Santa

Luwian warlike, death-bringing god linked to the Marwainzi; survived as Sandas/Sandon of Tarsus, equated with Herakles.

Domains

• war
• plague death

Powers

• Loose the dark Marwainzi to ravage cursed enemies
• Feed enemies to his dogs or devour them himself

Relations

• interpretatio: HeraclesReciprocal of greek_apollod_heracles.interpretatio — Sandas/Sandon of Tarsus was honored with an annual pyre Greeks read as Heracles' self-immolation. Preserves the burning-hero apotheosis; breaks on Santa's plague-and-death warband character.Dio Chrysostom, Oration 33.47 (the pyre of Herakles at Tarsus) (primary); M. Hutter, 'Aspects of Luwian Religion', in H. C. Melchert (ed.), The Luwians (2003) (secondary)
• equated with: SantasReciprocal of lydian_santas.equated-with — Lydian Santas directly continues Luwian Santa, carried west with Luwian-speaking population; the Tarsian Sandas line continues the same god. The Lydian god gains an escort-of-Kufaws role absent in Luwian.M. Hutter, 'Aspects of Luwian Religion', in H. C. Melchert (ed.), The Luwians (2003) (secondary)

Sources

• existence: Hutter, Aspects of Luwian Religion (in Melchert ed., The Luwians, 2003) (secondary)