Santrauka. Dievai vadinami ir į sąrašus rikiuojami vardais, tad prieš kalbant apie panteono sąvokos kilmę bei pirminį turinį pravartu aptarti pačius dievų vardus, priminti bei pabrėžti esmines jų ypatybes, neišvengiamai sąlygojančias ir panteono sampratą. Tam skirta pirmoji šio darbo dalis. Antrojoje dalyje, palyginant kelių skirtingų tradicijų pavyzdžius, kaip tik aiškinamasi panteono sąvokos kilmė ir pirminis turinys. Ir galiausiai trečiojoje dalyje, remiantis išsiaiškintuoju panteono sąvokos pirminiu turiniu, iškeliamas bei aptariamas lietuviškas jos atitikmuo. Po šių trijų dalių, sudarančių darbo branduolį, dar pridėtas priedas, kuriame trumpai aptariama viena pakeliui iškilusi įvairių panteonų ypatybė – dvylikos dievų sąsaja su dvylika mėnesių.

Pagrindiniai žodžiai: Panteonas, Visi dievai, lietuvių mitologija, lyginamoji religijotyra ir mitologija.

Visi dievai: panteono sąvokos kilmė, pirminis turinys ir lietuviškasis atitikmuo

All the Gods: The Origin of the Concept of Pantheon and Its Lithuanian Counterpart Visi dievai

Summary. All previous researches into ancient Lithuanian pantheon meant by it some more or less exact number of gods to be identified, their functions established, and their names explained. And never was the very concept of pantheon inquired about. However, it is very instructive.

Firstly, the gods are drawn up into a pantheon by their names, so the features of the god-name, i.e. the theonym, must directly influence the concept of pantheon. The main feature of the theonym is that it does not strictly differ from epithet, or eponym. That is, an epithet of some god can branch off and evolve into an (relatively) independent theonym and, consequently, a name of god, in its turn, can be considered as a former epithet of another one (cf. the eloquent case of Indian Rudra and Śiva; Lithuanian Medeina and Žvorūna, and also probably Laumė; Lithuanian Perkūnas and Dundulis, etc.). So the status of the theonym is sliding, not at all fixed. Therefore, at least due to this feature of theonyms, the content of a pantheon in principle can not be definitely determined. This is dealt with in the first part of the study.

Then, in the second part, the origin and the original meaning of the word pantheon is examined. As is known, it derives from the Greek πάνϑειον (ἱερόν), namely “(temple) of all the gods,” as the famous Pantheon at Rome. Compound adjective n. πάνϑειον, m. πάνϑειος, in its turn, refers to the collocation πάντες ϑεοί “all the gods” not rare in the Greek writings begining with Homer. This collocation appears to be a term denoting a definite mythological and religious concept, the “All the gods,” known also in other Indo-European and not only Indo- European lores. One of its most distinct feature is that it usually denotes not all the gods of a given tradition but, quite paradoxically, some limited group of gods, even of secondary importance, among other groups. The concept of the “All the gods” is especially well attested in the Vedic and Hindu tradition as viśve devāḥ or, in compound, viśvadevāḥ, and relatively large part of the study is devoted for that. It should be observed that the viśve devāḥ might, on the one hand, be even identified with the highest Deity and, on the other, considered as quite insignificant group of rural gods of secondary importance.

As it were, the Indian viśve devāḥ have their exact counterpart in Lithuaninan visi dievai “all the gods,” and these make the subject of the third part of the study. The term is attested in Old Russian, German and Polish historical sources since the 13th century and at present, as compound, in the toponym Visdievai (the village near Obeliai in Rokiškis district). Moreover, the local oral tradition until recently relates about the temple consecrated to the All the gods by the village from which it has got its name. Some historical sources also report of such a temple in the prechristian Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. Anyhow, the term visi dievai or compound visdievai “all the gods,” in connection with the temple Visdievų “Of all the gods,” would be the real Lithuanian “pantheon” – not the arbitrary list of names baselessly and unsuccessfully wanted by students of Lithuanian mythology for the last several centuries.

In the addendum, the cosmological origin of the number twelve, as the number of the “pricipal gods” of many pantheons, is shortly discussed. That is, the concept of the twelve “principal gods” around the one highest Deity very probably derives from the number of months in one solar year, or “around” the sun.

Keywords: Pantheon, all the gods, Lithuanian mythology, comparative studies of religion and mythology.