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

MakkayJános The broad outlines of this second concept was given by Gyula László, unfortunately without a detailed demonstration, in order to bring historic evidence and archaeological data together. This circumstance has probably caused, why his outstanding, but not well elaborated, theory has not fully opened our historians' and archaeologists' eyes as yet. In its presently known form, the oldest version of the mythic story of the Huns about the Miracle Stag was recorded by Jordanes and Procopius (Jordanes: Getica 24,123-126., Procopius: Bella 8,5,4, and 7-12.), but much of it was taken over from the works of Eunapius and Priscus,

2 written around, and after, the middle of the 5

th century AD (433/434, and 474). Jordanes wrote to the effect, that According to the historian Priscus, this savage tribe [i.e. the Huns] lived on the further shore of the Maeotic marsh, practising only hunting and no other form of labour except that when they increased in numbers, they harassed the neighbouring peoples with treachery and rapine. Hunters from this tribe, who, as was their custom, were seeking game along their shore ofMaeotis, noticed a hind [cerva] which suddenly appeared to them, entered the marsh and, now moving ahead and now waiting for them, led them along a path. This the hunters followed and crossed on foot the Maeotic marsh which they thought to be as impassable as a sea. Soon the land ofScythia, which was unknown to them, came into view, and the hind disappeared. I believe that those spirits, of whom the Huns were engendered, did this out of hatred for the Scythians. The hunters, who were completely unaware that there was another world beyond Maeotis, were seized with wonder at the land ofScythia and, concluding that the way, which was utterly unknown to any age before theirs, had been revealed to them by a divine-power (since they were knowledgeable of such things), returned to their own people. They related what they had done, praised Scythia and, having won over their tribe, led them to Scythia by the route which the hind had revealed to them.'" (Priscus: Fragment 1. BLOCKLEY 1981. 223-225.) Around 1280 AD, the Hungarian chronicler Simon de Kéza's narrative of the same story, with some minor differences, was based on this text of Jordanes, even if he added details to it, taken from other sources, particularly from folk poetry, songs of rhapsodes, etc. Other sources clearly show, that the story was an important part of the folk beliefs of the Árpádian tribes of Turkic origin. Two Hungarian scholars, J. Berze-Nagy and Gy. Moravcsik minutely studied the relations of Priscus's story with the corresponding details of the early Hungarian chronicles. Here I follow the summary made by Gy. László with minor additions and corrections (LÁSZLÓ 1974. 95-96.): Simon de Keza (in Hungarian KÉZAI Simon), the chronicler of Ladislas IV, King of Hungary between 1272 and 1290, went as far back as the Bible, and made Menroth the Giant, Japheth's progeny, the forefather of the Hungarians. Then, turning to the question of origin, he wrote (SRH 1:144-145.): Hunor [the Hun?] and Mogor [the Magyar?] were the first born children [of Menroth by Eneth]. They lived their life in tents separated from that of their father. It happened that one day they had gone out hunting, and in a deserted place there appeared before them a hind [cerva], which they followed into the Maeotic marshes as it fled before them. It disappeared again, and though they sought it for a long time, they could find it nowhere. Having at last searched the marshes thoroughly, they found that the place was suited for breeding herds. Therefore they returned to their father and having been granted his permission they went with all their goods to the Maeotic marshes, 2 According to Blockley, „the Priscan digression on the Hunnic 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: BLOCKLEY 1981. 97-99. Very probably, Eunapius' sixth book contained the description of the digression of the Huns (BLOCKLEY 1981. 104., and note 51). According to Moravcsik (MORAVCSIK 1914. 281-293., 333-334.) the story was first recorded by Eunapius in the first decades of the 5

lh Century, and was later also (independently) written down by Priscus. 8