by
John R.
Salverda
Contents:
Brit-Am Editorial Comment.
Pelops
and Ahab.
The Achaeans and Ahab.
Ahab in Greek Records?
Israelites, Arimoi,
Kimmeroi
(Cimmerians)!
Hittites and Israelites.
The Hurrian
Mercenary Chariot Warriors and
Olympianism.
Chaldeans
and Chaldians.
Was Homer really King Omri
of Israel?
Pelops,
Hippodameia,
and Naboth.
Elijah as Myrtilus.
The Murder of Stymphalus.
The Greek Mount Carmel?
Conclusions.
Brit-Am Editorial Comment:
John Salverda has authored a valuable and interesting series of articles showing Israelite Influence on Greek Mythology. The northern Ten Tribes lived separately from Judah. They intermixed with the local non-Israelite populations and adopted their beliefs and practices. It is not certain how literate they were and it may be that only a few actually knew how to read and write Hebrew. It was a violent age punctuated by wars, invasions, and traumatic crises. The Bible as we know it had not yet been canonized though the Torah (original Five Books of Moses i.e. the Pentateuch) existed but was revered in Judah rather than in Israel. It was also a period of irrational forces and strong spiritual influences. Under such conditions we may well expect the actual belief system of the common people to have become transformed into something else altogether.
Our studies show that at some stage Israelites (especially from the tribe of Dan) did conquer the Greeks, influenced them and were influenced by them. Also in their movement westward elements from the Ten Tribes sojourned in the Greek sphere. We ourselves do not think there was much of a physical ethnic interaction between Hebrews and Greeks but there was a cultural one.
Archaeological findings show a strong link between Mycenaean (Bronze Age) Greece and Britain as well as between Bronze Age Britain and the area of Ancient Israel and its surroundings. The same applies to Scandinavia. Mycenaean finds in the region of Israel itself are plentiful and may have originated with Israelites. If such was the case then the Israelite component in findings from the British isles and the North of Europe may well turn out to be much greater than is realised.
The article below continues the exposition of John Salverda. The views are those of the author and not necessarily of Brit-Am.
John Salverda in fact says things we would heartily disagree with. Even so, he deserves to be read. It is also important to read properly what he is saying. For instance he claims that Israelite exiles who reached Greece were really Hittites and Chaldeans who had been influenced by Israelite culture. His attributing Gentile origins to Israelite Kings and their followers is doubtful. It could be however that Canaanites and other elements who were driven out or voluntarily left Israel had been influenced beforehand by Hebrew culture and they brought this influence with them to Greece?
This present essay shows parallels between Israel in the time of King Ahab and Elijah and events in Greek Mythology. The author argues his case well and in great detail. For they who may be interested yet find the mass of details a little too much for them we recommend that they at least peruse the Conclusions at the end of this article.
Pelops and Ahab
Nobody would equate, or even compare, the Greek
mythological character Pelops with King Ahab from the Scriptural history of
Israel. For the stories about Pelops were supposed to have occurred about the
same time that the walls of Mycenae were being built. These walls are dated
archeologically (through pottery and other items, some even bearing the names of
the Pharaohs who lived at the time,) to have coincided with Egypt's 18th
Dynasty, about 1400 BC. Thus long before the days of King Ahab who is said to
have died about 850 BC. However, if we adjust events to reflect Immanuel
Velikovsky's reconstruction of ancient history, which omits the so-called "dark
ages" of Greece and makes Egypt's 18th Dynasty to be contemporary with the
Kingdom of Israel, then we find that Pelops and Ahab lived at about the same
time. This hypothesis is the premise under which the following article was
written. Velikovsky makes Ahab to be a contemporary of the Egyptian Pharaohs
Amenhotep III and Akhenaton (Velikovsky equates these with the Greek
mythological characters Laius and Oedipus, who did incidentally figure in on the
myth of Pelops) just before the time that we learn, from Hittite documents, of
the arrival on the historic scene of a new people whom they called the "Ahhiyava"
(the Greek Achaeans).
The Achaeans and Ahab
The sons of Danaus and Aegyptus (Danites and Jacobites see
http://www.britam.org/salverda/danaan.html
had been established with the Inachids (Anakim) at Argolis for a
few generations when the sons of Perseus, arriving from Joppa, joined them.
Shortly after the sons of Perseus had completed building the walls of Mycenae, a
new group came on the scene, the Achaeans. These Achaeans were, just as were the
Perseids a couple of generations earlier, looked upon as royalty and they were
given princesses of the royal families of Greece to wed. They were a circumcised
people who spoke the same language as the Danaan sons of Perseus, but were
never-the-less, in some respects considered to be rivals to the Danaans and
proudly claimed Pelops, a foreigner to Greece, as their common ancestor.
Considering the time of their arrival, their language, their religious beliefs
and their royal status, it is my opinion that the name of this group "Achaeans,"
is based upon the Hebrew name of the well known King Ahab, of Israel's Omri
dynasty. Achaab is the Greek Septuagint form of the name Ahab, thus Achaab-ians.
The Hittites of Anatolia knew of the Achaeans and called them the 'Ahhiyava.'
The Egyptians called them the Akaiwasha, (Also written 'Akwash' or 'Ekwesh' It
is from the Egyptian 'Karnak inscriptions' where we discover that the Achaeans
were circumcised.) the Hebrew 'H' being a guttural one, and both the 'V' and the
'W' are apparently transferred from the letter 'B,' while the suffix of the word
means 'the men of' (the Hittite suffix 'a' approximates the 'oi' as in the Greek
Achaeoi, while the Egyptian suffix 'asha' approximates the Hebrew prefix 'ish,')
thus the word, "Achaean" is a plausible transliteration of the phrase, 'the men
of Ahab.'
The Hittite records of those days make mention of the Achaeans, as a maritime
mercantile nation, who inhabited a nearby island or islands, some think Rhodes,
but others think some other islands to the west of Asia Minor, for about 150
years (The Achaeans of Rhodes built the famous Colossus of Rhodes, one of the
'Seven Wonders of the ancient World.' It was a huge statue of Helios [Eloah-us].
He drove a fiery chariot across the heavens [as in the story of the apotheosis
of Elijah from the story of Ahab].). Hittite figurines have been found in
Mycenaean Tiryns, as well as in Thessaly. Although as I will demonstrate, the
Achaeans were from the Omri Dynasty of Israel, they were also strongly
influenced by the Hittite culture. The Achaeans didn't have a long history, they
came to Greece, just after the sons of Perseus, about two or three generations
before the Trojan War, and lasted about as long after the war, until the Dorian
Invasion. Their history was short, but it was very eventful indeed. Much of
classical Greek Mythology occurred during the short history of the Achaeans. The
twelve labors of Heracles, the Calydonian boar hunt, Argonautica, the seven
against Thebes, the Epigony, and the Trojan War, all took place while the
Achaeans, were in the Peloponnesus (the island of Pelops).
Ahab in Greek Records?
Jehu's 'purge' (c. 842 BC.) was applied to the 'men of Ahab' who apparently fled
(those who survived the purge) to the city of Pisa in Greece (they probably
spent a generation or two in Paphlagonia) from where they later set up the
nearby city of Olympia, and instituted the Olympic games (776 BC.) only 66 years
later, bringing the stories of King Ahab with them. The original Olympic games
were dominated by a death defying chariot race which was probably held in memory
of the contest at Mount Carmel and the chariot/foot race between Ahab and
Elijah. Evidence for the theory that the 'Achaeans' consisted of the 'sons of
Ahab' can be seen in the remarkable coincidences between the story of 'Pelops
and Hippodameia' and the story of 'Ahab and Jezebel.' Such as the story
concerning Ahab and his ivory replacement shoulder; 'And the right shoulder
shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your
peace offerings.' (Lev. 7:32) Like the ram with it's wave offering, (Num. 6:19)
Pelops was sacrificed, not to god, but to 'the gods,' the Olympians (This is a
point worth noticing in the light of associating Pelops with the polytheistic
Ahab, Olympus = Elohim-us. The differences between Pelops and Oenomaus were
religious in nature, just as were the differences between Ahab and Naboth. The
Olympianism of Pelops was the polytheism of Ahab, while on the other hand Naboth
was favored by [the ALMIGHTY] like Oenomaus, the grandson of Zeus, was favored
by him. Diodorus Siculus says that Oenomaus used to give the contestants a head
start, while he would sacrifice a ram to Zeus. Only after Oenomaus had completed
this sacrifice, would he pursue and overtake the ill fated suitors. Pausanias
also notes; 'The Eleans say that Oenomaus used to sacrifice to Zeus whenever he
was about to begin a chariot-race with one of the suitors of Hippodameia.' Paus.
5.14.6. See
http://www.britam.org/salverda/olympus.html ). Pelops was cut into pieces,
cooked, then his shoulder was taken out and eaten. (by 'Demeter' [a feminine
personification of the Levites'], the goddess to whom pigs were sacrificed. The
gods were loath to accept a human sacrifice and did not eat, but Demeter didn't
realize what she was doing because she was distraught over the fact that the
Earth had just recently opened up and swallowed alive her daughter 'Core,' [Korah].
In fact she had been wandering for a long time in search of her daughter and it
took the intercession of Zeus himself to get her to join the Olympians at this
'banquet,' [the convocation at Shechem]. It was actually Hades, the 'hidden
god,' [El Olam] that had abducted Demeter's daughter who was also called,
'Persephone,' [the eponymous tutelary of "Beer Sheba"].) The pieces of Pelops
were reassembled, he received a replacement shoulder made out of ivory, and he
was brought back to life. Not only as good as new but perfected, as Apollodorus
puts it; 'Pelops, after being slaughtered and boiled at the banquet of the gods,
was fairer than ever when he came to life again.' (Epitome book E Chapter 2. 3).
That the Achaeans believed in, a sacrificed messiah and his resurrection, is
evident by the story that Pelops, their archetypical hero-king, had been
sacrificed and resurrected. An entire series of mythological motifs, that are
particular to the Greek myths about Pelops, appear to have been borrowed
directly from the history and religious customs, not only of Israel, but of the
particular "Hittite version" of Israel that existed in the area of Shechem and
later Samaria, from the convocation through the Omri Dynasty. The original
capital of Israel was a place called 'Shechem,' meaning, 'shoulder.' This place
was destroyed and a replacement capital was built by Omri, the replacement
'shoulder' was called, 'Samaria.' Samaria was notoriously adorned with ivory
panels, and its King, Ahab had famously built an ivory palace to live in.
Ginzberg says that each of Ahab's seventy sons lived in Ivory houses as well.
Archaeologists still find carved Ivory pieces all over the place (So called "Nimrud
ivories" from the Levant of the 9th and 8th centuries were found, not only in
the area of Samaria, but all over the Aegean, in Athens, Corinth, and Sparta,
some 200 pieces were found in one Spartan temple alone. This was the "Ivory age"
in Israel when King Ahab's house was paneled with Ivory, and those in Zion slept
in Ivory beds see II Kings 22:39 and Amos 6:4). This is a plausible reason for
the motif of the 'ivory replacement shoulder,' that was granted to Pelops/Ahab
and played so prominent a role in his myth.
Israelites,
Arimoi,
Kimmeroi
(Cimmerians)!
Pelops, it is said, came to Greece from Lydia. But Ahab, (whom I suppose to be
the inspiration for the Greek character Pelops) never really went to either
Lydia or Greece, his descendants and followers went there and took his story
with them, transferring the stories of Jezreel to Pisa. Furthermore Lydia, where
Pelops is said to have come from, is often confused by the ancient mythographers
with Syria, the land of the 'Syrians' (Herodotus calls the Syrians, 'the Syrians
of Palestine,' to distinguish them from the "Leucosyroi" of Cappadocia, he also
maintains that they wore the sign of the circumcision.). Israel was considered
to be Syrian, and not just by the Greeks. For as the Scriptures say; 'And thou
shall speak and say before THE ALMIGHTY thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my
father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became
there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.' (Deut. 26:5) We, following the
lead of the Greeks, say Syria, but most everyone else says 'Aram.' Some Greeks
knew of this other term for Syria, but weren't too certain as to its'
application, for as Strabo says, "In fact they make this (Strabo is here
referring to Lydia) the setting of the mythical story of the 'Arimoi' and of the
throes of Typhon," (Strabo, Geography 12. 7. 19) Again Strabo this time quoting
Pindar; 'it was father Zeus that once amongst the Arimoi, ' smote monstrous
Typhon.' But some understand that the Syrians are Arimoi, who are now called the
Arimaians [and it is here that Typhon is buried]." (Geography 13. 4. 6) (Homer
and Hesiod describe Typhon as being imprisoned in the land of the Arimoi, also
known as the Arimaspoi, or Kimmeroi.) It is well known that Typhon was buried at
the southern border of Syria, see Herodotus 'Histories' Book 3, Page 5. Thus,
the confusion between Lydia and Syria has Typhon buried in both places, and
makes both places the home of the Arimoi who the Greeks sometimes referred to as
the Kimmeroi (the Cimmerians). Indeed the land of Lydia was undergoing
incursions by the Scythians (Aramaeans) and the Cimmerians (Samarians) as early
as 710 BC. Thus it is likely that the information, that the mythographers got
from those 'Lydians,' was heavily laced with the stories about their old king
Ahab which we would expect 'Cimmerians,' as displaced Israelites from the
kingdom of 'Samaria' to know well. The language of the Lydians, spoken in the
West of Asia Minor until the 1st century BC, was apparently a linguistic
descendant of Hittite. This and the fact that one of Lydia's kings known to the
Greeks bore the Hittite royal name Myrsilis (Mursilis) may indicate that this
state was the purest cultural and ethnic continuation of the former Hittites.
With this in mind, and combined with the fact that the Omri dynasty was known
to, and heavily influenced by, the Hittites, it is no wonder that some thought
Pelops to be from Lydia while he was actually from "Syria of Palestine."
Hittites and Israelites
Now, as to the name of Tantalus the father of Pelops. I am of the opinion that
the name Tantalus is a Greek version of the Hittite name Tudhaliyas. There was a
very famous King Tudhaliyas who started a Hittite dynasty about 920 BC. (this,
of course, is in accordance with Velikovsky's reconstruction of ancient history
which I use consistently). It may seem arbitrary to choose the name of an
obscure King, the founder of a distant Hittite dynasty to supply the name of the
Greek version of Omri of Israel, but I do have my reasons. For the Hittites
where not so obscure as the conventional history of the time would lead us to
believe. They did in fact have a considerable influence on the Levant during the
Dynasty of Tudhaliyas, placing their princes as kings in important cities like
Carchemish and Aleppo, and even facing up to the powerful Assyrian, Egyptian and
Mitannian Kings of the time. The princes and nobles of the Tudhaliyas Dynasty
were a very numerous and restless bunch who, I believe, had hired themselves out
as mercenaries, mainly as charioteers and cavalrymen but also in other military
roles. The Hittites famously had introduced horsemanship and chariotry skills
all over the middle east and could forge and supply weapons of iron, many
kingdoms used their expertise, but especially the Israelite nations. The
Hittites made treaties with the Hebrews, Abraham became a confederate with
Ephron the Hittite for the partial purchase of Hebron. Like the blond haired
blue eyed Amorite women had been to the sons of God at Mount Herman in the days
of old, so the Hittite women were to the Hebrews in the land of Canaan,
irresistibly appealing. Thus Esau married Judith and Basemat, the daughters of
the Hittites Beeri and Elon, respectively. And King David himself had Uriah the
Hittite killed because he desired his wife Bathsheba. The Hittites were supposed
to be completely exterminated out of the land of Canaan by Joshua, but they
weren't, instead the Israelites made deals with them and intermarried with them.
...The Assyrian King Esarhaddon in his chronicles referred to Manasseh the King
of Judah as a "king the Hittites."
Brit-Am editorial Comment:
The author below claims that King Omri of Israel was a Hittite. We doubt this very much and do not feel it is right to attribute foreign ancestry to a monarch of Israel when the Bible does not refer to it. Nevertheless in a cultural sense they may be something in what the author is suggesting. The same point applies to other proposals made below.
Therefore I believe that Omri, was a Hittite captain, an
adventurous scion of the Tudhaliyas Dynasty who lead a group of Hittite
mercenaries, and was hired by the previous Israelite dynasty, the House of
Baasha. When Zimri, captain over half of the chariots, overthrew his lord and
killed Elah, the son of Baasha, it did not go well for him. For Omri, a capable
commander of the Army (Presumably a royal Hittite and captain over the other
"half" of the chariots), having the support of not only his troops, but half of
Israel, (largely the Hittite half no doubt) was elevated to the throne. A civil
war ensued and Omri was victorious. The ancestry of Omri is not disclosed in the
Scriptures, we are not even told the name of the Hebrew tribe from which he was
descended. Omri built Samaria. No other time period in all of biblical history
was so concerned with the skill of chariotry, as was the era of the founding
dynasty of Samaria. The three generations of kings from that era, all scions of
the house of Omri, namely, Ahab, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, each were fatally wounded
while in their chariots. This preoccupation with 'chariotry' is just another
'coincidence' that the Omri dynasty had with the Achaeans and the story of
Pelops.
As to the name of Pelops himself, I spent a lot of time trying to equate his
name with the Hittite death and resurrection god Telipinus (There is the Hittite
angle, they share some attributes and I considered the names as similar),
however Ahab famously followed after the Baalism propagated by his wife Jezebel
the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon. To quote Josephus; " Ahab's god was
called Baal; ... Now this Baal was the god of the Tyrians; and Ahab, in order to
gratify his father-in-law, Ethbaal, who was the king of Tyre and Sidon, built a
temple for him in Samaria, and appointed him prophets, and worshipped him with
all sorts of worship" (from "Antiquities of the Jews"). Josephus further tells
us that Ethbaal was the priest of Astarte before murdering the previous king and
usurping the Sidonian throne (quoting Menander, this time from "Against Apion,"
Book I, par. 18). Ahab built a temple for Baal and set up a sacred pole in honor
of Astarte (1 Kings 16 :30-33). Therefore perhaps the name Pelops, rather than a
corruption of the name Telipinus is simply the usual Greek for the phrase "the
face of Baal" (Bel-ops) a common Appellation for Tanit or Astarte, or anyone
enamored of Baal.
When the Greek poets wanted to indicate riches the often referred to the wealth
of the Lydian King Croesus, but when indicating the vastness of realm they would
refer to the wide sway and many kingdoms of King Pelops. (" I would not Pelops'
tilth untold nor all Kroisos' coffered gold, nor yet t' outfoot the storm-wind's
breath, so I may sit this rock beneath, pretty pasture-mate, wi' thee, and gaze
on the Sicilian sea." Theocritus, Idylls 8) The Hebrew legends spoke of Ahab in
much the same way, "Ahab is one of that small number of kings who have ruled
over the whole world. No less than two hundred and fifty-two kingdoms
acknowledged his dominion. As for his wealth, it was so abundant that each of
his hundred and forty children possessed several ivory palaces, summer and
winter residences." (from Ginzberg's 'Legends of the Jews').
It is purely conjecture on my part but perhaps Ahab was deified by his
descendants after his death as the incarnation of their resurrection god. This
theory is not so far fetched after all as Josephus tells us that Ahab's rival
Kings Ben-Hadad and Hazael were both deified, and the descendants of Pelops, the
Greek Ahab, did think of their ancestor as a sort of King of Kings, whom it was
claimed had been raised from the dead (clearly a Messianic, if not a divine
attribute). In accordance with Velikovsky's reconstruction of history, Ahab
lived at the same time as the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Dr. Velikovsky
associated the Theban myth of Oedipus with the history of 18th Dynasty Thebes in
Egypt and identified Amenhotep with Laius, the (true) father of Oedipus. Both
Laius and Amenhotep III were famous charioteers who were crowned as a child and
had a regent rule for them in their minority.
The
Hurrian
Mercenary Chariot Warriors and
Olympianism
The story of Pelops and in fact, much of the myths connected with the Achaeans,
are abounding with the skill of chariot driving as well, so much so that modern
scholars who have studied the matter such as Robert Graves, have concluded that
these Greeks must have had some sort of ritualistic royal sacrifice involving
kings being dragged to death as a result of prearranged chariot crashes.
''chariot crashes were staged in the hippodromes.' ('The Greek Myths 2' 109. 4,
5). Well, one thing we do know, is that there was an ancient culture that was
dedicated to the horse and chariot, it was called the 'Maryannu.' An ancient
people called the Hurrians were the purveyors of this Maryannu culture and many
peoples especially the Hittites had adopted the tenets of their way of life.
Although the Scriptures do not use the name 'Hurrians' they do mention the
Horites, Hivites and Jebusites all of whom archaeologists have identified as
Hurrians. Furthermore, the cities of Harran, Nahor, Pethor and Carchemish are
considered to be Hurrian settlements, and I would even go so far as to say that
Abraham himself was from the land of the Hurrians (Ur) where the Chaldians (not
incidentally, the Chaldeans who are perhaps the same people but were supposedly
from Babylonia, a different location altogether) of Urartu (Ararat, the homeland
of Noah) had lived. The descendants of the Scriptural Midian (son of Abraham by
Keturah 1CH 1:32), it can be demonstrated, were the Mitanni, a branch of the
Hurrians as well. Thus the land of Canaan was full of Hurrian culture, and those
who weren't Hurrian by blood readily adopted their culture, as did the Hittites.
W. F. Albright said that the Maryannu were "chariot-warriors" claiming that
"chariots played the same role in warfare that cavalry did later, and the
chariot-warriors occupied the same social position that was held by the ...
feudal knights of the Middle Ages." He agreed with F. C. Andreas that the root
of the word "maryannu" comes from the Vedic term "marya" meaning "YOUNG MAN" but
that it developed, through connotation, into "warrior." Since then R. T.
O'Callaghan, relying on Egyptian and cuneiform sources, has come out saying;
"... from the Mitanni kingdom down through Palestine beyond Ascalon, the term
maryannu is to be understood primarily as A NOBLE WHO IS A CHARIOT WARRIOR."
Now, the Scriptures don't seem to mention the 'maryannu,' by that name. However
they do use, as did the Egyptians, the term 'naarim' (youths) instead. That the
'naarim' were young noble chariot warriors who were active in the Omri dynasty
is pretty clear. see 1Kings 20: 13-25 where we see the phrase 'young men of the
princes of the provinces' used four times in relation to its' use in a chariot
battle. Ramses II used the Naarim as well, they saved him in the battle of
Karkar.
Many kings of the Maryannu Age hired these professional chariot-warriors, and
they did become a kind of aristocracy among the nations that employed them. King
David had a Carian (Hurrian) bodyguard. 1CH 18:17 (therein called Cherethites)
'And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites;
and the sons of David were chief about the King.' David had also placed Hittite
warriors in positions of authority, such as 'Uriah the Hittite.' Queen Athaliah
the very daughter of King Ahab also had such a body guard, unfortunately for her
because they conspired against her and placed their own choice (a scion of
David) on the throne. ('In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the
captains over hundreds of the Carians and of the guard, and brought them to him
into the house of [the ALMIGHTY]; and he made a covenant with them, and took an
oath of them in the house of [the ALMIGHTY], and showed them the king's son.' 2
Kings 11:4 see also 11:19). It is perfectly reasonable to conclude that the
Israelites shared good military relations with the Hittites in those days, 2
Kings 7:6: "For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of
chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said
one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the
Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us."
Another similarity between the Israel of Ahab and the Hittites has to do with
the multiplicity of their gods; "He (Ahab) was so devoted to idolatry, to which
he was led astray by his wife Jezebel, that the fields of Palestine were full of
idols." (from Ginzberg's 'Legends of the Jews') The Hittite writings themselves
allude to 'the thousand gods of Hatti', and more than eight-hundred such names
have been discovered.
According to conventional historians, a distinction is to be made between two
groups of Hittites. The original Hittites who are coordinated chronologically
with Egypt's 18th and 19th Dynasties, 1450-1200 BC. These lived mainly in Asia
Minor dipping down a bit into the northern Levant. And another group whom they
call the Neo-Hittites, or Syro-Hittites. These are supposed by many to have been
those Scriptural Hittites of the 9th and 8th centuries BC. The conventional
historians insert a period of "dark ages" into Hittite history for the interim,
as they have done to Greek history, to make it fit into traditional (erroneous)
Egyptian history. It has been proposed that this distinction, between the two
groups of Hittites, is completely artificial. History makes much more sense
without it's imaginary dark ages forming lacunas in the continuum. Egypt's 18th
and 19th Dynasties fit nicely into the 10th-7th centuries and consequently the
Greek mythological age and the early Hittite era, work well as contemporary with
the history of the Kingdom of Israel.
In order to understand the connection between Ahab and Pelops one has to be made
aware of the impact of the Hittite religion on Israel. While the placement of
the Greek mythological era in the time of Israel remains controversial, lining
up the Greeks with the earlier Hittites of Asia Minor is taken for granted. Most
scholars who have studied Greek myths are quick to point out that the Greeks owe
much to the myths of the Hittites. (Anu, Kumarbi, Teshub = Uranus, Kronos,
Zeus). But how did the religion of the Hittites from Asia Minor get to Greece?
The Hittites are often cited as an influence on Greek mythology this is largely
true, but the influence is not a direct one. The Hittite religion got to Greece
because the Israelites of the Omri dynasty who were flushed out by the purge of
Jehu, were to a large degree of Hittite origin. And these were the propagators
of the [Religion] of Samaria that became the Olympianism of Greece.
Chaldeans
and Chaldians
The Hittites are not known to have been a major immigrating group to Greece
however the so called Phoenicians were. For the most part these Phoenicians were
in reality the people of Israel (that is, Hittite Israel) and that is how the
Hittite religion was able to have such a great influence over Greek mythology.
The Greeks don't seem to have known about the Hittites, and the Greeks supposed
that the land of the Hittites was peopled by a group whom they called the
"Phrygians." (modern scholars discriminate between the Hittites and the
Phrygians, some even blaming the destruction of the earlier Hittites, and the
imposition of their dark ages, on the incursion of the Phrygians upon their
empire.) The Greeks themselves credit the Egyptians and the Chaldeans, (not the
Egyptians and the Hittites who predominated in those days,) as the originators
of their religion. I propose that exiled Israelites, (largely of Hittite
extraction, and also referred to as Chaldeans because of their descent from
Arpachshad) brought the Hittite religion to Greece, and that the Phrygians were
for the most part the Hittites themselves (Hattian = Chaldian = Gordian). The
Hittites are realized as contributing to the makeup of Israel not only under
that name but also the Hittites have been identified, by Velikovsky and others,
as the Chaldeans, with whom the Hebrews share an ancestor. Arpachshad, was a son
of Shem and the ancestor of the Hebrews through his grandson Eber . (Gen. 10
:22, 24 ; 11 :10-13 ; 1 Chron . 1 :17-27) The Hebrew for chshad, the second part
of his name, is the same as "Casdim" the first part of the word, "Chaldeans."
Therefore he is the supposed eponym of the Chaldeans (otherwise that well known
nation is not mentioned in the so called "table of nations" at all). There was a
place called by Ptolemy (active c. 130 AD.) "Arrapachitis," in the area of the
Lakes Urmia and Van, in Armenia, the land of the Chaldians (note the difference
in spelling) that some (Koehler and Baumgartner, Veteris Testamenti Libros, p .
89) have associated with Arpachshad. This would relate the Chaldians to the
Chaldeans.
Was Homer really King
Omri
of Israel?
King Omri himself, who as we know from the Scriptures, wrote at least one work,
therein referred to as, "The Statutes of Omri." (For the statutes of Omri are
kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels;
that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing:
therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people. Micah 6:16) Obviously the
editors of the Scriptural account did not allow "all the works of the house of
Ahab" to be expressed in the Bible. On the other hand the Elohistic view could
not be completely expunged from the historic accounts that were relied upon to
write the Scriptures. ..When an ancient law code (such as the Law of Moses, the
Code of Hammurabi, the Noahic Laws or, as in the present case, the Statues of
Omri) was written, it was often connected to or sandwiched in between the
introduction of a new religious system, complete with a 'genesis' (the birth or
origin of the gods, a Theogony giving them titles and distributing to them
honors and arts, and setting forth their forms. ...). This is what gave force to
the laws, for it was always insisted that the chief god of the integrated
religion, was the actual author of the attached laws. The so called 'Statutes
of Omri' no doubt, included the story of origins... Furthermore the law
code would often authorize a school of priests, such as the Levites for the law
of Moses. These would be the "lawyers" so to speak, experts in every feature of
the law, able to explain, not only the legal but also the religious aspects of
it. Now, I do not suppose that Omri wrote the works that scholars of Greek
mythology attribute to Homer, but then on the other hand neither do those
scholars think that one man named Homer wrote all that is attributed to him.
Many believe that these "Homeric" writings were written by a group of "Poets,"
(whom I suppose to be the priests, or lawyers, of the "Statutes of Omri") thus I
am agreeing with the majority opinion on this issue.
It seems to me that Omri must have built his statutes upon the religious
concepts that grew out of the convocation at mount Gerizim and degenerated into
the apostate belief system that took hold of the area surrounding the old
capitol city of Israel at the Shechem of Abimelech. The Israelites had the
religion of the Giants (Titans) also known as the "error of the Amorites"
(Gen.15:13-16) being overthrown by the Twelve Tribes, the Midianites of Shechem
had the Hurrian religion, and Omri had the closely related Hittite religion.
These were apparently combined to form the "Olympian" Mythology of Homer.
Herodotus helps us to identify the Scriptural "Omri," with the Greek "Homer,"
his helpful quote runs thus; "but whence the several gods had their birth, or
whether they all were from the beginning, and of what form they are, they (the
Greeks) did not learn till yesterday, as it were, or the day before: for Hesiod
and Homer I suppose were four hundred years before my time and not more, (thus
about 850 BC.) and these are they who made a Theogony for the Hellenes and gave
the titles to the gods and distributed to them honors and arts, and set forth
their forms:" ("Histories" Book 2, Page 53) Here Herodotus makes "Homer" (whom,
it is supposed, was more ancient than Hesiod,) to have lived about the same time
as Omri, and to have been the original purveyor of the Hellenic religion, that
is, Olympianism. The "Statutes of Omri" were flushed out of Israel at this same
time (c. 842 BC.) by the purge of Jehu. This group, as I hope to convince the
reader, were the Achaeans flushed out of Omri Dynasty Israel by the purge of
Jehu, the main purveyors of the Olympic system.
Pelops, Hippodameia, and Naboth
King Ahab and his queen were, of course, well known murderers. The infamous
murder that they committed, was their conspiracy killing of Naboth for his
vineyard. Queen Jezebel gets most of the blame for this act, but Ahab is
clearly, implicated as well, it was a team killing. Stories about King and Queen
pairs are somewhat rare in ancient history. But, stories that have the pair
jointly committing a deceitful murder that prompted a prophet to bring down a
curse, not just upon them, but upon their entire house, and descendants as well
are even more rare. The two that come to my mind immediately are Ahab with
Jezebel and Pelops with Hippodameia. The famous murder victim in the Greek myth
of Pelops and Hippodameia, was named 'Oenomaus,' this is perhaps a worn down
version of the phrase, 'oino Nomaus,' meaning, the 'vines' of 'Nomaus,' (the
name Nomaus being a possible corruption of the name 'Naboth'). The name 'Hippodameia'
has been interpreted to mean, 'horse tamer,' 'horse subduer,' or 'horse
conqueror.' However, according to her identification with Jezebel and what we
know about how she was conquered, (trampled by horses, 2 Kings 9:33) we should
rather consider 'tamed by horses,' 'subdued by horses,' or 'conquered by
horses.' Hippodameia herself was an evil queen not only had she connived,
underhandedly, to get her husband Pelops the Kingdom he wanted by bringing about
the death of Oenomaus, but afterward she had also falsely witnessed to have
Myrtilus killed, and even later ordered the death of her stepson Chrysippus.
If Oenomaus is to be identified with Naboth and Hippodameia with Jezebel then it
is difficult to understand why, in the Greek myth, Oenomaus is portrayed as a
King and the father of Hippodameia. However, some think that Naboth was Ahab's
first cousin, his father's brother's son; after all he did own the estate lying
next to Ahab's, and he was set in a 'high place' among a gathering of the other
nobles; in which case Ahab would have been next in line to inherit the estate of
Naboth (It is worth pointing out that the sons of Naboth were put to death with
him, and that Ahab did inherit Naboth's estate after he killed them all.). If
this were the case then perhaps, contrarily, Naboth himself was a contender for
the throne of Israel, in the event of the death of Ahab and his sons, which
actually did occur eventually. Josephus had a commentary on the fact that Naboth
was set on a high place among the nobles, he said that it was because Naboth was
of "an illustrious descent." See 1Ki 21:8 "So she wrote letters ...unto the
elders and to the nobles that were ... dwelling with Naboth." Here we see that,
even before the banquet, Naboth was dwelling among the nobles.
Perhaps the reason why Oenomaus is portrayed as a king in Greek mythology has
something to do with the trumped up charge against Naboth by which Jezebel was
able to orchestrate his execution. "the disastrous end of Ahab is to be ascribed
chiefly to the murder of 'his kinsman' Naboth, whose execution on the charge of
'treason' he had ordered, so that he might put himself in possession of Naboth's
wealth." (from Ginzberg's 'Legends of the Jews' Note that Ginzberg's "Legends"
calls the charge "treason" and refers to Naboth as Ahab's "kinsman.") The false
charge against him may have been that he had denied Ahab's right to the throne
and had claimed himself to be the 'rightful' King. And the fact that he was set
in a 'high place' among the other nobles, may have been done in order to
strengthen the bogus charge. For while Naboth may have taken his place at the
banquet as innocently accepting an honor that was being bestowed upon him, to
others it may have looked as though Naboth was treasonously "positioning"
himself as royalty. Unlike in Israel where there was one King over all, in
Greece, where they had city-states, every city had a King. Perhaps Naboth, as
the owner of the bordering plot of land, was naturally considered to be the King
of the place when the story got retold in Greece. He was recognized several
times in the Scriptures as Naboth 'of Jezreel,' especially in the Septuagint
version of the Scriptures where the phrase is used over and over again.
Now, as to why the myth has Hippodameia as the daughter of Oenomaus; as we know
Naboth was not the father of Jezebel, although she was the daughter of a King.
The 'maiden' who was characterized in the Greek myth as Hippodameia was perhaps
more than just a human woman, like many female figures who appear in Greek
mythology, she may have also been considered to represent a land or a people or
a throne, namely, the land, people, or throne of Pisa, the Greek version of the
Hebrew Jezreel. This was in fact a common metaphor which was used, not only in
mythology, but more than once by King Rib-Addi in the El-Amarna Correspondences,
as he used to say when he was besieged in his palace, 'My field is a wife
without a husband.'( In accordance with Velikovsky's' reconstruction of ancient
history the El-Amarna Correspondences were written in those exact days by people
who lived in the land of Canaan.) The location of this place has never been
firmly established, but it obviously lays somewhere in the valley of Jezreel. In
the light of the foregoing, one could fairly speculate that the place which we
now refer to as 'Jezreel' in the valley of 'Jezreel,' was at one time known as 'Naboth's
Vineyard.' Naboth 'of Jezreel' may have built it up to the point where it became
a kind of city-state that bordered on Samaria. Naboth inherited this valuable
property as a result of his 'illustrious descent,' although he could not be
considered as it's King, it was in his possession. Ahab wanted there to be no
question as to the Kingship, or the possession, of the place, and Jezebel, by an
underhanded stratagem was able to acquire the spot for him. The site was
fortified and Jezebel built a temple to Baalath there, therefore the city was
renamed "Jezebel" after her. After her scandalous death, it was once again
renamed, 'Jezreel' so that people would not say, 'this is Jezebel.' (2 Kings
9:37 'And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in
the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, 'this' is Jezebel.' I stuck
the word 'this' in quotes because I believe that we understand it incorrectly to
be referring to the 'carcass of Jezebel,' when actually it alludes to the 'field
in the portion of Jezreel.') Naboth was in possession of the place which was,
later, to be named after Jezebel, and he inherited it by descent. In the
parlance of symbolic poetry, the place was his daughter so to speak, and it was
the place itself that was the prize over which Naboth and Ahab were contending.
Pelops and Oenomaus were contending to the death, the survivor was to inherit
the throne, winning not only the bride but also the Kingdom. In accordance with
common mythic symbolism a contender for the throne is often portrayed as a
suitor for the Queen. (Such as Cadmus and Harmonia or Perseus and Andromeda)
Accordingly, winning the Bride means winning the Kingdom....We clearly
understand the symbolism in terms of our own religion, but somehow the same
symbolism is a mystery when we read it in a 'myth.'
We are told by Apollodorus, "Now Oenomaus, the king of Pisa, had a daughter
Hippodameia, and whether it was that he loved her, as some say, or that he was
warned by an oracle that he must die by the man that married her, no man got her
to wife; for her father could not persuade her to cohabit with him, and her
suitors were put by him to death." The versions of the story given by Tzetzes
and the Scholiast on Eur. Or. 990 agree closely with each other and with that of
Apollodorus, which they may have copied. They agree with him and with the
Scholiast on Pindar in alleging an incestuous passion of Oenomaus for his
daughter as the reason why he was reluctant to give her in marriage; indeed they
affirm that this was the motive assigned for his conduct by the more accurate
historians, though they also mention the oracle which warned him that he would
perish at the hands of his in-law. The fear of this prediction being fulfilled
is the motive generally alleged by the extant writers of antiquity. However it
is apparent when studying the Greek myth as it relates to the story of Naboth,
that the original tale had nothing to do with incest, it was just a matter of
Naboth wanting to keep possession of his land and it was this "land" which was
to subsequently become known by the name of the princess "Jezebel" (Hippodameia)
to those who would later tell the myth of Oenomaus. Although it was not by the
hand of Ahab directly, the death of Naboth was blamed upon the complicity of the
King and therefore the warning of the oracle so saying that Oenomaus must die by
the man that married Hippodameia rang true. The Achaean tellers of the myth were
no doubt a bit biased in denying the oracle and slandering Oenomaus as
incestuous instead, thereby granting their ancestor Pelops a measure of
justification for the killing.
Elijah as
Myrtilus
Myrtilus (a name suspiciously like another Hittite name of the same era, 'Mursilis'
TISHBITE in Hebrew "Tishbi" implying from the settlement of Teshub. There is a
play-on-words here. Tishbi uses the same letters that spell "Tashuv" i.e. return
or repent. Elijah exhorted the Israelites to repent. Coincidently, "Teshub" was
also the name of the chief god of the Hittites.) also was murdered, and in his
case it was said to be accusations, that were lodged against him by Hippodameia,
thus manipulating Pelops into committing the crime. This is the method employed
by the Biblical Ahab and Jezebel against Naboth, but Jezebel brought accusations
against, and called for the death of, someone else as well, one who was a bit
more like the Greek Myrtilus, the great prophet Elijah. The greatness of Elijah,
as portrayed in the Jewish literature, is not reflected in the mythological
figure of Myrtilus, but the myth is a biased version of the Scriptural story, as
told presumably, by the sons and followers of Ahab whom, we would not expect to
honor Elijah. Even so, the sons of Pelops had to admit that the 'traitor'
Myrtilus, did have some very Elijah-like attributes. The curse, for instance,
that Myrtilus proclaimed against the house of Pelops, turned out to be a true
prophecy. Myrtilus was acknowledged as a prophet, he was said to be one of 'the
sons of Hermes,' (Hermes, the serpent stick carrying messenger of god, has
elsewhere been identified as the Greek version of Moses, who in turn was
sometimes referred to as 'Nebo,' meaning the 'prophet.'
http://www.britam.org/salverda/io.html ) Similarly Elijah, as many believe,
is supposed to have belonged to an organization that was called, 'the sons of
the prophets,' (2KI 4:1.) .
'And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads
of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of
the gate until the morning.' (2KI 10:8) The Scriptural story about the 'heads'
is almost certainly true, and it must have had a lasting traumatic effect on the
psyche of those followers of Ahab who fled to Greece and told the tale of Pelops,
for this morbid display is attested to in the Greek myths as well. Oenomaus, the
myth relates, cut off the heads of those who dared to contest him in the chariot
chase and lost. These heads he exhibited on the gate of his palace and the story
specifically mentions the regret felt by Pelops upon seeing the 'faces' on
display. (According to Hyginus, Fab. 84, when Pelops saw the heads of the
unsuccessful suitors nailed over the door, he started to regret his impudence.
He therefore appealed to Myrtilus, the charioteer of Oenomaus, promising half of
the kingdom if he would change his affiliation and collaborate with him.) Ahab's
corresponding regret, (appealing to Elijah, just as Pelops had appealed to
Myrtilus) famously portrayed in the Scriptures (1 Kings 21:17-29) as an act of
true repentance, resulted in a postponement of reckoning for his sin which would
be imposed instead upon his sons, the same sons whose heads made up the grisly
exhibition here referred to. It could be argued that Ahab himself did not
actually 'see' the heads, however this argument could be refuted by saying that
Ahab was afforded a 'vision' of the retribution visited upon his sons through
the Prophet ('seer') Elijah.
In the Scriptures, the heads were also displayed because of a lost chariot
chase, in this case it was Jehu (anointed by Elijah 1Kings 19:15,16) who
furiously drove his chariot on behalf of the Almighty to work out His revenge
for the death of Naboth. Jehu overtook his opponent's chariot piercing him
through the heart and that is why the heads were on display. These heads were
indeed the heads of the other suitors for the throne, the sons of Ahab. The
Biblical quote runs thusly; '' And Jehoram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of
Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him
in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. ... And Jehu drew a bow with his full
strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his
heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then said Jehu ' Take up, and cast him
in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for ' Surely I have seen
yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith THE ALMIGHTY;
and I will requite thee in this plat, saith THE ALMIGHTY. Now therefore take and
cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of THE ALMIGHTY. But
when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled ... And Jehu followed after
him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot.' (II Kings 9:21-28) The chariot
killing of Ahaziah the king of Judah and grandson of Ahab even more closely
parallels the killing of the suitors by Oenomaus because, although it is
difficult to piece together the different accounts, (compare 2 Chron. 22 :7-9),
it is apparent that Ahaziah fled and was captured by the men of Jehu, then Jehu
ordered Ahaziah to be placed in his chariot so that he could be killed in it,
then he was granted a head start. Ahaziah was mortally wounded as he fled to
Megiddo, where he died of his wounds, he was buried in Jerusalem. So it was a
kind of chase, as in the Greek myth.
Obviously the men of Ahab (the Achaeans) held Elijah (Myrtilus) in low esteem,
considering him to be a traitor. However Ahab, as was true of all Hittite
rulers,(in accordance with a known Hittite document restricting the absolute
power of Hittite kings, called the "Edict of Telipinus") did not have absolute
power (Jezebel, the daughter of a different kind of King, did not seem to
understand this.). He was required to justify his decisions to the royal clan
(comprised of princes, royal cousins, the priesthood, elders of the state, and
others of prestige). Elijah was highly respected and Ahab could not hate him
openly. When Elijah admonished Ahab, the King had to clearly and visibly display
his repentance, not just out of fear of the curse but also in order to maintain
the loyalty of the clan. Pelops as well is said to have regretted his treatment
of Myrtilus, and after the death of the seer, Pelops is said to have introduced
and enforced the worship of Hermes (the Greek Moses), the supposed father of
Myrtilus, among the Achaeans. Pelops built a few shrines to Hermes, and even
instituted some of the rites and rituals that were advocated by Hermes, such as
maintaining an ark which contained the fleece of the sacrificed golden lamb
(indicating the lamb of god no doubt) the purpose of which was to justify the
Pelopid dynasty (an obvious parallel to the Mosaic Ark of the Covenant,
containing the Messianic promise and justifying the Davidic dynasty). And in
fact, there was a more honorable opinion of Myrtilus that was known to the
ancient Greeks. Pindar, and other early writers, say that it was Poseidon's gift
of the flying chariot that won the race for Pelops, not the treachery of the
seer Myrtilus. Pindar describes how god bestowed on Pelops a chariot with winged
steeds. 'Honoring him, the god gave him a golden chariot, and horses with
untiring wings. He overcame the might of Oenomaus, and took the girl as his
bride.' (Pindar, Olympian 1. 85) On a chest at Olympia the horses of Pelops in
the chariot race were represented with wings (Paus. 5.17.7). The earliest
mention of Myrtilus' treachery is to be found in the writings of Pherecydes in
the 5th century BC. and, at any rate, Myrtilus was respected by many and was not
unanimously despised even by the Achaeans (the men of Ahab).
It may be argued by some that Naboth was not like Oenomaus in that he is not
associated with driving a chariot, and that his death did not involve a chariot
race. True enough, for although the portion of the Scriptures that involves
Ahab, is full of chariotry, and Ahab is portrayed as "contesting" with Naboth
over his vineyard, the particular chapter of Naboth's murder does not involve a
chariot. However, that argument overlooks the fact that the foremost clash, and
overarching theme outlined in that section of the Scriptures is the contest
between the polytheism of Ahab against the Monotheism of Elijah and incidentally
of Naboth, whom Elijah had sided with against Ahab. The climax of this clash was
the contest at mount Carmel which culminated with a very famous chariot race
between Ahab and Elijah (in which Elijah miraculously succeeded although on
foot). A more careful reading of the Greek myth reveals that Oenomaus, the Greek
Naboth was not the driver of his own chariot he was merely riding along, and
that his chariot was actually driven by his charioteer Myrtilus, the Greek
Elijah, 'the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.' Notice that Elijah is
referred to Scripturally as the "horseman of the chariot," not just a rider in
the chariot, but its' horseman. Thus it is not unreasonable to conclude that
Elijah was envisioned in his heavenly translation as not merely being picked up
by it, but rather that he was ensconced in the heavenly chariot as it's
charioteer. "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that,
behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them
both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it,
and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen
thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent
them in two pieces." (2 Kings 2:11,12) Oddly Josephus himself seems to doubt the
story of the heavenly chariot, saying of Elijah only, that no one knows of his
death, "Now at this time it was that Elijah disappeared from among men, and no
one knows of his death to this very day; but he left behind him his disciple
Elisha, as we have formerly declared. And indeed, as to Elijah, and as to Enoch,
who was before the deluge, it is written in the sacred books that they
disappeared, but so that nobody knew that they died." (Antiquities, 9). At any
rate it does seem reasonable for some to blame (or credit as the source my be)
Jezebel, who called for his death and caused his exile, for his "disappearance."
After the chariot/foot race from Mount Carmel of Ahab and Elijah, Jezebel called
for the immediate death of Elijah. Elijah himself prayed for his own death at
that time (never-the-less the Scriptures have Elijah out living Ahab). Likewise
the death of the seer Myrtilus was called for by Hippodameia. In both cases the
last day of the great prophet/seer was spent in a flying chariot supplied by
God/god. However in the myth told by the Achaeans the flying chariot was
supplied to Pelops and it was he who invited the seer to take a ride in it. As
they were flying high in the heavens Pelops killed Myrtilus by Kicking him out.
The prophecies of Myrtilus continued to come true for generations after his
earthly departure. Like Elijah, Myrtilus did not lose consciousness after death,
he even, again like Elijah, came back occasionally to preside over the death of
the cursed dynasty, especially royal chariot deaths, for as some say, that the
ghost of Myrtilus was the 'horse scarer' in the Hippodrome at Olympia. Myrtilus,
also like Elijah, was translated into heaven at his death, where he was placed
in the heavenly chariot which is known to this very day as the constellation
called, 'Auriga,' or as we say, 'the charioteer.' Here perhaps, the Greek myth
has a more 'logical' explanation for the story of Elijah's apotheosis and the
fiery chariot of the Heavenly God.
The Murder of
Stymphalus
Another famous murder committed by the Greek King Pelops, (It's the same story
from a slightly different source, a source that was apparently more favorable to
the monotheistic view of Elijah, who in this version of the story is referred to
as Aeacus.) was the myth about the murder of Stymphalus (This name is perhaps a
derisive parody applied by the Achaeans to the older Arcadian name 'Staphylus,'
which means, 'a bunch of grapes,' and thereby, is plausibly in reference to
Naboth's vineyard.).
The story of the sacrifice and resurrection of Pelops was told in order to
display him as the archetypical King of Kings of the Achaeans. However, there
was a very similar rival religion in the neighboring kingdom of the Arcadians.
To them, it was Arcas, the eponym of their kingdom, who was to be the dynastic
King of Kings. The Arcadians told the same story that the Achaeans told about
the death and revival of Pelops but they applied it to their own hero Arcas.
Lycaon, the grandfather of Arcas, Killed him, cut him into pieces, stewed him in
a cauldron and served him to Zeus, whereupon the god brought Arcas back to life.
This gruesome tale served as the prerequisite for the Arcadian 'messiahship,' in
the same way that the sacrifice, eating of the body, and resurrection of Pelops
was to the Achaeans. The two neighboring rival Kingdoms were contesting with
each other in order to see which of their two very similar religions would be
accepted as the true Pan-Hellenic dynasty. An interesting theological
distinction can be gleaned from the fact that Arcas was sacrificed and served to
only the 'one god,' Zeus. The sacrifice of Pelops, on the other hand, was served
to the 'gods' of Olympus (Elohim). Thus the Arcadian religion was to the Achaean
religion, as the religion of Elijah and Naboth was to the religion of Ahab.
According to Greek mythology, largely composed by the Achaeans themselves,
Pelops and the religious views of his Achaeans superseded the older Arcadian
beliefs. They succeeded in this way; Arcadia, a kingdom that bordered the
Kingdom of Pelops, was ruled over by a descendant of Arcas called Stymphalus.
Pelops decided to take over this adjoining kingdom, but was unable to do so in
neither a forthright manner nor in a fair fight, although he did try (compare 1
Kings 21:1-3). Forestalled, he contrived to take the land in a sneaky and
underhanded way (compare 1 Kings 21:7). Pelops pretended friendship with
Stymphalus and invited him to a banquet in his honor (compare 1 Kings 21:8,9
and10). Once at the banquet Pelops had the gullible King murdered, cut into
pieces and scattered over the land (See 1 Kings 21:12 and 13, compare 2 Kings
9:26 where we are informed that Naboth and his sons were killed, and that the
just retribution for the sons of Ahab was to be killed, dismembered and cast
into Naboth's field.). Zeus was horrified at this most heinous act and
accordingly cursed the now enlarged kingdom of Pelops to a very severe and wide
spread drought (compare 1 Kings 17:1 and 18:2). The drought itself was so great
that it became even more famous than the act that caused it, (thus there were
several other proposed causes for the dearth, but only the prayers of Aeacus
worked against it.) kings all over Greece asked their prophets and oracles what
could be done about it and were told that only the supplications of Aeacus, the
most pious man in Greece, (the son of Zeus and Aegina) could terminate it.
Accordingly the numerous Kings of Greece, representing many varying religious
concerns, came together and agreed to send a petition to the widely known holy
man (compare 1 Kings 18:10 and 11).
The Greek Mount Carmel?
The Greeks even had their own Mount Carmel. 'Complying with their petition, (1
Kings 18:1) Aeacus ascended the Hellenic mountain (Mount Panhellenius), and
stretching out pure hands to heaven he called on the common god, and prayed him
to take pity on afflicted Greece (compare 1 Kings 18:20 and 42 especially the
phrase in verse 20, 'all the children of Israel' with the term 'Panhellenius,'
meaning 'all the Hellens'). And even while he prayed a loud clap of thunder
pealed, and all the surrounding sky was overcast, and furious and continuous
showers of rain burst out and flooded the whole land (compare 1 Kings 18:41 and
45). Thus was exuberant fertility procured for the fruits of the earth by the
prayers of Aeacus' (Clement of Alexandria, Strom. vi.3.28, p. 753). In gratitude
Aeacus built a sanctuary of Zeus on Mount Panhellenius (Paus. 2.30.4) (compare 1
Kings 18:31 and 32). Mount Panhellenius, the highest mountain of Aegina, is a
conspicuous landmark viewed from all the neighboring coasts of the gulf, and in
antiquity a cloud settling on the mountain was regarded as a sign of rain
(Theophrastus, De signis tempestat. i.24) (compare 1 Kings 18:43). It is indeed
remarkable how nicely this Greek myth compares with the Scriptural prototype.
When the time came for Aeacus to die, it is said in his mythology, that he
didn't really die, but instead, with the consent of Zeus, he bypassed death and
was translated directly into the afterlife where he retained his consciousness
and was appointed to be one of the three judges in the land of the dead.
According to Isoc. 9.15, Aeacus enjoyed the greatest honors after death, sitting
as assessor with Pluto and Proserpine. Plato represents him as judging the dead
along with Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Triptolemus (Plat. Apol. 41a), Lucian
depicts Aeacus as a sort of ticket-collector of the dead, examining the new
arrivals from Charon's ferryboat and making sure they had their fare. (See
Lucian, Cataplus 4; Charon 2.) Elsewhere he speaks of Aeacus as keeping the gate
of Hades (Lucian, Dialog. Mort. xx.1). Now, compare these legends of the Greeks
with the 'Legends of the Jews' from Ginzberg; 'In heaven he (Elijah) goes on
living for all time. There he sits recording the deeds of men and the chronicles
of the world. He has another office besides. He is the Psycho pomp, whose duty
is to stand at the cross-ways in Paradise and guide the pious to their appointed
places; who brings the souls of sinners up from Gehenna at the approach of the
Sabbath, and leads them back again to their merited punishment when the day of
rest is about to depart; and who conducts these same souls, after they have
atoned for their sins, to the place of everlasting bliss.'
For those who may wonder why there were two versions of the same story of Ahab's
infamous murder, I offer this speculation. The Achaeans had their version of the
story which was heavily tainted with the Hittite tradition of chariotry, while
the Arcadians, not so Hittite in their traditions, told a story that followed
more closely the Israelite point of view. It is the treatment, of each their own
version of the character of the prophet Elijah, that gives away the two
differing perspectives. The Achaeans give Elijah a Hittite character, with a
Hittite name, "Myrtilus," and making him out to be a charioteer (this is not
completely foreign to the Scriptural Elijah the "Tishbite" the "chariot of
Israel, and the horsemen thereof.') On the other hand, the Arcadians seem to
know much more about the deeds of Elijah, especially the tale of his going to
the mountain where he offers prayers to lift the drought. Rather than the
Achaean "traitor" Myrtilus, the Arcadians make Elijah to be Aeacus, the most
pious man in the nation. To them Aeacus was considered to be the descendant of
Asopus through Aigina (Jacob through Dinah see http://www.britam.org/salverda/sisyphus.html).
The Arcadians seem to be much more influenced by the Corinthian (Shechemite)
school of Greek mythology who considered Sisyphus (Joseph) to be their great
patriarch. Each version of the story had it's own kernel of truth to it, and
neither could be completely dismissed, so the mythographers took the, originally
two versions of the same tale, and made the Arcadian one subsequent to the
Achaean. This solution to differing versions of the same tale, was often used in
Greek mythography and many other examples could be cited.
Conclusions
The Greeks told the story of an unscrupulous King and his conniving Queen, who
increased his realm by the underhanded murder of his neighbor, the treachery of
the Queen herself who manipulated the murder. A deceitful banquet was arranged,
the body of a victim, who rightfully owned the coveted property, was chopped up
and strewn across the land. A murder so heinous that it brought down a curse by
god, not only upon him but also his descendants and even the nation itself was
blighted. A great prophet was sent to deliver the curse. The story included a
famous and miraculous chariot race, dissevered heads that were displayed at a
gate, and the king had a famous episode of regret for his deeds. The drought was
very severe, and the most pious man in the nation, although reluctant and hard
to find, was searched out and beseeched to pray to the chief god for rain. The
divinely favored man went to a mutually located mountain where he prayed for god
to alleviate the drought and his prayers were granted. There was an episode
involving a divinely provided flying chariot where the great prophet was killed.
But he didn't really die, he was translated into the heavens where he can be
seen driving the heavenly chariot known today as the constellation called Auriga
(the charioteer). The man of great piety is said, instead of unconscious death,
to continue as the gate keeper and judge in the land of the dead. Now where did
the Greeks get such a story, if not from the Israelite story of King Ahab? The
Greeks are in debt for the so called "myth" of King Pelops, almost certainly, to
the well known Scriptural story of the infamous Israelite King Ahab. And this is
without a doubt due to a strong cultural connection between Israel and Greece in
the 9th century BC.
--
-John R. Salverda
For more articles by John R. Salverda on the Hebraic
Connections of Greek Mythology, see:
"Helleno-Yishurin. The Hebrew Origin of Greek Legends"
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