A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 47. (Nyíregyháza, 2005)
Régészet - János Makkay: The Miracle Stag in Ancient Greek mythical stories and their Indo-Iranian counterparts
The Miracle Stag the basis of legend; for the author of the Theseis describes it like that, as do Pisander of Camirus and Pherekydes" (WEST 2003. 219., and also 183.). Some ancient sources dated Pisander earlier than Hesiod, while others put him in the mid seventh century (WEST 2003.23.). Pherekydes of Athens, the 'genealogist' and the writer of mythical Histories, probably lived before the mid-fifth century, and an epic Theseis was in circulation probably around 525 BC (WEST 2003. 22-23., 25.). All this make quite sure that the Greek motif of a hind having golden antlers was not the result of any sort of influence originating in, and coming from, the Pontic area of Iranian art and beliefs of Scythian tribes. It can have its origins in much older material and non-material culture of Proto-Iranian - or even Indo-Iranian - tribes that once lived north of the Black Sea. Such details taken into consideration, sources and archaeological finds can be brought in a good correlation: a very old mythological heritage not only contained the magic power of magicians to alter antlerless or hornless animals into animals having antlers (and the opposite), but also the transformation of stags into hinds i.e. hinds having golden antlers. Giving full satisfaction to the question, why are altered hinds suckling calfs? On the other hand, horses wearing deer masks or attributes can be related to the other ability of Autolykos: he had magic power and could alter everything belonging to the beasts: in qiiamcimque efjigiem vellet. All this, together with his power to make while beasts black and black beasts white, relates to such very old mythical elements, which had been present in the religious system of Indo-Iranian peoples of the Eurasian steppe since times immemorial, testified by some Vedic and Avestan sources. Their comparatively late - and rare material expressions are - among others - the Scythian representations, listed above. The Maeotic story of the Huns, as told by Jordanes and Procopius (Jordanes: Getica 24, 123-126, Procopius: Bella 8,5,4, and 7-12.), based on works of Sozomenos, Eunapius és Priscus (written around 433-434, 439-450 and 474), i9 simply was a later variant of much older, ancient Greek mythical stories, especially about the adventure of the fleeing cow. An important point is, that the Maeotic (a Scythian or Cimmerian land on the steppe) adventure was already part of the Ancient Greek narrative, when lo, in the shape of a cow, flees: „Io was a daughter of Inachus. Zeus seduced her while she held the priesthood of Hera, but being detected by Hera he by a touch turned Io into a white cow. But Hera requested the cow from Zeus for herself. ... Hera next sent a gadfly to infest the cow, and the animal came first to what is called after her the Ionian gulf. Then she journeyed through lllyria and having traversed Mount Haemus she crossed what was then called the Thracian Straits but is now called after her the Bosphorus. And having gone away to Scythia and the Cimmerian land she wandered over great tracks of land and swam wide stretches of sea both in Europa and Asia until at last she came to Egypt, where she recovered her original form, ..." (Apollodoms II.i. 3. FRAZER 1954. I. 131., 133., 135.) The most detailed account of the fleeing of Io in the shape of a cow, and her crossing of the Maeotis, was given by Aeschylus (Aeschy/os: Prometheus ACGUOJTTII; 561-741, esp. 730-731.). 1 cannot go here into further details of this part of the mythical story, but supposedly, one very old steppic variant of it contained the fleeing of a hind. This hind some times has golden antlers. As was noticed by Kerényi, hinds had no antlers even in those days, and if one of them actually had golden antlers it was not ordinary beast, but a divine being. It was also told {Euripides: Helena 382.). that a companion of Artemis, the Titaness Taygete was obliged to take the form of a hind having golden antlers, because she had accepted the love of Zeus (KIÍRÉNYI 1959/1974. 146.). "'" According to Blockley, ..the Priscan digression on the I lunnic crossing of Lake Maeotis. which Jordanes preserves, could have been part of a preliminary survey which was prepared for the accession of Attila in or around 434": BLOCKLEY 1981. 50. Zosimus, Sozomen and Philostorgius made considerable use of Eunapius for the period 270-404. [ BI.OCKI.EY 1981. 97-99.] Very probably Etmapius' sixth book contained the description of the digression of the Huns (BLOCKLEY 1981 . 104., and note 51). According to MORAVCSIK 1914., the story was first recorded by Sozomenos and Eunapius in the first decades of the 5"' Century, and was later also (independently'.') written down by Priscus.
