Finding the Pre Proto Indo-European Gods

Are there any gods that you think are pre-proto indo-european?

When we look at a river from a distance, it looks like a snake or serpent winding its way through the countryside. Is that why serpents are often associated with rivers and water?

When you said Zeus-PERKUNAS, I almost spit my drink -- "Perkūnas" in Lithuanian mythology is the god of the sky/thunder. Perkūnas is also the word used to for thunder. Never knew that anthropologists refer to Zeus-Perkunas

Imagine how much knowledge would have been kept if the religious crusades never happened. The amount of stuff that wost lost is insane

There is one mistake here: Mycenaeans were indoeuropians, Minoans that precede them were not. Mycene culture started when indoeuropean trybes merged with agriculturallists that precedes them.Greeks called them Pelasgians.That happened somewhere from 2500-2000 B.C.

For the Ancient Greeks, I find your Demeter argument interesting as I feel the Titan Gaia (Greek Mother Earth) would be a better candidate for a feminine pre-proto Indo-European deity as Zeus overthrew the Titans, which is a great example of the new culture overthrowing the new.

I struggle to find the words to describe it, but there is something endlessly fascinating about the part of anthropology that studies how culture and mythology helped to shape each other. Especially when you get into the pre-history of it all.

I started Uni in Classics and ended up post grad specialising in comparative religion, your work is outstanding and very intertesting indeed. I am so pleased to have found such a well researched and well written channel, thank you for your hard work.

My personal favorite pan-Eurasian mythological parallel is that of the goddes of the underworld, and just how many facets she has, yet it all seem to branch off from a single original character. Goddess, living in the land of the dead, usually underground, often depicted with strange, monstrous features that set them apart from the other gods. Ereshkigal, Hel, Allatu, Izanami... The list goes on, and if you dig deep enough, you can even find parallels in Persephone, Hecate, or even Baba Yaga in some stories. I think this character archetype might be one of the most widespread ancient myths, along with the earth mother, flood narrative, and the chaoskampf, and it points at there being some kind of proto-underwold-goddess existing in the distant past, who then got replaced by the gods of death from the later, more patriarchal societies and got relegated to either playing second fiddle to the new male gods, or becoming more of a folklore-character. Things like this is why I find ancient mythology such an enthralling topic, and it's so fascinating to see how you could start with the Sumerian goddess Inanna, and after several millennia of the telephone game, you end up with the closely analogous Ashtart, Ishtar, Aphrodite, and Isis, the syncretized Hathor, Juno, and Artemis, and even a freaking demon in Kabbalah in the form of Astaroth.

I'd consider the Jotnar to be a third family of gods in Norse mythology, since not only are they ancestors to some Aesir, even to Odin, but they are shown to be of equal power to the Aesir and the Vanir, and can also marry and have children with Aesir and Vanir.

Holy moly, what a pleasure it's been discovering your channel today. I finished grad school focusing on Ancient Near Eastern and Mesopotamian history, so topics like this one are few and far between on YT when it comes to killing time and thinking outside the box. As you probably know, details on this field can be rather scarce, so its nice to see a deeper dive being conducted as new evidence becomes more readily available. You sir have gained a subscriber- keep up the good work!

I'm only 2 minutes and 40 seconds into this video, but I just had to pause to say, thank GOD (pun intended) this guy isn't yelling for my attention like most other channels! This guy's voice is like a request for me to listen, not a demand. Love that.

We Hindus in India still worship some of these Gods. A tradition unbreakable since time immemorial and we will continue to do so. Nature is God.

I have heard the theory of the story of the Garden of Eden as a illustration for how peoples changed from living off the resources of the land then moving on, to becoming farmers and agriculturists and living in one place. I personally really like that idea.

I’ve been researching and learning about the Demeter/Persephone myth lately too! So this was perfect timing for me, I loved seeing the map and the changes in populations over time. I found that Hecate is tied up in the mythology of Demeter/Persephone as well, she is a three faced goddess, so together the three goddesses cover the maiden, mother, crone trinity. Hecate seems to reach further back in time. And another thing I discovered was this drink that’s in the Demeter/Persephone poem Kyleon, which is basically flavoured barley water. It’s full of many nutrients and drinking it helps you stay full for longer, I can imagine this drink being an important part of getting through winter for agricultural communities who might run out of food. Fascinating how ancient religious stories are such a good store of knowledge, we’re missing out in our contemporary culture for sure!

Your voice is incredibly calming but not overly so where im falling asleep, but keeps my interest in this!

The origiin of the flood myth according to you is fascinating, explains why many cultures centered around Europe have one in their mythology. I was intrigued a while as to why there wasn't one in Japanese myth, but this explains it.

I like that Dionysus was also originally the death/underworld God like Hades. A male god that is associated with death and vegitation, or the dying god can be seen in figures like Osiris and Dimuzid. Inanna and Persephone are also very similar godesses, decending into the underworld and making their way out. It's so awesome to find links like this. I will also say in a lot of Moon deities the female are associated with a full moon (pregnancy) whereas male gods are often associated with the crescent moon which symbolises a bull's horns.

Thank you for for all the time and effort you put into this. This kind of academic content doesn't get enough love from the algorithm. But you've got me asking questions about "what it means to be a person" when I really should be sleeping!

probably one of the most informative and interesting videos i‘ve seen in the last few weeks. love the details and the general narration. made me want to read all the books about mythology on my shelf again!