الترجمة الإغريقية

Interpretatio graeca (Latin, "Greek translation") or "interpretation by means of Greek [models]" is a discourse^[1] used to interpret or attempt to understand the mythology and religion of other cultures; a comparative methodology using ancient Greek religious concepts and practices, deities, and myths, equivalencies, and shared characteristics.

A Roman wall painting showing the Egyptian goddess Isis (seated right) welcoming the Greek heroine Io to Egypt

The phrase may describe Greek efforts to explain others' beliefs and myths, as when Herodotus describes Egyptian religion in terms of perceived Greek analogues, or when Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Plutarch document Roman cults, temples, and practices under the names of equivalent Greek deities. Interpretatio graeca may also describe non-Greeks' interpretation of their own belief systems by comparison or assimilation with Greek models, as when Romans adapt Greek myths and iconography under the names of their own gods.

Interpretatio romana is comparative discourse in reference to ancient Roman religion and myth, as in the formation of a distinctive Gallo-Roman religion. Both the Romans and the Gauls reinterpreted Gallic religious traditions in relation to Roman models, particularly Imperial cult.

Jan Assmann considers the polytheistic approach to internationalizing gods as a form of "intercultural translation":

The great achievement of polytheism is the articulation of a common semantic universe. ... The meaning of a deity is his or her specific character as it unfolded in myths, hymns, rites, and so on. This character makes a deity comparable to other deities with similar traits. The similarity of gods makes their names mutually translatable. ... The practice of translating the names of the gods created a concept of similarity and produced the idea or conviction that the gods are international.^[2]

Pliny the Elder expressed the "translatability" of deities as "different names to different peoples" (nomina alia aliis gentibus).^[3] This capacity made possible the religious syncretism of the Hellenistic era and the pre-Christian Roman Empire.

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أمثلة

A Roman fresco from Herculaneum depicting Hercules (from Etruscan Hercle and ultimately Greek Heracles) and Achelous (patron deity of the Achelous River in Greece) from Greco-Roman mythology, 1st century AD

Herodotus was one of the earliest authors to engage in this form of interpretation. In his observations regarding the Egyptians, he establishes Greco-Egyptian equivalents that endured into the Hellenistic era, including Amon/Zeus, Osiris/Dionysus, and Ptah/Hephaestus. In his observations regarding the Scythians, he equates their queen of the gods, Tabiti, to Hestia, Papaios and Api to Zeus and Gaia respectively, and Argimpasa to Aphrodite Urania, whilst also claiming that the Scythians worshipped equivalents to Herakles and Ares, but which he doesn't name.

Some pairs of Greek and Roman gods, such as Zeus and Jupiter, are thought to derive from a common Indo-European archetype (Dyeus as the supreme sky god), and thus exhibit shared functions by nature. Others required more expansive theological and poetic efforts: though both Ares and Mars are war gods, Ares was a relatively minor figure in Greek religious practice and deprecated by the poets, while Mars was a father of the Roman people and a central figure of archaic Roman religion.

Some deities dating to Rome's oldest religious stratum, such as Janus and Terminus, had no Greek equivalent. Other Greek divine figures, most notably Apollo, were adopted directly into Roman culture, but underwent a distinctly Roman development, as when Augustus made Apollo one of his patron deities. In the early period, Etruscan culture played an intermediary role in transmitting Greek myth and religion to the Romans, as evidenced in the linguistic transformation of Greek Heracles to Etruscan Her[e]cle to Roman Hercules.

الترجمة الرومانية

The phrase interpretatio romana was first used by the Imperial-era historian Tacitus in the Germania.^[4] Tacitus reports that in a sacred grove of the Nahanarvali, "a priest adorned as a woman presides, but they commemorate gods who in Roman terms (interpretatione romana) are Castor and Pollux."^[5] Elsewhere,^[6] he identifies the principal god of the Germans as Mercury, perhaps referring to Wotan.^[7]

Gilt bronze head from the cult statue of Sulis Minerva from the Temple at Bath

Some information about the deities of the ancient Gauls (the continental Celts), who left no written literature other than inscriptions, is preserved by Greco-Roman sources under the names of Greek and Latin equivalents. A large number of Gaulish theonyms or cult titles are preserved, for instance, in association with Mars. As with some Greek and Roman divine counterparts, the perceived similarities between a Gallic and a Roman or Greek deity may reflect a common Indo-European origin.^[8] Lugus was identified with Mercury, Nodens with Mars as healer and protector, Sulis with Minerva. In some cases, however, a Gallic deity is given an interpretatio romana by means of more than one god, varying among literary texts or inscriptions. Since the religions of the Greco-Roman world were not dogmatic, and polytheism lent itself to multiplicity, the concept of "deity" was often expansive, permitting multiple and even contradictory functions within a single divinity, and overlapping powers and functions among the diverse figures of each pantheon. These tendencies extended to cross-cultural identifications.^[9]

In the Eastern empire, the Anatolian storm god with his double-headed axe became Jupiter Dolichenus, a favorite cult figure among soldiers.

التطبيق على الديانة اليهودية

Roman scholars such as Varro^{[بحاجة لمصدر]} interpreted the monotheistic god of the Jews into Roman terms as Caelus or Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Some Greco-Roman authors seem to have understood the Jewish invocation of Yahweh Sabaoth as Sabazius.^[10] In a similar vein, Plutarch gave an example of a symposium question 'Who is the god of the Jews?,' by which he meant: 'What is his Greek name?' as we can deduct from the first speaker at the symposium, who maintained that the Jews worshiped Dionysus, and that the day of Sabbath was a festival of Sabazius. We don't know what the other speakers thought, because the text is incomplete.^[11] Tacitus, on the topic of the Sabbath, claims that "others say that it is an observance in honour of Saturn, either from the primitive elements of their faith having been transmitted from the Idæi, who are said to have shared the flight of that God, and to have founded the race",^[12] implying Saturn was the god of the Jews.

From the Roman point of view, it was natural to apply the above principle to the Jewish God. However, the Jews – unlike other peoples living under Roman rule – rejected out of hand any such attempt, regarding such an identification as the worst of sacrilege. This complete divergence of views was one of the factors contributing to the frequent friction between the Jews and the Roman Empire – for example, the Emperor Hadrian's decision to rebuild Jerusalem under the name of Aelia Capitolina, a city dedicated to Jupiter, precipitated the bloodbath of the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Emperor Julian, the 4th century pagan emperor, remarked that "these Jews are in part god-fearing, seeing that they revere a god who is truly most powerful and most good and governs this world of sense, and, as I well know, is worshipped by us also under other names".^[13] However, Julian doesn't specify which "other names" the Jewish god was worshiped under.

In late antiquity mysticism, the sun god Helios is sometimes equated to the Judeo-Christian God.^[14]

المكافئون الإغريق-الرومان

The following table is a list of Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Egyptian, Sumerian, Phoenician, Hindu, and Parthian equivalents, based on usage among the ancients themselves, supported by the analyses of modern scholars.^{[بحاجة لمصدر]} "Equivalent" should not be taken to mean "the same god". For instance, when the myths or even cult practices of a particular Roman deity were influenced by the Greek or Etruscan tradition, the deity may have had an independent origin and a tradition that is culturally distinctive.


Greek	Greek (Romanized)	Roman	Roman (Anglicized)	Etruscan	Egyptian	Sumerian	Phoenician	Hindu	Parthian (Hellenistic period)	Functions
Ἄδωνις	Adonis			Atunis	Osiris	Dumuzid^[15]^[16]^[17]	Adōn/Tammuz	Balarama		agriculture; resurrection
Ἀμφιτρίτη	Amphitrite	Salacia			Hatmehit					sea goddess
Ἀνάγκη	Ananke	Necessitas								force, constraint, necessity
Ἄνεμοι	Anemoi							Vayu	Vayu-Vata	winds
Ἀφροδίτη	Aphrodite	Venus		Turan	Hathor, Isis	Inanna^[18]^[17]^[19]^[20]	Astarte	Rati	Anahita	beauty; sex; love
Ἀπόλλων (Apollōn)	Apollo			Aplu	Horus		Resheph	Rudra	Mithra	light; prophecy; healing; plagues; archery; music; poets
Ἄρης	Ares	Mars		Laran	Anhur	Nergal^[21]		Kartikeya	Verethragna	war
Ἄρτεμις	Artemis	Diana		Artume	Bastet		Kotharat	Bhadra	Drvaspa	hunting, the hunt; wilderness, wild animals; virginity, childbirth; Diana: lit. heavenly or divine
Ἀσκληπιός (Asklēpios)	Asclepius	Aesculapius / Vejovis	Vejove	Veiove	Imhotep		Eshmun	Aswini kumaras		healing
Ἀθηνᾶ (Athēnā)	Athena	Minerva		Menrva	Neith, Isis, Thoth	Inanna^[22]^[23]	Anat	Saraswati, Ganesha, Kartikeya	Anahita	wisdom; war strategy; the arts and crafts; weaving
Ἄτλας (Átlas)	Atlas			Aril	Shu^[24]					holder of the celestial spheres
Ἄτροπος	Atropos	Morta		Leinth						Atropos: lit. inflexible; death
Βορέας	Boreas	Aquilo		Andas						North Wind or Devouring One
Καλλιόπη (Kalliopē)	Calliope									"beautifully voiced"; muse of eloquence and epic poetry
Χάος (Kháos)	Chaos				Nu	Apsu	Yam	Parabrahman		chasm, vast void, abyss; the formless, primordial state of existence
Χάος (Kháos)	Chaos				Naunet	Nammu	Yam	Parabrahman
Χάριτες (Kharites)	Charites	Gratiae	Graces							grace; splendor; festivity; charity
Χάρων (Kharōn)	Charon			Charun	Aqen					fierce, flashing, feverish gaze (eyes)
Χλωρίς (Khlōris)	Chloris	Flora								Chloris: lit. greenish-yellow, pale green, pale, pallid, fresh; Flora: lit. flower
Κλωθώ (Klōthō)	Clotho	Nona								spinning; thread
Κρόνος (Kronos)	Cronus	Saturnus	Saturn	Satre	Khnum		El / Elus	Mahakala		Time, generation, dissolution, agriculture
Κυβέλη (Kybelē)	Cybele	Magna Mater								Magna Mater: lit. Great Mother
Δημήτηρ	Demeter	Ceres		Zerene	Isis				Ashi	grains, agricultural fertility; Demeter: lit. Earth Mother
Διόνυσος (Dionysos)	Dionysus	Liber / Bacchus		Fufluns	Osiris					wine and winemaking; revelry; ecstasy; Liber: lit. the free one
Εἰλείθυια	Eileithyia	Lucina		Ilithiia	Tawaret					childbirth, midwifery
Ἐνυώ	Enyo	Bellona		Enie	Sekhmet					war
Ἠώς	Eos	Aurora / Matuta		Thesan	Tefnut			Ushas		dawn
Ἔρεβος (Érebos)	Erebus	Scotus								الظلمة
Ἐρινύες	Erinyes	Dirae / Furiae	Furies							الغضب
Ἔρις	Eris	Discordia		Eris	Anat		Shahar	Nirrti		strife
Ἔρως	Eros	Cupido / Amor	Cupid	Erus				Kamadeva		sexual love
Eὐτέρπη	Euterpe			Euturpa / Euterpe						"she who delights"; muse of music (especially flute music) and song; later, also of lyric poetry
Εὖρος (Euros)	Eurus	Vulturnus								East Wind
Γαῖα	Gaia / Gaea	Terra / Tellus		Cel	Geb	Antu^[25]		Bhumi	Zam	the earth
ᾍδης (Hāidēs)	Hades	Dis Pater / Pluto / Orcus		Aita	Anubis / Osiris		Mot	Yama	Angra Mainyu	the underworld. Hades: lit. the unseen
Ἥβη (Hēbē)	Hebe	Iuventas	Juventas		Renpet					youth
Ἑκάτη (Hekatē)	Hecate	Trivia			Heqet	Ereshkigal^[26]				will; Hecate: trans. she who has power far off ^[27]
Ἥλιος	Helios	Sol		Usil	Ra	Utu^[28]	Shamash (Utu)	Surya	Mithras	sun
Ἡμέρα	Hemera	Dies						Ushas		day
Ἥφαιστος (Hḗphaistos)	Hephaestus	Vulcanus	Vulcan	Sethlans	Ptah		Kothar-wa-Khasis^[29]	Vishvakarma, Agni	Atar	metalwork, forges; fire, lava
Ἥρα	Hera	Iuno	Juno	Uni	Mut, Hathor			Indrani	Armaiti	marriage, family
Ἡρακλής (Hēraklē̂s)	Heracles	Hercules		Hercle	Heryshaf		Melqart		Rostam (Heracles)	Heracles: lit. glory of Hera
Ἑρμῆς	Hermes	Mercurius	Mercury	Turms	Anubis, Thoth	Nabu^[30]	Taautus^[31]	Narada	Shamash	transitions; boundaries; thieves; travelers; commerce; Hermes: poss. "interpreter"; Mercurius: related to Latin "merx" (merchandise), "mercari" (to trade), and "merces" (wages)
Ἕσπερος (Hesperos)	Hesperus	Vesper								evening, supper, evening star, west^[32]
Ἕστία	Hestia	Vesta			Anuket					hearth, fireplace, domesticity
Ὑγίεια	Hygeia	Salus								health; cleanliness
Ὕπνος	Hypnos	Somnus								sleep
Εἰρήνη (Eirēnē)	Irene	Pax					Shalim			peace
Ἶρις	Iris	Arcus / Iris			Nut					rainbow
Ἰανός		Ianus	Janus	Culsans				Ganesha		beginnings; transitions; motion; doorways
Λάχεσις (Lakhesis)	Lachesis	Decima								Lachesis: lit. disposer of lots; luck
Λητώ	Leto	Latona								Demureness; mothers
Μοῖραι (Moirai)	Moirai / Moerae	Parcae / Fatae	Fates							Apportioners
Μοῦσαι (Mousai)	Musae	Camenae	Mus							Music; inspiration
Ῥαμνουσία (Nemesis)	Nemesis, Rhamnousia	Invidia						Shani		"retribution"
Νίκη	Nike	Victoria		Meanpe				Kartikeya		victory
Νότος (Notos)	Notus	Auster								South Wind
Νύξ (Nyx)	Nyx	Nox			Nephthys			Ratri		night
Ὀδυσσεύς	Odysseus	Ulixes / Ulysses	Ulysses	Uthste						hero
Παλαίμων (Palaimōn)	Palaemon	Portunus								keys, doors; ports, harbors
Πᾶν	Pan	Faunus			Min			Aranyani, Budha		nature, the wild
Περσεφόνη	Persephone	Proserpina	Proserpine	Persipnei						poss. "to emerge"
Φάων	Phaon			Phaun / Faun / Phamu						mortal boatman given youth and beauty by Aphrodite
Φήμη	Pheme	Fama								fame; rumor
Φωσφόρος (Phōsphoros)	Phosphoros	Lucifer					Attar	Agni		lit. light bearer
Ποσειδῶν	Poseidon	Neptunus	Neptune	Nethuns			Yam	Varuna	Apam Napat	sea; water; horses; earthquakes
Πρίαπος (Priapos)	Priapus	Mutunus Tutunus / Mutinus Titinus								fertility; livestock; gardens; male genitalia
Προμηθεύς	Prometheus			Prumathe		Enki^[33]				forethought
Ῥέα	Rhea	Opis / Magna Mater (See Cybele, above)	Ops		Nut		Asherah			Rhea: lit. flowing. Ops: lit. wealth, abundance, resources.
Σελήνη	Selene	Luna		Losna	Isis, Thoth, Khonsu		Yarikh	Chandra	Mah	moon
Σελήνη	Selene	Luna		Tiur	Isis, Thoth, Khonsu		Yarikh	Chandra	Mah	moon
Σειληνός	Silenos	Silvanus		Selvans						سيلڤانوس: في الغابات
Θάνατος	Thanatos	Mors		Leinth	Anubis		Mot	Yama		death
Θάνατος	Thanatos	Mors		Charun	Anubis		Mot	Yama		death
Θέμις	Themis	Iustitia	Justitia / Justice		Ma'at					قانون الطبيعة
Τύχη (Tykhē)	Tyche	Fortuna	Fortune	Nortia			Gad	Lakshmi, Ganesha		luck, fortune
Τυφῶν ("Typhon")	Typhoeus	Typh			Set, Apophis			Vritra		"whirlwinds, storms, chaos, darkness"
Οὐρανός (Ouranos)	Uranus	Caelus			Nut	Anu^[34]	El	Akasha	Asman	sky, heavens
		Vertumnus		Voltumna			Baal			the seasons; change
Ζέφυρος (Zephyros)	Zephyrus / Zephyr	Favonius								West Wind; Favonius: lit. favorable
Ζεύς	Zeus	Iuppiter / Iovis	Jupiter / Jove	Tinia	Amun	Enlil,^[35] Bel	Hadad	Indra	Ohrmazd / Ahura Mazda	weather, storms, lightning, Sky Father

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في الفن

Examples of deities depicted in syncretic compositions by means of interpretatio graeca or romana:

Jupiter Ammon (terracotta of Hellenistic style, 1st century AD)
Syncretized figure from the Eastern provinces, perhaps a Genius (1st century BC – 1st century AD)
Isis holding sistrum and oinochoe (Roman marble, reign of Hadrian)
Isis, Serapis, the child Harpocrates and Dionysos (relief from Roman Africa, late 2nd century AD)
Worshipper before Zeus–Serapis–Ohrmazd (Bactria, 3rd century AD)

References

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^ Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism (Harvard University Press, 1997), pp. 44–54 (quotation p. 45), as cited by Smith, God in Translation, p. 39.
^ Pliny, Natural History 2.5.15.
^ Tacitus, Germania 43.
^ "Praesidet sacerdos muliebri ornatu, sed deos interpretatione romana Castorem Pollucemque memorant."
^ Tacitus, Germania 9.
^ Odom, Robert Leo (2003-01-01). Robert Leo Odom, Sunday in Roman Paganism (TEACH 2003 ISBN 978-1-57258242-2), pp. 251-252. ISBN 9781572582422. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
^ John T. Koch, "Interpretatio romana," in Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 974.
^ Koch, "Interpretatio romana," in Celtic Culture, pp. 974–975; Assmann, Moses the Egyptian, p. 45.
^ (Valerius Maximus), epitome of Nine Books of Memorable Deeds and Sayings, i. 3, 2, see EXEMPLUM 3. [Par.]
^ Plutarch. Symposiacs, iv, 6.
^ Tacitus, Histories 5.4
^ Julian, Letter XX to Theodorus, translated by Wilmer Cave Wright (1913)
^ Eleni Pachoumi, The Religious and Philosophical Assimilation of Helios in the Greek Papyri
^ West 1997.
^ Kerényi 1951.
^ ^أ ^ب Cyrino 2010.
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^ Hans Dieter Betz, "Fragments from a Catabasis Ritual in a Greek Magical Papyrus", History of Religions 19,4 (May 1980):287-295
^ "Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, ἕκα^τος". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
^ Steele, Laura D. (2002). "Mesopotamian Elements in the Proem of Parmenides? Correspondences between the Sun-Gods Helios and Shamash". The Classical Quarterly. 52 (2): 583–588. doi:10.1093/cq/52.2.583. ISSN 0009-8388. JSTOR 3556423.
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^ Philo of Byblos.
^ Collins Latin Dictionary plus Grammar, p. 231. ISBN 0-06-053690-X)
^ Stephanie West. "Prometheus Orientalized" page 147 Museum Helveticum Vol. 51, No. 3 (1994), pp. 129–149 (21 pages)
^ Burkert 2005.
^ Pleins, J. David (2010). When the great abyss opened : classic and contemporary readings of Noah's flood ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-19-973363-7.