Abstract
In this paper I focus on a character named ('the red one'), who, according to Antimachus of Colophon, escorts Helios's golden cup. I compare the characteristics and the role played by this figure with those of the Latvian Sun-goddess Saule, who is associated to the color red in various ways. In particular, in one Latvian Daina, it is a red fish, the rauda, which guides Saule's vehicle. Therefore, I argue that the rauda fish, whose name is etymologically related to Greek , has a similar role as that of Helios's red guide. Finally, I compare the Latvian tradition about the solar fish with the iconography of the Danish razors from the Late Bronze Age, on which a fish escorts the Sun-boat between the end of the night and the beginning of the day.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Indo-European Studies |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 1&2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 223–240 |
| ISSN | 0092-2323 |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Keywords
- Faculty of Humanities
- myth
- sun
- sun-goddess
- sun-god
- Antimachus
- Antimaco
- Erutheia
- Dainas
- mythology
- religion
- Greek
- Indo-European
- poetics