DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4679#0117
3. MOTHER LETO. 91
the Greek name Artemisx. A Messapian inscription has the expres-
sion Artemis-Leto, where Deecke errs in separating the names by
a comma (Eh. Mus. 1887 p. 232).
In this enumeration we observe that the traces of the name Leto
point to the south coast and an influence radiating from it, coming
probably from Cyprus through Perga, The Leto of this district is
ultimately the same as the Cybele of northern and eastern Phrygia;
and she is accompanied by the male deity, her son, Savazos—Sabazios
—Sozon (Ch. VIII) or Lairbenos, as Cybele is by Attes or Atys. The
two pairs probably sprang from the same origin; and after travelling
along different roads, they met in Ephesos and in the Lydian Katake-
kaumene. My friend Prof. Kobertson Smith's suggestion that Lato
is the old Semitic Al-lat ('AXiXdr in Herod. I '131, HI 8) agrees well
with the geographical facts; and the name Lato would then be due
to Semitic influence exerted on Asia Minor2.
§ 4. Leto and Koea. Further, in the list which has just been
given, we observe that Leto is identified with Artemis; the mother
and the daughter are only two slightly differentiated forms of the
ultimate divine personality in its feminine aspect. The daughter is
the mother reappearing in the continuity of life; the child replaces
the parent, different and yet the same. Leto, the Mother, and Kora,
the Maiden, are the divine prototypes of earthly life; the divine
nature is as complex as humanity, and contains in itself all the
elements which appear in our earthly life. But how does Kora
originate % There must be in the ultimate divine nature the male
element as well as the female, 6 Geo? as well as 77 Qeos. From the
union of the two originates the daughter-goddess. But even this is
not sufficient: the son also is needed, and he is the offspring of the
daughter-goddess and her father. The story of the life of these
divine personages formed the ritual of the Phrygian religion. In
the mysteries, the story was acted before the worshippers by the
officials, who played the parts of the various characters in the divine
1 In publishing this inscription (BCH suggestion seems preferable. Leda is,
'883 p. 263), I did not observe that this doubtless, the Lycian lada. Al-lat or
goddess of Perga, Leto, must be the Al-ilat is usually explained as Al-Ilahat,
same as the Artemis of Perga. Treuber 'the Goddess,' as Allah is for Al-Ilah,
takes the same incorrect sense as I did : ' the God.' Professor Sayce, however,
G-esch. d. Lyhier p. 76. makes Alilat the feminine of helel ' the
2 I had thought of connecting Leto shining one' (on Herod. I 131); though
with the Lycian lada, 'woman,' under- acknowledging that there are difficul-
standing Leto Meter as ' the proto- ties in this derivation, he thinks there
"woman, the mother'; but Prof. Smith's are more serious difficulties in the other.
the Greek name Artemisx. A Messapian inscription has the expres-
sion Artemis-Leto, where Deecke errs in separating the names by
a comma (Eh. Mus. 1887 p. 232).
In this enumeration we observe that the traces of the name Leto
point to the south coast and an influence radiating from it, coming
probably from Cyprus through Perga, The Leto of this district is
ultimately the same as the Cybele of northern and eastern Phrygia;
and she is accompanied by the male deity, her son, Savazos—Sabazios
—Sozon (Ch. VIII) or Lairbenos, as Cybele is by Attes or Atys. The
two pairs probably sprang from the same origin; and after travelling
along different roads, they met in Ephesos and in the Lydian Katake-
kaumene. My friend Prof. Kobertson Smith's suggestion that Lato
is the old Semitic Al-lat ('AXiXdr in Herod. I '131, HI 8) agrees well
with the geographical facts; and the name Lato would then be due
to Semitic influence exerted on Asia Minor2.
§ 4. Leto and Koea. Further, in the list which has just been
given, we observe that Leto is identified with Artemis; the mother
and the daughter are only two slightly differentiated forms of the
ultimate divine personality in its feminine aspect. The daughter is
the mother reappearing in the continuity of life; the child replaces
the parent, different and yet the same. Leto, the Mother, and Kora,
the Maiden, are the divine prototypes of earthly life; the divine
nature is as complex as humanity, and contains in itself all the
elements which appear in our earthly life. But how does Kora
originate % There must be in the ultimate divine nature the male
element as well as the female, 6 Geo? as well as 77 Qeos. From the
union of the two originates the daughter-goddess. But even this is
not sufficient: the son also is needed, and he is the offspring of the
daughter-goddess and her father. The story of the life of these
divine personages formed the ritual of the Phrygian religion. In
the mysteries, the story was acted before the worshippers by the
officials, who played the parts of the various characters in the divine
1 In publishing this inscription (BCH suggestion seems preferable. Leda is,
'883 p. 263), I did not observe that this doubtless, the Lycian lada. Al-lat or
goddess of Perga, Leto, must be the Al-ilat is usually explained as Al-Ilahat,
same as the Artemis of Perga. Treuber 'the Goddess,' as Allah is for Al-Ilah,
takes the same incorrect sense as I did : ' the God.' Professor Sayce, however,
G-esch. d. Lyhier p. 76. makes Alilat the feminine of helel ' the
2 I had thought of connecting Leto shining one' (on Herod. I 131); though
with the Lycian lada, 'woman,' under- acknowledging that there are difficul-
standing Leto Meter as ' the proto- ties in this derivation, he thinks there
"woman, the mother'; but Prof. Smith's are more serious difficulties in the other.