Celtic Mythology and the Cronides

 

Cuchulainn carries Ferdiad across the river

Celtic Mythology is complex because there are different versions of it based on which Celt you are referring to.  There are Gauls, Irish Gaelic, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Celtic-Iberian gods and goddesses.  Each group has their own names and differences, but most are really the same in each Celtic culture to another Celtic culture.  For purposes of Celtic Mythology analysis, I will probably stick mostly with the Irish Gaelic mythology.

The Irish goddesses were often shown with spirals and triple moon symbolism (a symbol of the Greek Goddess Hecate). There are a few books regarding Irish mythology but they have been corrupted with Christian theosophy and so careful analysis must be made when using sources such as The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology and The Book of Kells.

The Dagda is the "all father" god of the Celts and his description appears to match that of Zeus; however, there are many variations in his story that must be examined.  In the next several blog articles, I will attempt to show that many of the Celtic gods are the same as the Greek Gods which are the Cronides.  I am not the only one who has noted this similarity between Celtic and Greek-Roman mythology.  Julius Caesar also noted it and wrote about it.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_mythology

Dagda is Zeus and The Irish Cycles

 

The Dagda

In the Irish book, The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology, the five migrations to Ireland are discussed.  It is also stated that Dagda is Zeus:

In Ireland, the Tuatha De Danann, together with Partholon and Nemed, who on some points are the counterparts of the Tuatha De Danaan, have as their rivals the Fomorians.  Dagda (Dago-devo-s, "Good God"), king of the Tuatha De Danaan is the Zeus, or Ormazd of Irish mythology; the Tuatha De Danaan, or "folk of the god (devi), (son) of Dana," are none other than the Deva of India, the gods of Day, the Light, and of Life.  The Fomore, or Fomorians, who are the adversaries of the Tuatha De Danann, represent in Ireland a mythical group corresponding to the Indian Asura, and the Greek Titans; their chief Bress, Balar, or Tethra, is sprung from a mythical conception, originally identical with that which produced the Greek Kronos, the Iranian Ahriman, the Vedic Yama, King of the Dead, Father of the Gods; Tvashtri, God the Father in the Vedas, and the Vedic Varuna, old Supreme God supplanted by Indra.

(H. D'Arbois De Jubainville and Richard Irvine Best, The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology, page 9).

Tethra, chief of he Fomorians, overcome in the battle of Mag Tured (Moytura), becomes King of the Dead in the mysterious region they inhabit across the water (1).  So also the Greek Kronos, overcome in the battle between Zeus and the Titans, reigns in the distant Isles of the All-Mighty or the Isles of the Blest, over the dead heroes who fought at Thebes and Troy.

(H. D'Arbois De Jubainville and Richard Irvine Best, The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology, page 9).


So you can see here that the Celtic Dagda has been named as the equivalent of Zeus and the leader of Tuatha De Danann.  The cycles consist of five migratory invasions into Ireland.  They include
the Mythological cycle that includes the race of Partholon and the subsequent  Fomorian invasion and the Tuatha De Danann invasion , the Ulster cycle, the Fenian Cycle and the Cycles of the Kings.

The Fomorians were said to be giants.  They battled with the Tuatha De Danaan and lost.  The name Tuatha De Danaan comes from the goddess Dana.  Dana is sometimes associated with Brigid who was a daughter of Dagda and would be the equivalent of the Greek Athena.  She was married to Bress, the King of the Fomorians and had 3 sons.  This is different from the Greek Athena who was said to remain as a Virgin goddess, but it is possible that her life changed as time went on and Greek mythology remembers her before her marriage.

The name Tuatha De Danann means "folk of the god whose mother is called Dana," genitive Danann or Donand.  Dana, nominative Donand in Middle-Irish is elsewhere called Brigit; she is the mother of the three gods who are known sometimes as Brian, Iuchar, and Uar, at other times as Brian, Iucharba, and Iuchair.  These three mythical beings are the gods of art and literature - dei dana, or the gods, sons of the goddess Dana, dee Donand.

(H. D'Arbois De Jubainville and Richard Irvine Best, The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology, page 81-82).


The Tuatha De Danaan battled and won against the Fomorians and Fir Bolgs in the Battle of Mag-Tured.  It was won thanks to the help of the smith gods that included Goibniu who made the Tuatha De Danaan fresh and strong weapons.  Goibniu would be the equivalent of the Greek Hephaestus.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dagda

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Celtic_deities

The Children of Dagda

The Dagda had many children. It is not easy to determine all of their counterparts in Greek mythology because the Greek Zeus had over 150 children.  But there are some obvious examples.

Here is my analysis of the counterparts:

Dagda - Zeus

Brigid - Greek Athena

Aengus -unknown at this time.

Cermait - Greek Dionysus

Bodb Derg (successor) - unknown at this time.

Midir - unknown at this time.


I would equate the following Irish Gaelic Gods/Goddesses with the Greek Gods/Goddesses as follows:

Dian Cecht - God of Medicine - Greek Apollo or Hermes

Goibniu - God of the Smiths - Greek Hephaestus

Lir - God of the sea - Greek Poseidon

Lugh - Warrior God  - Greek Apollo

Elatha - Father of Dagda - Greek Cronus


As I am able to find more Celtic literature, I will be able to determine the rest of the equivalents.

The Celtic Ulster Cycle

 

"Cuchulain Slays the Hound of Culain", illustration by Stephen Reid from Eleanor Hull's The Boys' Cuchulain, 1904.

The Ulster Cycle (also known as the Red Branch Cycle) is the 2nd of the four great cycles of Irish Celtic history.  It revolves around the heroes of the Ulaid which is now part of Easter Ulster and northern Leinster in Ireland and is said to have occurred around the 1st century AD.

The stories are set around the reign of King Conchobar mac Nessa, who rules Ulaid from Emain Macha.  The most talked about hero is the nephew of King Conchobar, Cu Chulainn who is also known as Cúchulainn.  The people of Ulaid are in conflict with the people of Connachta which are lead by their Queen Medb and her husband Ailill.


The parentage of Cuchulainn is rather strange.  It is said that he is the son of the long gone god Lug (Greek Apollo) who appears to him in a vision later in life when he is injured.  Per wikipedia (and also described in Celtic mythology):

There are a number of versions of the story of Cú Chulainn's birth. In the earliest version of Compert C(h)on Culainn ("The Conception of Cú Chulainn"), his mother Deichtine is the daughter and charioteer of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, and accompanies him as he and the nobles of Ulster hunt a flock of magical birds. Snow falls, and the Ulstermen seek shelter, finding a house where they are made welcome. Their host's wife goes into labour, and Deichtine assists at the birth of a baby boy. A mare gives birth to two colts at the same time. The next morning, the Ulstermen find themselves at the Brug na Bóinde (the Neolithic mound at Newgrange)—the house and its occupants have disappeared, but the child and the colts remain. Deichtine takes the boy home and raises him to early childhood, but he falls sick and dies. The god Lug appears to her and tells her he was their host that night, and that he has put his child in her womb, who is to be called Sétanta. Her pregnancy is a scandal as she is betrothed to Sualtam mac Róich, and the Ulstermen suspect Conchobar of being the father, so she aborts the child and goes to her husband's bed "virgin-whole". She then conceives a son whom she names Sétanta.^[9]

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Cycle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%BA_Chulainn

The Celtic Fenian Cycle

 

Fionn mac Cumhaill, illustration by Stephen Reid.

The Fenian cycle describes the exploits of the hero giant named Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his warriors from Fianna.  It is the 3rd Cycle of the four major Irish Cycles.  Fionn is famous for his outwitting of another giant by pretending to be his own baby.

The Fianna were a coalition of clans, for the protection of the kingdom, brought together by Cormac mac Art.   A man named Cumhal leads the clan.  He is killed and the treasure of the clan is stolen after the Battle of Knock.  Cumhal's wife, Muirne escapes and has a son named Demna who is later renamed Fionn because of his fair hair.  When he is grown he takes revenge on those who killed his father and recovers the clan's treasure bag and becomes a clan leader.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenian_Cycle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fionn_mac_Cumhaill

The Celtic Historical Cycle or Cycle of Kings

 

The "Mound of the Hostages"

The Historical Cycle is the time period of the legendary High Kings of Tara.  Their history was preserved by the Bards.  It covers the time period from Labraid Loingsech (around 431 BC) to the historical Brian Boru.


by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com and www.hiddenhumanstory.com)


Links:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Cycle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingship_of_Tara

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_of_Tara