The Sky Father Dyeus in Indo-European Religion
From Rome and Greece To India, From Jupiter and Zeus To Dyaus Pitar: A Journey of the Sky Deity With an Indo-European Origin
In Indo-European populations, myth and religion pay special attention, respect and public worship to the Sky Father god. Even though later theological and functional developments have given him strong precedence as king of the gods, scholars consider that in the original Indo-European religious substratum the Sky god was merely the father of other gods. He was associated with the bright diurnal sky.
Through the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE), scholars have reached *Dyéus as word for the primordial Sky Father of the Indo-European populations. These populations cover most of the European continent and important areas of Asia — from Ireland to India. Various forms of the Sky Father *Dyéus can be found in the Vedic Dyáuṣ, the Greek Ζεύς (Zeús), and Latin Iouis (or the older Diouis). Both Zeus and Iouis assumed the attributes of the thunder and the storm from another deity of Indo-European origin. This takeover of functions may be attributed to the influence of Near Eastern poetry and theology.
The derived forms for *Dyéus originated from the PIE root build on *di/dei, which could be…
