AN EXAMPLE OF UNNEEDED LEGITIMIZATION TRADITION IN ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN REGION: EXPOSE TO WATER

Year 2021, , 193 - 216, 30.06.2021

Murat Turgut , Yeşim Dilek

https://doi.org/10.46931/aran.2021.15.1.8

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Many ancient civilizations glorified their kings, divine beings and heroes. In order to make them unreachable, ancient societies first of all separated the lives of these personas into two parts and created a turning point for them, and especially the first part of their lives was detailed with extraordinary events to make them the main theme of some mythological stories. The plot of these stories generally was related to the theme of the abandonment of a new-born or sometimes an adult to water in any object like basket, crate or closed box, and eventually his reaching to a vital position for society.

The generally accepted view in the literature is that rulers, especially those who were not legitimately entitled, manipulated such mythological stories to legitimize their dominance in the public eye. Moreover, as far as it is concerned that divine characters and some heroes were legitimized in this way.

Contrary to the generally accepted judgment, it is confirmed that the majority of the abandoned children had already had opportunities to come to the fore. The mounted arguments of this study have mostly been based on the antique sources, and it is aimed to reveal the fact that the individuals who were left on water in arks had already been prospective legitimate people on the domains of administration or religion.

Keywords

Abandonment, Prospective Personas, Legitimacy, Administration, Deification

AN EXAMPLE OF UNNEEDED LEGITIMIZATION TRADITION IN ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN REGION: EXPOSE TO WATER

Abstract

Eskiçağ’daki birçok medeniyet krallarını, tanrısal varlıklarını ve kahramanlarını yüceltmişlerdir. Onların, ulaşılamaz bir konuma gelebilmesi için, özellikle yaşamlarının ilk bölümünü, olağanüstü olaylarla süsleyerek mitolojik hikayelerinin konusu yapmışlardır. Genel olarak bu hikayelerin konusu yeni doğan çocuğun veya bazen yetişkinlerin sepet, sandık veya bir kutu içerisinde suya veya suyla ilişkili yerlere terk edilmeleri ve sonunda da toplum için çok önemli bir konuma ulaşmaları ile ilişkili olmuştur.

Genel olarak kabul edilen görüş meşru olarak yönetme yetkisi olmayan yöneticilerin halkın gözündeki üstün konumlarını meşrulaştırmak için bu tür mitolojik hikayeleri kullanmaları olmuştur. Tanrısal varlıklar ve kahramanların da bu yolla meşrulaştırıldıkları da düşünülmüştür.

Literatürde genel olarak kabul edilen düşüncenin aksine suya terk edilmiş çocukların zaten ön plana çıkması güçlü ihtimal olan çocuklar olduğu görülmüştür. Bu çalışmada çeşitli sebeplerden dolayı su veya suyla ilişkili yerlere terk edilen çocukların büyük çoğunluğunun zaten meşru kişiler oldukları antikçağ yazarlarının verdikleri bilgiler ışığında ortaya çıkarılması amaçlanmıştır.

Keywords

Bırakma, Kutsanmış kişilikler, Meşrulaştırma, Yasallaştırma, Yönetim, İlahlaştırma.

References

• Apol. Apollodorus. The Library. Translate: James George Frazer. London – New York, 1921.
• Arnob. Arnobius. The Seven Books of Arnobius Adversus Gentes. Translate: Archd Hamilton Bryce – Hugh Campbell, Edinburg 1871.
• Catul. Gaius Valerius Catullus. The Poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus. Translate: Charles Stuttaford, London: Chiswick Press, 1912.
• Diod. Diodorus. Diodorus of Sicily. In Twelve Volumes II, English Translation by: C. H. Oldfather, London - Massachusetts: Harward University Press, 1967.
• Julian the Apostate. Julian the Emperor. Containing Gregory Nazianzen’s Two Invectives and Libanius Monody London: George Bell and Sons, 1988.
• Livius. Titus Livius, The History of Rome. Translate: Canon Roberts, London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1905.
• Mahabbarata. The Mahabbarata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa. Translated into English Prose from the Original Sanskrit Text by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, XII. 2003.
• Exodus. Old Testament. The King James Version of the Holy Bible, 2004.
• Fasti. Publius Ovidius Naso, Ovid’s Fasti. Translate: James George Frazer, London – Massachusetts: Harward University Press, 1959.
• Meta. Publius Ovidius Naso, Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Translate: A. S. Kline, 2000.
• Paus. Pausanias, Description of Greece. Translete: W. H. S. Jones, London – New York: 1918.
• Plut. Fab. Plutarch, “Fabius”. Plutarch’s Lives. with an English Translation by: Bernadotte Perrin, Great Britain: The Windmill Press, 1932: pp. 11 – 197.
• Plut. Isis. Plutarch, “Isis and Osiris”, Plutarch Moralia. vol: V, with an English Translation by: Frank Cole Babbitt, London: Harward University Press, 2003.
• Plut. Pyrr. Plutarch, “Pyrrhus”, Plutarch’s Lives. Translate: Bernadotte Perrin, London: Harward University Press, 1932: pp. 1 – 47.
• Plut. Romul. Plutarch, “Romulus”, Plutarch’s Lives. Translate: Bernadotte Perrin, London – New York: 1914: pp. 89 – 187.
• Shah. The Shahname of Firdausi. vol. V, Done into English by Arthur George, M. A. and Edmond Warner, London: Trubner’s Oriental Series.
• Strab. Strabon, Geographica. Translate: Adnan Pekman, İstanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları, 2009.
• Brulé, Pierre. “L'exposition Des Enfants En Grèce Antique : Une Form D'infanticide” Enfances & Psy. 3, 2009: pp. 19 – 28.
• Eliade, Mircea. Mitlerin Özellikleri. Translate: Sema Rifat, İstanbul: Om Yayınevi, 2001.
• Eliade, Mircea. Dinler Tarihine Giriş. Translate: Lale Arslan, İstanbul: Kabalcı Yayınevi, 2003.
• Eliade, Mircea. Demirciler ve Simyacılar. Translate: Mehmet Emin Özcan, İstanbul: Kabalcı Yayınevi, 2003.
• Eliade, Mircea. Rites and Symbols of Initation the Mysteries of Birth and Rebirth. New York: Harper Colophon Books, 1958.
• Erdemir, Hatice Palaz and Erdemir, Halil. “Antikçağ’da Çocuk Olmak: Ölmek ya da Ölmemek”, The Symposium of Violence against Women and Children Proceedings Book. 2012: pp. 643 – 659.
• Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough I. A Study Comparative Religion. New York and London: Macmillan and Co, 1894.
• Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough II. A Study Comparative Religion. New York and London: Macmillan and Co, 1894.
• Frazer, James George. Man, God and Immortality Thoughts on Human Progress. London: Macmillen and Co, 1927.
• Freud, Sigmund. Moses and Monotheism. Translated from the German By Katherine Jones, Hertfordshire: Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho – Analysis, 1939.
• Harris, W. V. “Child-Exposure in the Roman Empire”, The Journal of Roman Studies, 84, 1994: pp. 1 – 22.
• Hook, La Rue van. “The Exposure of Infants at Athens”, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 51, 1920: pp. 134-145.
• Lévy-Bruhl, Lucien. İlkel Toplumlarda Mistik Deneyim ve Simgeler. Translate: Oğuz Adanır, İstanbul: Doğu Batı Yayınları, 2006.
• Pedrucci, Giulia. “Breastfeeding Animals and Other Wild “Nurses” in Greek and Roman Mythology”, Gerión, 34, 2016: pp. 307 – 323.
• Otten, Heinrich. Eine Althethitische Erzählung um die Stadt Zalpa. Otto Harrassowitz Wiesbaden: Studien zu den Boğazköy – Texten, 1973.
• Konijnenberg, Marlies. Infanticide and the Social Status of Children As Reflected in Child Burials, Unpublished BA Thesis, 2014.
• Pritchard, J. B. The Ancient Near East. I - An Anthology Of Texts And Pictures. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1958.
• Philips, F. Carter. “Greek Myths and the Uses of Myths”. The Classical Journal. LXXIV/2, 1979: 155 – 166.
• Rank, Otto. The Myth of the Birth of the Hero A Psychological Interpretation of Mythology. New York: The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease Publishing Company, 1914.
• Redford, Donald B. “The Literary Motif of the Exposed Child (Cf. Ex. ii 1 – 10)”. Numen, XIV/3, 1967: 209 – 228.
• Westenholz, Joan Goodnick. Legends of the Kings of Akkade: The Texts. Eisenbrauns Publications, 1997.