Sky-Father Papaios

Sky-father; the masculine pole of the sky/earth pair Papaios-Api. Herodotos' own remark on the aptness of 'Father' is preserved at 4.59. Aniconic: no cult image attested.

Children

• First Man Targitaos

Domains

• sky
• fatherhood of the people
• fatherhood

Powers

• begot the first man upon the river's daughter

Epithets

• Παπαῖος greek · Papaîos'Father' — the Scythian sky-god, whom Herodotus deems aptly namedHerodotus 4.59 (primary)
• Ζεύς Greek (interpretatio graeca) · Zeus · cultthe Father (Herodotos' interpretatio, glossing the name as 'Father')Herodotus, Histories 4.59 (primary)

Relations

• spouse: Earth-and-Water Mother ApiHerodotos glosses Api as Earth and reports the Scythians hold Earth to be the wife of Zeus (Papaios): the sky-father/earth-mother pair.Herodotus, Histories 4.59 (primary)
• lover: River-Daughter of the BorysthenesIn the Scythians' own origin myth, Targitaos is born of Zeus (Papaios) and a daughter of the river Borysthenes.Herodotus, Histories 4.5 (primary)
• interpretatio: ZeusHdt: 'Zeus, in Scythian most rightly named Papaios' ('father'). Preserves the sky-father paired with Earth; breaks on the absence of any Scythian sovereignty-myth or thunder-weapon for Papaios.Herodotus, Histories 4.59 (primary)

Sources

• Herodotos equates Papaios with Zeus and ranks him (with Api) just below Tabiti; he comments that the name Papaios is 'most rightly' given to Zeus.: Herodotos, Histories 4.59 (Godley) (primary)
• Papaios is the divine father of the first man Targitaos in the Scythian genealogical myth.: Herodotos, Histories 4.5 (primary)
• The name reflects Scythian *Pāpaya 'Father', a hypocoristic/reduplicated kinship word; he is the sky-father, consort of the earth-goddess Api, and is sometimes read against Iranian sovereign sky-gods.: V.I. Abaev (1949); R. Schmitt et al., Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Scythians' (secondary)