Dagda
Mu dhe tar gac nde
God of the Druids
My god before all gods
From the spells of Mog Ruita
Dagda... Among the Danu tribe it is difficult to find a figure more strange and less understood... “The Battle of Mag Tuired” paints us the image of a fat, simple-minded giant in completely wild robes, who owns the Cauldron of Plenty, “from which no one happened to leave hungry” and a war club, so heavy that “only eight men could lift it at once, and it had to be transported on wheels, and the trail from it was like a ditch on the border of the kingdoms.”
From the same source we learn about the construction of the fortress of Bres and how the greed of the blind Cridenbel was punished, about the black heifer received as a reward, to which all the herds of Ireland are obedient, and about the meeting with Morrigan on the Unius River, in a place called after the “Matrimonial Lodge” ", about a feast in the camp of the Fomorians and about the theft of the Magic Harp...
Such a description and stories would be more suitable for the Thor of Scandinavian mythology, but at the same time, the druid Mog Ruith in “The Siege of Druim Damgair” calls upon Dagda as the God of the Druids and “The Battle of Mag Tuired” calls him the Druid of the Gods, which introduces consciousness into a certain dissonance. So who is he - Dagda?
The origin of his name is described in the same “Battle of Mag Tuired”, and is usually translated as “Good God”, where “good” means “Fit for everything”, “almighty”. That is why they say about him that “every power of any power belongs to him.”
They also call him Eochaid Ollatir - “Yew Fighter, Great Father.” The yew in Celtic symbolism is the tree of death and, remembering the Dagda’s club, which, as they say, killed with one end and brought back to life with the other, we can well consider it the lord of death and birth.
His other nickname - Ruad Rofessa - “Red, Lord of Perfect Knowledge”, seems to indicate his solar or fiery nature, which is combined with another, less known, name - Aed - “Flame”.
We also find the name Aed Ruad in the legends about the origin of the name of the Ess Ruad waterfall - one of the habitats of the wise salmon, and Goll Essa Ruad - One-Eyed from the Ruad waterfall - may be one of the forms of the Dagda itself. This is all the more likely since his wife is Boan - the embodied River Boyne.
Dagda is the father of many of the tribe of gods. This is Aengus Mac Og - the god of love and youth, and Banba, Fodla and Erin - the three goddesses in whose honor the Green Island received its names, and, of course, Fire Arrow, Patroness of the Arts, Crafts and Hearth - Brighid.
The symbols of the Dagda, in addition to the previously mentioned Mace and the Cauldron of Plenty, are the Wheel and the Magic Harp, like the Dagda itself, which has several names...
She is called Waitne - “Enchanting”, and two other names - Kor Ketarhar (Four-sided Music) and Daur Da Blao (Oak of two blossoms) - indicate her function - the management and ordering of space and time, and they say that it is Dagda, playing on his harp, regulates the turns of the wheel of the year and he has “power over the elements and the harvest of people.”
Let us refresh our memory of the picture of the world common to the entire Indo-European culture. Space is represented in the form of a World Tree growing on an island surrounded on all sides by the Waters of Chaos. The Universe is divided into three levels and the spirits living in the branches, around the trunk and near the roots of the tree are considered relatives - a clan generated by the Tree itself. In the Waters live the spirits of Chaos - Outsiders, striving to destroy the Tree and return the universe to its original state.
Interaction with Chaos, however, is necessary for the Cosmos, since the Waters of the Great Abyss are a source of not only dangerous destruction of integrity, but, along with the Sun, the source of Life itself, bringing abundance and renewal.
This picture of the world is also reflected in the structure of Celtic society, with its division of power between the king and the Druids, and, probably, in the old days, both the power of the Sky and the power of the Sea belonged to the Druids, while the king represented the tree itself and only later became associated with the Sun.
Thus, before us appears a relatively holistic image of the God-Priest, common to the entire Indo-European culture - the guardian of the universe, protecting the Tree from the Spirits of Outer Darkness and watching over the source of the waters of life.
Such is Enki - the Lord of the Waters of the Lower World, and Shiva - the Creator and Destroyer of the Universe, and Svarog - who later divided his power between Perun and Veles, as Thor and Odin share it in Asatru.
It is interesting that in the tradition of Wales, Dagda corresponds to Bran - Raven, whose tree is Alder, along with Willow and Hazel, which was the object of cult worship of the “pre-oak” period...
Alder has the nature of Fire, but grows near bodies of water. Water strengthens its wood rather than destroying it. Let us also remember the red paint extracted from the bark of this tree...
In our time, the Druids invoke the Dagda on the day of the autumn equinox, as the Wise Salmon, the Master of the Cauldron of Abundance, bringing him gifts of oatcakes, beer and butter.
But, if you look more closely, the invisible presence of the Dagda seems to permeate the entire ritual.
Worshiping Mother Earth or calling on the Patroness of Bards - Brighid, we work with the daughters of the Dagda. By expelling the Spirits of Outer Darkness and concluding a temporary peace agreement with them, we remember that it was the Dagda who restrained the Fomorians by the power of the treaty. He is the Druid of the Gods, the Master of the Feast of the Ancestors and the Oldest Creature on Earth - the Salmon, the Coeval of Time. He is the keeper of the Source of the Waters of Life and the turns of the annual wheel are obedient to the Music of His Harp...
Now, remembering this, try to work with the Dagda more consciously... Call upon him by kindling your ritual fire, as Mog Ruit called upon him - Him, the God of the Druids, the Druid among the Gods... Fill the changing seasons with the Songs of his Harp -
Let Whitney sound these days,
Come Daur Da Blao,
Come Kor Ketarhar,
Come Summer, come Winter,
Through the mouths of harps and bagpipes...
In conclusion, here is part of Ian Corrigan's article.
The visualization of Dagda begins with a landscape - green hills with a large plain in front of them. A tall, powerful man approaches from the hills. He wears a tunic of nine colors and a checkered skirt made of tanned leather. He has gold bracelets on his strong arms and legs, and a scarlet cloak, secured with a large brooch, hangs from his shoulders. On his thick neck is a large torc, decorated with stones. His unkempt hair and beard are red, and a smile plays in his eyes and lips on his wide face. Right hand he drags a war club behind him, leaving a deep furrow in the peat. Behind his back is a harp, and under his left hand he carries a cauldron, the brew in which boils, always in motion...
Anthem of Dagde
Ian Corrigan
Best regards, Dagda
We make a sacrifice to you
Oats of the generous land are given by free people
Eochaid to the Allfather
You, Fire Under the Cauldron
Hear us, Ancient Giant
God the Abundant
Ruad Rofessa,
Lord of Secret Knowledge
Fire Accepting Sacrifice, in You we honor the Excellent God
Chief Danu, Abundantly Giver
A flame in the belly that sustains Life
The flame in the lower back that continues Life
Flame in the eyes, comprehending Life
Be in us as we are in You
Burn in us, accept the offerings
We give Stallion oats
Boiling Cauldron
On the Sacred Fire
O Harper of the Seasons
Receiver of Victims
Druid of Oak and Hazel
Dagda Mor!
Great Good God!
Accept our Sacrifice!
Chapter V. TEACHING AND ORIGINS OF DRUIDISM. 6. TRIADS OF DRUIDS.
Long before the Tuatha de Dannans, Partholon, the leader of the first race to inhabit Ireland, already had Druids with him, although only three: “This is who the leaders of Partholon were: himself Partholon, Slanga, Laiglinne and Rudraige... Semboth, son of Partholon, was the first in Ireland to build a house, make a cauldron and stage a battle . Malaliah for the first time cared about safety and was the first brewer, the first to drink beer from fern; aka was the first to make a sacrifice , veneration and witchcraft . But three druids of Partholon: Tat, Fis, Foh-mark - “Strengthening, knowledge, search.” [ 512 - Lebor Gabala, § 212.]
Partholon's successors are also accompanied by druids or diviners: « Ireland was empty for thirty years after Partholon, until Nemed, son of Agnoman, came, from the Greeks of Scythia, together with his four chiefs, who were his sons. His forty-four ships were in the Caspian (?) Sea for one and a half years, but only one ship reached Ireland. The four leaders, the sons of Nemed, were called Starn and Iarbonel - the soothsayer, Annind and Fergus Redside" .
One interesting geographical clarification is associated with Nemed’s grandchildren: “ The children of Bethach, the son of the soothsayer Iarbonel, son of Nemed, went to the islands in the north of the world to learn Druidry, pagan worship and the devilish sciences, they became experts in all arts and became Tuatha de Dannan».
Druids or gods? Most often - both: “ There were three gods of Danu, which is why they were given the name "Tuatha de Dannan" “: three sons of Bres, son of Elad - Triall, Brian and Ket, or also Brian, Iukhar and Iukharba; three sons of Tuirend Brikkreo, three druids after whom the Tuatha de Dannan were named».
What do these mythological groups of Druids mean? The number four for the representatives of the Tuatha de Dannan should have been of secondary importance after three: undoubtedly, this numerical designation established connection with the elements - air, earth, fire, water. But Tat, Fis and Fohmark - “Strengthening, Cognition, Search” or, according to one of the options, Fis, Eolus, Fohmark - “Knowledge, Cognition, Search” perfectly correspond to the Celtic triad.
All this is connected with the myth, or at least provides for a continuation in the myth: three druids of the Tuatha de Dannan, such as Brian, Iuhar and Iuharba, at the same time, are three gods, one of which, Brian, has the same name (*Bren(n)os - Bren), as the conquerors of Rome and Delphi in the 4th and 3rd centuries. BC e. Of course, these data should be taken in the same spirit as Irish chronologies and genealogies. Kian, for example, is called the father of Lugh; on the other hand, Lug, Dagda, Ogma, Dian Kekht are considered brothers; but Dian Cecht, in addition, is Kian's father. The details are changeable and seem artificial, but the principle itself is stable and traditional. It would be equally childish to take all this literally, as it would be to underestimate the deep thought hidden under all these fantasies. Nothing could possibly confirm this better than the genealogy answer that Philid Nede gives to senior filid Ferhertne in “A Conversation between Two Sages”:
« I AM THE SON OF THE CRAFT,
Crafts, son of Attention,
Attention, son of Reflection,
Reflections, son of Knowledge,
Knowledge, son of Question,
Question, son of Search,
Search, the son of great KNOWLEDGE,
Great Knowledge, son of Great Understanding,
Great Understanding, son of Understanding,
Understanding, son of Mind,
Uma, son of the three gods of the Craft»
[ 518 - Rev. celt, 16, 30. - Transl. S.V. Shkunaeva.]
In addition, these three gods - sons of the goddess-soothsayer Druidess Brigid, she herself is the daughter of the Dagda, just as Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter.
7. DRUID GOD
In "The Siege of Druim Damgair", in a difficult moment Kenmhar calls for help "the first druid of the world", and this druid, Mog Ruith, While a fire is being prepared on his orders, he makes a speech that begins like this: "God of the Druids, my god before all gods" (de dhruadh, mu dhe tar gac nde) .
Since this "god of the Druids", or Dagda ("good god" or "most divine") is father of Brigid, goddess of the Filids, and thus the ancestor of the three original Druid gods, it is obvious that the power of the Druids is fully justified. In reality, all gods are druids, just as all druids are gods. Equality here manifests itself in both senses, and in this way: “Cathbad the fair-faced taught me for the sake of my mother Dekhtire, so that I became skilled in druidic knowledge and versed in secret wisdom.”
From here it is quite clear why druids, in particular, had access to which was the privilege of superhuman and mythological beings. As if expressing the opinion of all skeptics, a certain Connle Cainbretach ("well judged") wrongfully reproached the Druids of his time for not being able to change anything in the world: “ Let the sun and moon appear in the north from the people of the world, and then we will believe that everything you say is true.”
Submitting to an immutable principle, the heirs the original Druids, creators of the world and living beings, They did not see any reason in creating a useless and causeless “miracle” just by order. This is the cult, according to Celtic religious ideas, that created the world; in addition, the priest is driving force cult, and in the absence of faith, cosmic order turns into chaos.
In medieval Irish legends, female Druids were called bandouris. Their existence was confirmed by ancient Greek and Roman writers. What were the legendary women Druids like? /website/
The Druids were the ancient religious leaders, scientists and explorers of Celtic society. For centuries, the misconception persisted that only men were Druids. However, numerous historical facts indicate that women were also in their ranks.
Wise Women in Celtic Society
The term "druid" comes from the Indo-European word "deru", which means "truth" or "faithful". This word evolved into the Greek term drus, meaning oak.
The Druids were the intellectual elite. Being a Druid was a family function, but they were also poets, astronomers, magicians and astrologers. It took them 19 years to get necessary knowledge and skills in alchemy, medicine, law and other sciences. They organized intellectual life, trials, knew how to heal people, were involved in the development of strategies for wars. They were an oasis of intelligence and were highly respected in society.
“Druid Woman”, oil on canvas, French artist Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1890). Photo: Public Domain
Roman evidence of female Druids
Gaius Julius Caesar was fascinated by the Druids. He wrote that they were scientists, theologians, philosophers and had amazing knowledge. According to manuscript experts, Caesar, the great Roman leader, was well aware of the Druid women. Unfortunately, most Roman writers ignored women altogether, so it is difficult to find references to them in historical texts. Strabo wrote about a group of religious women who lived on an island near the Loire River. In Augustus's History there is a description of Diocletian, Alexander Severus and Aurelian discussing their problems with female Druids.
Strabo, 16th century engraving. Photo: Public Domain
Tacitus mentions Druid women when describing the massacre carried out by the Romans on the island of Mona in Wales. According to his description, there were women known as banduri (female druids) who protected the island and cursed the black clergy. Tacitus also noted that there was no difference between male rulers and female rulers, and that Celtic women were very powerful.
Map of Mona Island, 1607. Photo: Public Domain
According to Plutarch, Celtic women, unlike Roman or Greek women, were active in negotiating the terms of treaties and wars, participating in assemblies and mediating quarrels. According to Pomponius Mela, a virgin priestess who could predict the future lived on the island of Seine in Brittany.
Cassius Dio mentions a druid woman named Hanna. She went on an official trip to Rome and was received by Domitian, the son of Vespasian. According to the description of the Battle of Moytura, two female Druids enchanted rocks and trees in order to support the Celtic army.
Famous female Druids
In accordance with Irish traditions, female Druids were called bandouri and banfily (female poet). Most of the names of Druid women are forgotten. The name Fedelma is immortalized in ancient texts; this Druid woman lived in the 10th century at the court of Queen Medb of Connacht in Ireland, who was a “banfil.”
Queen May, painting by D.K. Leyendecker. Photo: Public Domain
The most famous descendant of a female Druid is Queen Boudicca, whose mother was a Banduri. Boudicca was the queen of the British Celtic tribe Iceni. She led a revolt against the Romans in the 1st century AD. Researchers are still arguing whether Boudicca was also a Druid.
Goddess Worship
Druid women worshiped goddesses and celebrated holidays in different months and seasons. One of the goddesses they worshiped was Brigid, who was later adopted by Christian nuns as “Saint Bridget.”
Saint Bridget. Photo: Public Djmain
Archaeological evidence of female Druids
Archaeologists have discovered several evidence of the existence of female Druids. Many female burials from the 4th century BC. found in Germany between the Rhine and Moselle rivers. Women were buried with a large number jewelry, jewelry and other valuable items. Some wore a twisted necklace on their chest, which is a status symbol. Two burials, located in Burgundy, France, and Rainham in Germany, are dated to the 5th century BC. and almost certainly belonged to female Druids.
The head of a Gorgon sits on the surface of the three handles of a vessel found in Burgundy, France. Photo: CC BY-SA 2.5
Legacy of the Ancient Druids
The Romans killed many Druids and destroyed many of their books. The Catholic Roman Church believed that female Druids were sorceresses and witches and collaborated with the devil. Catholics viewed the knowledge of the Celts as a great threat to their power. The well-known Saint Patrick burned more than a hundred books of the Druids and destroyed many places associated with the ancient cult.
However, Druidry never completely disappeared. And now some people are still trying to follow the ancient tradition. Researchers continue to work to rediscover ancient wisdom Druids.
VII. DRUID GOD
In "The Siege of Druim Damgair", at a difficult moment Kenmhar calls for help "the first druid of the world", and this druid, Mog Ruith, while a fire is being prepared on his orders, makes a speech that begins: "God of the Druids, my god before all gods" (de dhruadh, mu dhe tar gac nde). Since this "god of the Druids" or Dagda ("the good god" or "most divine") is the father of Brigit, the goddess of the Philids, and thus the ancestor of the three original Druid gods, it is obvious that the power of the Druids is fully justified. In reality, all gods are druids, just as all druids are gods. Equality here manifests itself in both senses, and in this way: “Cathbad the fair-faced taught me for the sake of my mother Dekhtire, so that I became skilled in Druid knowledge and versed in secret wisdom.”
Hence it is quite clear why the Druids, in particular, had access to metepsychosis, which was the privilege of superhuman and mythological creatures. As if expressing the opinion of all skeptics, a certain Connle Cainbretach (“well judged”) wrongfully reproached the Druids of his time for being unable to change anything in the world: “Let the sun and moon appear in the north from the people of the world, and then we will believe in that everything you said is true.”
Submitting to an unshakable principle, the heirs of the original Druids, the creators of the world and living beings, did not see any reason in creating a useless and causeless “miracle” on just one order. This is the cult, according to Celtic religious ideas, that created the world; in addition, the priest is the driving force of the cult, and in the absence of faith, cosmic order turns into chaos.
From the book Druids by Leroux FrancoiseChapter I DRUID In history textbooks, the picture most often reproduced is of a Gallic druid trimming mistletoe: “A priest dressed in white,” says Pliny, “climbing a tree, uses a golden sickle to cut off the mistletoe, which is collected in a white cloak.” Few of them
From the book Druids by Leroux FrancoiseII. THE SENSE AND MEANING OF THE WORD “DRUID” Classical authors unanimously attribute many functions to the Druids. Religion, justice, education, medicine, etc. - all this is under their jurisdiction, and a priori it is completely impossible for us to limit our own in this regard.
From the book Druids by Leroux Francoise From the book Druids by Leroux FrancoiseIV. DRUID AND WAR The Druid is not only a priest, he is equally a warrior: such a combination may seem strange, but it is easily explained. The prototype of the Druid warrior can be Cathbad, the head of the Druids of Ulster, whose figure appears dual in the version of “The Birth”.
From the book Druids by Leroux FrancoiseV. THE DRUID AND THE KING Ireland presents us with other evidence of the power of the Druid. The Ulads are ready to kill each other because of a quarrel at a feast: “The guarantors of each of them rose in rage, and their battle was so fierce that nine people were wounded, and nine received bloody
From the book Druids by Leroux FrancoiseVII. DRUID GOD In “The Siege of Druim Damgair”, at a difficult moment Kenmhar calls for help “the first Druid of the world”, and this Druid, Mog Ruith, while a fire is being prepared by his order, makes a speech that begins like this: “The God of the Druids, my god before by all the gods" (de dhruadh, mu dhe tar gac nde).
From the book Druids [Poets, scientists, soothsayers] by Pigott StewartTHE NAME “DRUID” Let us now turn to the contents of the named sources and trace in more detail where the very name of their priesthood came from. In classical texts it occurs only in plural: "druidai" in Greek, "druidae" and "druides" in Latin. Forms "drasidae"
Since my discussion of the close connection between the ancient religions of the Britons, Greeks and Jews is unlikely to be received with sympathy, I immediately want to state that I am neither an English Israelite nor anyone of that kind. My point of view is this. At various times during the second millennium BC, trading tribes, which in Egypt were called "people of the sea", were driven from the Aegean coast by newcomers from the northeast and southeast, and some headed north along the already established trade routes, thus reaching Britain and Ireland, and others - to the west, also along trade routes, through North Africa and Spain - to Ireland. But there were also those who inhabited Syria and Canaan, among them the Philistines, who took the shrine of Hebron in southern Judea from the Edomites of the house of Caleb. However, two hundred years later, the Calebites (dog people), allies of the Israelite tribe of Judah, returned it, borrowing something from the religion of the Philistines. Gradually, these borrowings harmoniously settled down in the Pentateuch along with Semitic, Indo-European myths, which formed the religion of all Israelites. Thus, the connection between the early mythologies of the Jews, Greeks and Celts arose through the Aegeans, whom they conquered and absorbed. And this is by no means only of historical interest, because the faith of modern Catholics is a faith based, despite the male Trinity and male priests, on the Aegean religious tradition of “mother-son”, to which Catholicism is gradually returning, and not on the Aramaic or Indo-European traditions of the "warrior god".
Now I would like to historically detail my reasoning about the Danaans. Danu, Danae or Don appears to the Romans as Donnus, the divine father of Cotius, the sacred king of the Cotians - the Ligurian confederation of tribes that gave its name to the Cotian Alps. Kott, Kot or Kotiy is a very common name and appears as a dynastic name in Thrace between the fourth century BC and the first century AD. The Cattini and Attakoti of Northern Britain, as well as many Catti... and Cotta... tribes between Britain and Thrace, descend from Cotius. A dynasty with the same name was in Paphlagonia on the southern shore of the Black Sea. And they all took the name of the great goddess Cotitto, or Cotis, whom they worshiped and in whose honor they held night orgies in Thrace, Corinth and Sicily. These orgies, cotitias, were, according to Strabo, very similar to those held in honor of Demeter, the harvest goddess of the ancient Greeks, and Cybele, the lioness and bee goddess of Phrygia, for whose sake the young men castrated themselves. In Sicily, cotitia has been preserved as a custom of decorating branches with ripe fruits and baking bread from wheat. According to classical legend, Cottus was the hundred-armed brother of the hundred-armed giants Briareus and Gies, allies of Zeus in his war against the Titans on the border of Thrace and Thessaly. These giants were called hecatoncheires (hundred-handed).
The essence of the war is understandable only if you know early Greek history. The first Greeks to appear in Greece were the Achaeans, who came to Thessaly around 1900 BC, patriarchal pastoralists who worshiped a male trinity of gods, originally called Mithra, Varuna and Indra (and mentioned by Mittanias of Asia Minor as early as 1400 BC). AD), and then they received the names of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. The Achaeans conquered all of Greece and initially tried to destroy the semi-matriarchal civilization Bronze Age, which they found there, but soon came to terms with her, agreed to the right of inheritance on the maternal side and enrolled themselves as the sons of the variously called Great Goddess. They became allies of the very mixed population of the continent and islands, among whom were long-headed and round-headed, and called these people Pelasgians, or “people of the sea.”
The Pelasgians believed that they were born from the teeth of the cosmic serpent Ophion, whom the Great Goddess named Eurynome (power over everything) took as her lover, thus marking the beginning of the era of Creation. Ophion and Eurynome are already Greek versions of the original names. It is possible that the Pelasgians formerly called themselves Danaans in honor of a goddess similar to Danaë, who was the patron of agriculture. Be that as it may, the Achaeans who came to Argolis also took the name of the Danaans and became seafarers, and those who remained north of the Isthmus of Corinth are known as the Ionians, the children of the cow-goddess Io. Expelled from Argolis, the Pelasgians founded several cities in Lesbos, Chios and Cnidus, while others fled to Thrace, Troas and the islands in the northern Aegean Sea. Several families did not leave Attica, but scattered in all directions.
The most warlike of the remaining Pelasgians were the centaurs from Magnesia, with the whirligig and the mountain lion as totems.
They also worshiped a horse, but most likely not an Asian one, common on the Caspian coast and which appeared among them at the beginning of the second millennium BC, but an older and shorter European horse, something like a Dartmoor pony. The centaurs, along with their divine king Chiron, welcomed the arrival of the Achaeans, who helped them in the war with the Lapiths from northern Thessaly. The name "Chiron" is undoubtedly related to the Greek cheir (hand), "centaur" from centron (goat). In my essay "What did the centaurs eat" I suggest that they intoxicated themselves with the flying head mushroom (amanita miscaria) - a toad with a hundred claws, which is carved on an Etruscan mirror at the feet of their ancestor Ixion. Were the Hecatoncheires the centaurs of mountainous Magnesia, whose friendship the Achaean farmers of Thessaly and Boeotia needed? The mother goddess of the centaurs was called Leucothea (white goddess) in Greek, but the centaurs themselves called her Ino or Plastena, and her rock-cut image is still preserved near the ancient highland city of Tantalus. She also became the mother of Melikert, or Heracles-Melkart, the god of the early Semi-Semitic conquerors.
The Greeks claim to remember the date of the victory of Zeus in alliance with the Hecatoncheires over the Titans from Thessaly. The well-informed Tatian quotes the calculations of the first-century AD historian Thallus, who believes that this happened three hundred and twenty-two years before the ten-year siege of Troy. Since the fall of Troy is established to have occurred in 1183 BC, the answer is obvious - 1505 BC. If this date is more or less reliable, the legend of the Hecatoncheires tells of the spread of Achaean influence in Thessaly, where the Pelasgian tribes were pushed north. The history of Gigantomachia, the war of the Olympian gods with the giants, most likely reflects a similar, but much later event, when the Greeks found it necessary to moderate the ardor of the warlike Magnesians in their strongholds on Pelion and Ossus, apparently because of their exogamy, which came into conflict with the Olympian patriarchy and gave the Magnesians a reputation as sexual maniacs. It also contains Hercules' spell against nightmares.
The Achaeans became Cretans between the seventeenth and fifteenth centuries: during the Late Minoan era, which in Greece is called Mycenaean because of Mycenae, the main city during the Atreus dynasty. The Aeolian Greeks came to Thessaly from the north, and were then able to occupy Boeotia and the Western Peloponnese. They installed friendly relations with the Achaean Danaans and became known as the Minii. Both peoples appear to have taken part in the sack of Knossos around 1400 BC, which ended Crete's dominion over the sea. The conquest of Crete, by then largely Greek-speaking, resulted in the great Mycenaean expansion into Asia Minor, Phenicia, Libya and the Aegean Islands. Around 1250 BC divergences emerged between the Achaean Danaans and the less civilized Achaeans of Northwestern Greece, who captured the Peloponnese, founded a new patriarchal dynasty, renounced the Great Goddess and created the familiar Olympian pantheon, headed by Zeus and in which gods and goddesses were equally represented. The stories about the scandals of Zeus and his wife Hera (the name of the Great Goddess), about the quarrels of Zeus with his brother Poseidon and with Apollo of Delphi give reason to assume that the Pelasgians and Danaans were initially unwilling to put up with the religious revolution. However, united Greece captured Troy, which was on the way to the Dardanelles, a city that took tribute from the Greeks for trade with the Black Sea region and the East. Before the generation born after the fall of Troy had died, another Indo-European horde poured into Asia Minor and Europe, including the Dorians, who conquered Greece with fire and sword. How many unfortunate people fled in all directions!
