20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

Comparison of characters and motivesin Mongol and Greek mythsSendenjav DulamNational University of MongoliaA long distance lies between Mongolia and Greece, but there are somesimilarities in their literature and mythological thinking. Researchersdiscovered that there are words with Greek origin in Mongol vocabulary.For example, words such as “nomos” (Greek), “nwm” (Sogd), “nom”(Mongolian) and “diάdhμa” (Greek), “dydm” (Sogd), “titim” (Mongolian)borrowed via Sogd language (Sukhbaatar 1997: 148, 182). Accordingto our observation there are some similarities in the meaning of theGreek word “Chaos” and Mongolian word “Xoγos-un” (xo’os-un), bothsignifying emptiness and disorder and in the beginning of the universe. Theword “Χāος“ in the Greek vocabulary means ’emptiness’ and accordingto Hesiod’s “Theogony” myth of Geya, Tartar and Eros are composingelements of the universe (Myphy Narodov Mira, II, 1982: 579). Accordingto the recent works of western scholars study, Greek mythology “Chaos”means emptiness or disorder before the creation of the universe. Thisemptiness gave a birth to Darkness – Erebe (Ερεвος) and his sister Night –Nyx (Νύξ-Nyx) and they, in turn, begot Day – Hemera (Ήμέρα) and Light– Aepher (Αcθήρ)(Grimal 1986: 88).Meanwhile, the word “Xoγosun” (xo’os-un) in the Mongolianvocabulary has various mythological and philosophical contents. One of thefirst scholars studied the relationship of Mongol and Greek mythology wasW. Heissig, German professor of Mongolian studies. In his address titled“Ancient Greek influences on Mongol narrative motifs” dedicated to 5 thInternational Conference of Mongolian studies, he noted that “Geser fightsa giant monster and blinded his single eye; fifty versions of Polyphemmotiveappear alone in the printed Peking-version of 1716 and its editions”