DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9840#0192
VII.] NAMES OF DEITIES BORNE BY MORTALS.
141
The custom of bestowing on mortal children names
of the inhabitants of heaven, though not practised in
the most ancient times, is still of considerable antiquity ;
and both inscriptions and passages of ancient authors,
record many names of deities, which were thus bestowed
on the sons and daughters of men. We have just seen,
in the inscription of the grotto, the name of such a
mortal wife Artemis: Kalliope is also found107, as well
as Pallas, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Bacchus, in other
Greek inscriptions108, and among the ancient Romans the
usage was still more generally prevalent109. It seems
that the spread of Christianity so gently interfered with
this Pagan practice, that words, derived from the old
religion of the country, may still be hourly heard in the
mouth of any Christian peasant of Greece or Turkey,
even in the nineteenth century of our era.
Nevertheless, here, as in most parts of Christendom,
the names of the favourite saints are those generally
bestowed in baptism110: thus a Demetrios and a Con-
stantine, a Spyridon and a Basil, are found in every
village111. The inferior deities of the ancient mythology
107 Boeckh, Corpus Inscr. n. 251.
108 Welcker, Syllog. Epigr. Graec. n. 76. 87- 120.
109 As is observed by Welcker, 1. c. p. 166.
110 The inhabitants of the young Otho's kingdom, who have given them-
selves the name of Hellenes, have, at all events in the large towns, introduced
great innovations into the baptismal vocabulary. The petty shopkeeper of
Syra or Nauplia, himself a Yannaki or a Dhemetraki, has lately heard so
much talk about the ancient Hellenes, whose name "the nation" has as-
sumed, that he has taken care to number among his children an Achilles or a
Demosthenes !
111 The derivation of Greek names, of a Christian origin, can sometimes
be traced to a higher source than the Saints. Derivatives from the name of
Christ, as Khristddhulos, are common. The ancients also had many names
derived, but without composition, from those of Deities, as from Demeter,
Demetrios; from Poseidon, Poseidonios ; from Hephaestos, Hephaestion, &c.
See Baetheiemy, Voyage du Jeune Anacharse, c. lxvi. and Welcker,
1. c. p. 166. The simple name of "Christ," Khristds, is also borne by many
families in Northern Greece. Its diminutive is Kitso, which may be com-
pared to the Kit obtained, in English, from Christopher. The French have
even "Dieu" as a surname, and the Italian baptismal appellation, " Spi-
ritello," may perhaps have been derived from the third person of the Trinity.
Sophia,
141
The custom of bestowing on mortal children names
of the inhabitants of heaven, though not practised in
the most ancient times, is still of considerable antiquity ;
and both inscriptions and passages of ancient authors,
record many names of deities, which were thus bestowed
on the sons and daughters of men. We have just seen,
in the inscription of the grotto, the name of such a
mortal wife Artemis: Kalliope is also found107, as well
as Pallas, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Bacchus, in other
Greek inscriptions108, and among the ancient Romans the
usage was still more generally prevalent109. It seems
that the spread of Christianity so gently interfered with
this Pagan practice, that words, derived from the old
religion of the country, may still be hourly heard in the
mouth of any Christian peasant of Greece or Turkey,
even in the nineteenth century of our era.
Nevertheless, here, as in most parts of Christendom,
the names of the favourite saints are those generally
bestowed in baptism110: thus a Demetrios and a Con-
stantine, a Spyridon and a Basil, are found in every
village111. The inferior deities of the ancient mythology
107 Boeckh, Corpus Inscr. n. 251.
108 Welcker, Syllog. Epigr. Graec. n. 76. 87- 120.
109 As is observed by Welcker, 1. c. p. 166.
110 The inhabitants of the young Otho's kingdom, who have given them-
selves the name of Hellenes, have, at all events in the large towns, introduced
great innovations into the baptismal vocabulary. The petty shopkeeper of
Syra or Nauplia, himself a Yannaki or a Dhemetraki, has lately heard so
much talk about the ancient Hellenes, whose name "the nation" has as-
sumed, that he has taken care to number among his children an Achilles or a
Demosthenes !
111 The derivation of Greek names, of a Christian origin, can sometimes
be traced to a higher source than the Saints. Derivatives from the name of
Christ, as Khristddhulos, are common. The ancients also had many names
derived, but without composition, from those of Deities, as from Demeter,
Demetrios; from Poseidon, Poseidonios ; from Hephaestos, Hephaestion, &c.
See Baetheiemy, Voyage du Jeune Anacharse, c. lxvi. and Welcker,
1. c. p. 166. The simple name of "Christ," Khristds, is also borne by many
families in Northern Greece. Its diminutive is Kitso, which may be com-
pared to the Kit obtained, in English, from Christopher. The French have
even "Dieu" as a surname, and the Italian baptismal appellation, " Spi-
ritello," may perhaps have been derived from the third person of the Trinity.
Sophia,