page_title: Proto-Indo-European mythology
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Proto-Indo-European mythology / Cosmology / Cosmogony / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Roman stone relief showing the she-wolf with the twins Romulus and Remus on the right inner side of the south portal`s porch at the pilgrimage church the Assumption, market town Maria Saal, district Klagenfurt Land, Carinthia / Austria / EU Deutsch: Römischer Reliefstein mit der Darstellung der Wölfin mit den Zwillingen Romulus und Remus auf der rechten Innenseite der Vorhalle vom Süd-Portal der Wallfahrtskirche Mariä Himmelfahrt, Marktgemeinde Maria Saal, Bezirk Klagenfurt Land, Kärnten / Österreich / EU &#160; This media shows the protected monument with the number 12909 in Austria. (Commons, de, Wikidata)
context_page_description: Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested – since Proto-Indo-European speakers lived in prehistoric societies – scholars of comparative mythology have reconstructed details from inherited similarities found among Indo-European languages, based on the assumption that parts of the Proto-Indo-Europeans' original belief systems survived in the daughter traditions.
  The Proto-Indo-European pantheon includes a number of securely reconstructed deities such as *Dyḗws Ph₂tḗr, the daylight-sky god; his consort *Dʰéǵʰōm, the earth mother; his daughter *H₂éwsōs, the dawn goddess; his sons the Divine Twins; and *Seh₂ul, a solar goddess. Some deities, like the weather god *Perkʷunos or the herding-god *Péh₂usōn, are only attested in a limited number of traditions–Western and Graeco-Aryan, respectively–and could therefore represent late additions that did not spread throughout the various Indo-European dialects.
context_section_description: Cognates deriving from the Proto-Indo-European First Priest *Manu ("Man", "ancestor of mankind") include the Indic Manu, legendary first man in Hinduism, and Manāvī, his sacrificed wife; the Germanic Mannus (from Germ. *Manwaz), mythical ancestor of the West Germanic tribes; and the Persian Manūščihr (from Av. Manūš.čiθra), a Zoroastrian high priest of the 9th century AD. From the name of the sacrificed First King *Yemo ("Twin") derive the Indic Yama, god of death and the underworld; the Avestan Yima, king of the golden age and guardian of hell; the Norse Ymir (from Germ. *Jumijaz), ancestor of the giants (jötnar); and most likely Remus (from Proto-Latin *Yemos or *Yemonos), killed in the Roman foundation myth by his twin brother Romulus. Cognates stemming from the First Warrior *Trito ("Third") include the Vedic Trita, the Avestan Thrita, and the Norse þriði.
  Many Indo-European beliefs explain aspects of human anatomy from the results of the original dismemberment of Yemo: his flesh usually becomes the earth, his hair grass, his bone yields stone, his blood water, his eyes the sun, his mind the moon, his brain the clouds, his breath the wind, and his head the heavens. The traditions of sacrificing an animal to disperse its parts according to socially established patterns, a custom found in Ancient Rome and India, has been interpreted as an attempt to restore the balance of the cosmos ruled by the original sacrifice.
  The motif of Manu and Yemo has been influential throughout Eurasia following the Indo-European migrations. The Greek, Old Russian (Poem on the Dove King) and Jewish versions depend on the Iranian, and a Chinese version of the myth has been introduced from Ancient India. The Armenian version of the myth of the First Warrior Trito depends on the Iranian, and the Roman reflexes were influenced by earlier Greek versions.
caption: Ancient Roman relief from the Cathedral of Maria Saal showing the infant twins Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf.
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