖος, with the original meaning of 'Zeus', belonging to Zeus'. 147 The analysis of the usage of this epithet points to the fact that Homer attributes it mainly to Eos, 'Dawn', 148 the Indo-European daughter of the Sky, as well as the remaining essential elements of the universe: χθὼν δῖα 'divine Earth', 149 αἰθέρα δῖαν 'divine aither (ether)' 150 , and more often, ἅλα δῖαν 'divine sea'. 151 Then, the poet attributes it to the goddesses Athena, 152 Aphrodite, 153 Dione 154 , and Helen. 155 yet, this epithet is not only attributed to members of Zeus' family, or his descendants, because the poet also gives it to the monster Charybdis, 156 to the nymph Calypso, 157 to Neaera, 158 the lover of Helios, to the heroine Penelope, 159 Clytemnestra, 160 Alcestis, 161 Arisbe 162 , and to Theano, 163 the Trojan priestess to the goddess Athena. It is interesting to note that Homer also attributes the epithet to Lacedaemon 164 and Elis, 165 perhaps due to the connection between Zeus' daughter Helen and Sparta, and Elis with his cult in Olympia, though, generally speaking, no special relationship is evident between the use of this epithet and Zeus' family. 166 The same epithet, in the formula δῖα θεάων 'divine to look at', 'divna božica (amazing goddess)', 167 is given to the goddesses Hera, 168 Dione, 169 Thetis 170 and Athena, 171 then Eidothea, 172 the daughter of the sea-god Proteus, the nymph Calypso, 173 and the enchantress Circe. 174 This epithet has no connection to the partners of Zeus. 175 The analysis of the usage of the masculine form of the adjective, δῖος, which the poet usually attributes to Achilles, 176  Agamemnon 178 and Nestor, 179 as well as to the swineherd Eumaeus 180 , and other personalities, 181 points to the fact that we are dealing with a general epithet that does not define the character of whomever the poet assigns it to, 182 hence, the claims that the feminine form of the adjective references to some Proto-Indo-European tradition and traces of the goddess Diwija are unfounded, because the masculine form has no connection with the family of Zeus, nor are the two forms exclusively linked with him as a result of the meaning 'Zeus', belonging to Zeus'. 183

CONCLUSION
It is evident that the Indo-European cult of the Sky Father and his divine family developed under various influences that resulted in significant changes in his cult in the Aegean at the time of the aoidoi, while the syncretism that began in the Mycenaean period yielded a different outcome on the western coast of Asia Minor and the islands that gravitate toward it, and mainland Greece. The analysis shows that the development of the cult of the Indo-European Sky Father differs significantly from the assumed Proto-Indo-European tradition. Though the poetic tradition did retain a part of the Indo-European one it inherited, it is, nevertheless, evident that the family of Zeus completely differs from that in the Indo-European tradition. His wife is the goddess Hera, whom Homer calls 'old', as opposed to the Hesiodic tradition according to which Hestia and Demeter are older than her. Homer makes no mention of Hestia whatsoever. The 'daughters of Zeus' are the goddesses Athena and Aphrodite, while the 'son of Zeus' is Apollo. The Indo-European twin sons of Sky  Dunkel 1988Dunkel -1990West 2007: 192. are mentioned by individual names, Castor and Pollux, without assuming any particular role in the poems. Dawn, Eos, plays a sporadic part, but not as a daughter of Zeus.

Contra
During this time there is mention made of the first large temples, which are linked to the Ancient Near East and Egypt, connected to Hera, while Zeus, on the other hand, dwells on mountain tops, especially on the Trojan Mount Ida, whence he followed the development of events. The Homeric family of Zeus differs, too, in terms of the archaeological findings from the tradition of the mainland. Hera of Samos is unlike Hera of Argos. 184 The oldest large temples are connected to her, as well as to the memory of Oceanus and Thetis as parents to the gods, which is a direct influence of the Mesopotamian myths about Apsu and Tiamat. 185 Homer's Zeus of Mount Ida, Hera of Samos, Apollo of Cilla, and Tenedus and Artemis of Ephesus are closer to the Anatolian tradition. In fact, the western coast of Asia Minor and the islands mark crossroads of the influences from the mainland. Gods signified by local epithets is typical of the Hittite religion, but it can also be found on Mycenaean tablets as well.