The horse in Indo-Iranian mythology.

• Author: Skjaervo, Prods Oktor
• Position: Critical essay

With focus on the mythology of the horse, the rituals in which it is involved, and the philological study of the texts (p. 13), Philippe Swennen investigates, comparing and contrasting, the physical description of the (sacred) horse in the ancient Indic and Iranian literature, the Vedas and the Avesta (part 1) and its role in Indian and Iranian ritual (part 2) and myth (part 3), thus also providing a starting point for further study of how a common heritage was modified in the two cultures (p. vii). The arguments are based mainly on the ancient texts, but later descriptions are also adduced as support, for instance, the Classical authors writing about Persia (pt. 1, chap. 2 B and E). A large number of relevant Old Indie and (mostly Young) Avestan texts (notably, Yast 8 to Tistriia = Sirius) with detailed, mainly philological, commentaries are included as an appendix (pp. 301-98). There is a useful summary in English.

This is the first major comparative study of mythological narratives in the Vedas and the Avestas since E. Benveniste and L. Renou's Vrtra et Vere[theta]ra[gamma]na. Etude de mythologie Indo-Iranienne from 1934. It is an impressive work, both in its size and for the breadth of the textual material it covers. It is not easy to read, however, mainly because of Swennen's baroque and often allusive prose, (1) which makes for slow reading (one reason why this review has been long in the making).

The book suffers to some extent from being, it seems, a reworking of a dissertation (there are a few references to "these"), updated somewhat hurriedly, perhaps, for publication; (2) although published in 2004, it appears to have gone to press shortly after the dissertation was defended in July 2000 (the bibliography stops at 1999, with the exception of three articles by the author published between 2000 and 2002). (3) This has resulted in numerous repetitions, with duplicating sections apparently representing different stages of the author's thinking. Internal cross-references are scarce, being limited, especially in the second half of the book, to a "plus haut." As the indexes are also rather short, it is often difficult to find things. It is sad that academia affects our dwindling field in such a way that young scholars are pressured to publish in hurry. (4)

Despite this criticism, it is a rewarding book, both for the source material Swennen discusses and for his conclusions and hypotheses, which are always informative, often thought-provoking, sometimes inspiring.

The goal of the book is to reaffirm Indra's position in the Indo-Iranian pantheon by assuming that he disappeared from the Avestan pantheon (of good gods) as a result of Zarathustra's reform, while his memory survived in the proper name *Zariaspa found at Persepolis, which matches Indra's epithet haryasva ([section]298).(5) Thus, although not stated explicitly in the later chapters of the book, one of the two principal links in Swennen's chain of evidence is the historicity of Zarathustra and his reform.(6) The other is his conviction that exclusive epithets are old and immutable ([section][section]297-98), which implies that Zariaspa can only have been an epithet of Indra ([section]356).

Indra survived, as it were, in the Avesta in the white stallion, the form taken on by Tistriia, the deity of the star Sirius. Among the many pieces of evidence for this are the identical formulas ai[beta]i + BHU aoja in Yast 8.22 to Tistriia and abhi + a + BHU. . . ojasa in Rigveda 2.22.2a to Indra (first mentioned [section][section]2-3). (7) The seasonal combat between Tistriia and Apaosa took the place of the cosmic one between Indra and Vrtra, on the one hand, in order to illustrate [Zarathustra's] new moral dualism prevalent in the Avestan religion; on the other hand, in order to integrate the now seasonal myth in a cosmic conflict dominated by Ahura Mazda and the Evil Spirit ([section]372). To establish this thesis, Swennen takes us on a very long journey through Vedic, Avestan, and Greek texts.

The introduction contains a critical survey of earlier, especially Indological, literature, an outline of methodology, and a review of studies of the horse in Vedic literature. In chapter 1 of the first part, Swennen studies the gender of the horse and, in chapter 2, its color according to the Avestan (A), Achaemenid (B), and Vedic (C) evidence. In section B, he discusses the various descriptions by Herodotus and Xenophon of the horses pulling the chariot of the sun. The conclusions of this survey (D): several myths on both sides involve a white horse, an agreement that points to its being an Indo-Iranian divinity, inherited from Indo-European; their rituals, however, as far as they are known, are dissimilar, other than the custom of using white horses for the chariots of the gods and the kings ([section]38).

Chapter 3 continues with discussions of the two common Vedic equine epithets vajin-and arvan-larvant-, preceded by an inventory of formulas and poetic references to horses: origin from ocean or water and neighing. Chapter 4 is devoted to descriptions of winged or flying horses. Swennen notes that, while they are compared to birds in the Rigveda, in the Avesta they have epithets otherwise only applied to stars; the flying horse is identified with the sun in the Rigveda, but with the star Tistriia, Sirius, in the Avesta ([section]93). In chapter 5, he discusses horse gear; in chapter 6, the symbolism of the neighing, in which the Rigvedic ritual of the asvamedha is confronted with Herodotus' story about how Darius was chosen king; and, in chapter 7, the horse's mane.

The discussions and conclusions in chapters 1-7 are summed up in chapter 8: the Indo-Iranian horse was a dominant stallion ([section]145). The bright and dark colors of the horses suggest the alternation of the day and night skies ([section]146). The white horse was associated with a star and was described as winged and/or flying ([section][section]147-49). It is possible that the Indo-Iranian horse was called *aruant, derived from the root AR, which referred to both the rising of the sun and to setting in motion ([section]151). Swennen then sets out his plan for the second part of the book: to examine the role of this horse in rituals, which reflect the mythical narratives about gods ([section][section]152, 162). Problems include our lack of intimate knowledge about the Indo-Iranian religion, other than the fact that they celebrated the concept of rta, the harmonious order of the cosmos and the battle between its supporters and opponents ([section][section]153-54). In the Rigveda the ruler and organizer of the cosmic order is Indra; in the Avesta it is Ahura Mazda, who, apparently, does not fight his own battles, but delegates them to Tistriia and the fravashis ([section]155). Indra and Tistriia both liberate the waters by means of celestial horses, and both belong to the nocturnal world ([section]156). In the ritual, the horse marks the transition from darkness to light...