On Deification: Euhemerus’ Work and His Theological Theory

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 42 Sayı: 73, 1 - 21, 31.03.2023

Sultan Deniz Küçüker

https://doi.org/10.35239/tariharastirmalari.1252215

Öz

Ancient Greek writer Euhemerus lived at the court of Macedonian king Cassander about 300 BC and wrote a fictitious novel called the Sacred Scripture (Hiera Anagraphē) which we know thanks to the writings of later authors. In that novel, he claimed to have travelled to Panchaea, an island beyond Arabia in the Indian Ocean and described the way of life of the Panchaian society. In his narrative, based on the inscriptions he observed on a golden stele at the island’s main temple, Euhemerus stated that Olympian gods were prominent men and kings deified by their subjects in retun (in gratitude) for the benefits they recieved from their rulers and this narrative has been the source of euhemerism, a theory which claims that mythical stories are based on real people or events. In this study, the work of Euhemerus will be briefly discussed and the theological view put forward by the author will be evaluated in a historical context.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Euhemerus, euhemerism, theology, deification / apotheosis, euergetism

Tanrılaştırma Üzerine: Euhemeros’un Eseri ve Teolojik Görüşü

Öz

Hellenistik Dönem yazarlarından Euhemeros (İÖ c. 340–260), Makedonya Kralı Kassandros’un edebi koruması altında bulunmuş ve günümüze dolaylı aktarımları ulaşmış olan Hiera Anagraphē (Ἱερὰ Ἀναγραφή) adlı kurgu bir eser ortaya koymuştur. Bu eserinde Euhemeros, Hint Okyanusu üzerinde bulunduğunu iddia ettiği Pankhaia Adası’na yolculuğunu ve burada gördüklerini konu etmiştir. Anlatısı içinde, adanın en önemli tapınağında bulunan altın bir stel üzerindeki yazıtlara dayanarak mitolojik tanrıların vaktiyle dünya üzerinde hüküm sürmüş gerçek kişiler olduklarına değinmiş ve onun bu yazdıkları, euhemerizm olarak adlandırılan, mitolojik anlatıların gerçek kişi ya da olaylar üzerine kurulduğu yönündeki teoriye kaynak olmuştur. Bu çalışmada, Euhemeros’un eserine özetle değinilecek ve yazarın ortaya sürdüğü teolojik görüşün tarihi bağlamda kısa bir değerlendirmesi yapılacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Euhemeros, euhemerizm, teoloji, tanrılaştırma, euergetizm

Kaynakça

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