The trifunctional hypothesis of prehistoric
Proto-Indo-European society postulates a tripartite ideology ("idéologie tripartite") reflected in the existence of three classes or castes—
priests,
warriors, and
commoners (farmers or tradesmen)—corresponding to the three functions of the
sacral, the
martial and the
economic, respectively. The trifunctional thesis is primarily associated with the
FrenchmythographerGeorges Dumézil,[1] who proposed it in 1929 in the book Flamen-Brahman,[2] and later in Mitra-Varuna.[3]
In the
Proto-Indo-European mythology, each
social group had its own
god or family of gods to represent it and the function of the god or gods matched the function of the group. Many such divisions occur in the history of Indo-European societies:
Early Germanic society: the supposed division between the
king,
nobility and regular freemen in early
Germanic society.[5]
Norse mythology:
Odin (sovereignty),
Týr (law and justice), the
Vanir (fertility).[6][7][note 1] Odin has been interpreted as a death-god[9] and connected to cremations,[10] and has also been associated with ecstatic practices.[11][10]
Classical Greece: the three divisions of the ideal society as described by
Socrates in
Plato's The Republic. Bernard Sergent examined the trifunctional hypothesis in Greek
epic,
lyric and
dramatic poetry.[12]
India: the three Hindu castes, the
Brahmins or priests; the
Kshatriya, the warriors and military; and the
Vaishya, the agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders. The
Shudra, a fourth Indian caste, is a peasant or serf. Researchers believe that Indo-European-speakers entered India in the
Late Bronze Age, mixed with local
Indus Valley civilisation populations and may have established a caste system, with themselves primarily in higher castes.[13][14]
On the other hand,
Nicholas Allen concludes that the tripartite division may be an artefact and a
selection effect, rather than an organising principle that was used in the societies themselves.[17]Benjamin W. Fortson reports a sense that Dumézil blurred the lines between the three functions and the examples that he gave often had contradictory characteristics,[18] which had caused his detractors to reject his categories as nonexistent.[19] John Brough surmises that societal divisions are common outside Indo-European societies as well and so the hypothesis has only limited utility in illuminating prehistoric Indo-European society.[20] Cristiano Grottanelli states that while Dumézilian trifunctionalism may be seen in modern and medieval contexts, its projection onto earlier cultures is mistaken.[21] Belier is strongly critical.[22]
^Terje Leiren discerns another grouping of three Norse gods that may correspond to the trifunctional division:
Odin as the patron of priests and magicians,
Thor of warriors, and
Freyr of fertility and farming.[8]
References
^According to Jean Boissel, the first description of Indo-European trifunctionalism was by Gobineau, not by Dumézil. (
Lincoln, 1999, p. 268, cited below).
^
abDumézil, G. (1929). Flamen-Brahman. There has been scholarship in applying Dumézilian trifunctionalism to Pre-Columbian Yucatán Mayan societies in: Lincoln, Charles E., (1990) Ethnicity and Social Organization at Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. (PhD. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University) Advisors Mathews, Peter, and Gordon R. Willey; Lincoln, Charles E. (1986.) "The Chronology of Chichen Itza: A Review of the Literature." Pages 141–156 in Late Lowland Maya Civilization: Classic to Postclassic, edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff and E. Wyllys Andrews V. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
^
abDumézil, G. (1940). Mitra-Varuna, Presses universitaires de France.
^Bernard Sergent, Les Indo-Européens. Histoire, langues, mythes. Payot, Paris 1995.
ISBN2-228-88956-3.
^Dumézil, Georges (1958). "The Rígsþula and Indo-European Social Structure." In: Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Ed. Einar Haugen, trans. John Lindow. University of California Press, Berkeley 1973.
ISBN0-520-03507-0.
de Vries, Jan (1970), Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, volume 2. 2nd ed. repr. as 3rd ed (in German), Walter de Gruyter,
OCLC466619179
Polomé, Edgar Charles (1970), "The Indo-European Component in Germanic Religion", in Puhvel, Jaan (ed.), Myth and Law Among the Indo-Europeans: Studies in Indo-European Comparative Mythology, University of California,
ISBN9780520015876
The trifunctional hypothesis of prehistoric
Proto-Indo-European society postulates a tripartite ideology ("idéologie tripartite") reflected in the existence of three classes or castes—
priests,
warriors, and
commoners (farmers or tradesmen)—corresponding to the three functions of the
sacral, the
martial and the
economic, respectively. The trifunctional thesis is primarily associated with the
FrenchmythographerGeorges Dumézil,[1] who proposed it in 1929 in the book Flamen-Brahman,[2] and later in Mitra-Varuna.[3]
In the
Proto-Indo-European mythology, each
social group had its own
god or family of gods to represent it and the function of the god or gods matched the function of the group. Many such divisions occur in the history of Indo-European societies:
Early Germanic society: the supposed division between the
king,
nobility and regular freemen in early
Germanic society.[5]
Norse mythology:
Odin (sovereignty),
Týr (law and justice), the
Vanir (fertility).[6][7][note 1] Odin has been interpreted as a death-god[9] and connected to cremations,[10] and has also been associated with ecstatic practices.[11][10]
Classical Greece: the three divisions of the ideal society as described by
Socrates in
Plato's The Republic. Bernard Sergent examined the trifunctional hypothesis in Greek
epic,
lyric and
dramatic poetry.[12]
India: the three Hindu castes, the
Brahmins or priests; the
Kshatriya, the warriors and military; and the
Vaishya, the agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders. The
Shudra, a fourth Indian caste, is a peasant or serf. Researchers believe that Indo-European-speakers entered India in the
Late Bronze Age, mixed with local
Indus Valley civilisation populations and may have established a caste system, with themselves primarily in higher castes.[13][14]
On the other hand,
Nicholas Allen concludes that the tripartite division may be an artefact and a
selection effect, rather than an organising principle that was used in the societies themselves.[17]Benjamin W. Fortson reports a sense that Dumézil blurred the lines between the three functions and the examples that he gave often had contradictory characteristics,[18] which had caused his detractors to reject his categories as nonexistent.[19] John Brough surmises that societal divisions are common outside Indo-European societies as well and so the hypothesis has only limited utility in illuminating prehistoric Indo-European society.[20] Cristiano Grottanelli states that while Dumézilian trifunctionalism may be seen in modern and medieval contexts, its projection onto earlier cultures is mistaken.[21] Belier is strongly critical.[22]
^Terje Leiren discerns another grouping of three Norse gods that may correspond to the trifunctional division:
Odin as the patron of priests and magicians,
Thor of warriors, and
Freyr of fertility and farming.[8]
References
^According to Jean Boissel, the first description of Indo-European trifunctionalism was by Gobineau, not by Dumézil. (
Lincoln, 1999, p. 268, cited below).
^
abDumézil, G. (1929). Flamen-Brahman. There has been scholarship in applying Dumézilian trifunctionalism to Pre-Columbian Yucatán Mayan societies in: Lincoln, Charles E., (1990) Ethnicity and Social Organization at Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. (PhD. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University) Advisors Mathews, Peter, and Gordon R. Willey; Lincoln, Charles E. (1986.) "The Chronology of Chichen Itza: A Review of the Literature." Pages 141–156 in Late Lowland Maya Civilization: Classic to Postclassic, edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff and E. Wyllys Andrews V. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
^
abDumézil, G. (1940). Mitra-Varuna, Presses universitaires de France.
^Bernard Sergent, Les Indo-Européens. Histoire, langues, mythes. Payot, Paris 1995.
ISBN2-228-88956-3.
^Dumézil, Georges (1958). "The Rígsþula and Indo-European Social Structure." In: Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Ed. Einar Haugen, trans. John Lindow. University of California Press, Berkeley 1973.
ISBN0-520-03507-0.
de Vries, Jan (1970), Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, volume 2. 2nd ed. repr. as 3rd ed (in German), Walter de Gruyter,
OCLC466619179
Polomé, Edgar Charles (1970), "The Indo-European Component in Germanic Religion", in Puhvel, Jaan (ed.), Myth and Law Among the Indo-Europeans: Studies in Indo-European Comparative Mythology, University of California,
ISBN9780520015876