The divine twins are youthful horsemen, either gods or demigods, who serve as rescuers and healers in Proto-Indo-European mythology.
Like other Proto-Indo-European divinities, the Divine Twins are not directly attested by archaeological or written materials, but scholars of comparative mythology and Indo-European studies generally agree on the motifs they have reconstructed by way of the comparative method.
Common traits Scholar Donald Ward proposed a set of common traits that pertain to divine twin pairs of Indo-European mythologies:Ward, Donald J. "An Indo-European Mythological Theme in Germanic Tradition". In: Indo-European and Indo-Europeans: Papers Presented at the Third Indo-European Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. Edited by George Cardona, Henry M. Hoenigswald and Alfred Senn. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016 . p. 416. https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512801200-021
dual paternity; mention of a female figure (their mother or their sister); deities of fertility; known by a single dual name or having rhymed / alliterative names; associated with horses; saviours at sea; of astral nature; protectors of oaths; mischievous; providers of divine aid in battle; and magic healers.
Name Although the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) name of the Divine Twins cannot be reconstructed with certainty based on the available linguistic evidence, the most frequent epithets associated with the two brothers in liturgic and poetic traditions are the "Youthful" and the "Descendants" (sons or grandsons) of the Sky-God (Dyēus).
Two well-accepted reflexes of the Divine Twins, the Vedic Aśvins and the Lithuanian Ašvieniai, are linguistic cognates ultimately deriving from the Proto-Indo-European word for the horse, *h1éḱwos. They are related to Sanskrit áśva and Avestan aspā (both from Indo-Iranian *Haćwa), and to Old Lithuanian ašva, which all share the meaning of "mare". This may point to an original PIE divine name *h1éḱw-n-, although this form could also have emerged from later contacts between Proto-Indo-Iranian and Proto-Balto-Slavic speakers, which are known to have occurred in prehistoric times.Lubotsky, Alexander. "Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon". Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Project. Leiden University. s.v. áśva-.
Role Represented as young men rescuing mortals from peril in battle or at sea, the Divine Twins rode the steeds that pull the sun across the sky and were sometimes depicted as horses themselves. They shared a sister, *H₂éwsōs 'Dawn', who is also portrayed as the daughter of *Dyēus 'Sky' in Indo-European mythology. The two brothers are generally depicted as healers and helpers, travelling in miraculous vehicles to save shipwrecked mortals. They are often differentiated: one is represented as a physically strong and aggressive warrior, while the other is seen as a healer who gives attention to domestic duties, agrarian pursuits, or romantic adventures.
In the Vedic, Greek and Baltic traditions, the Divine Twins similarly appear as the personifications of the morning and evening star. They are depicted as the lovers or the companions of a solar female deity, preferably the Sun's daughter but sometimes also the Dawn. In most stories in which they appear, the Divine Twins rescue the Dawn from a watery peril, a theme that stems from their role as the solar steeds.
During the night, the Divine Twins were said to return to the east in a golden boat, where they traversed a sea to bring back the rising sun each morning. During the day, they crossed the nocturnal sky in pursuit of their consort, the morning star. In what seems to be a later addition confined to Europe, they were said to rest at the end of the day on the Fortunate Isles, a land situated in the sea in the West with magical apples on it in the Garden of the Hesperides. By the Bronze Age, the Divine Twins were also represented as the coachmen of horse-driven solar chariots.
Evidence
Linguistic cognates
Three Indo-European traditions (Greek, Indic and Baltic) attest the mytheme of equestrian twins, all associated with the dawn or the sun's daughter. Although their names do not form a complete group of cognates, they nonetheless share a similar epithet, suggesting a possible ancestral name or epithet: the 'sons (or descendants) of Dyēus'.
(?) proto-Indo-European mythology: *diwós suHnū́ ('sons of Dyēus'), or *diwós népoth1e ('descendants of Dyēus'), Historical Vedic religion: the divó nápātā Aśvins, the "sons of Dyaús", always referred to in dual in the Rigveda without individual names, Lithuanian mythology: the Dievo sūneliai (the Ašvieniai), the "sons of Dievas", pulling the solar carriage of Saulė through the sky, Latvian mythology: the Dieva Dēli, the "sons of Dievs", the sky-god, Greek mythology: the Diós-kouroi Castor and Pollux, the "boys of Zeus". Italic languages: both Paelignian Ioviois Pvclois and Marsian Ioveis Pvcles are interpreted as a calque of the Greek theonym Diós-kouroi.Adams, J. N. The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC - AD 600. Cambridge University Press, 2007. pp. 55-56. .
Possible reflexes Since they cannot be linked together to a common linguistic origin, other reflexes found in the Indo-European myths are less secure, although their motifs can be compared to that of the Divine Twins.
Celtic The Gaulish and Dinomogetimarus are said to be protective deities and "the Gallic equivalents" of the Greek Dioskouroi. They seem to be represented in monuments and reliefs in France flanked by horses, which would make them comparable to Gaulish Martes and the Germanic Alcis. Scholars suggest that the numerous Gallo-Roman dedicatory epigraphs to Castor and Pollux, more than any other region of the Roman Empire, attest a cult of the Dioskoroi.
Greek historian Timaeus mentions that Atlantic Celts venerated the "Dioskouroi" above all other gods and that they [Dioskouroi] had visited them from across the Ocean. Historian Diodorus Siculus, in the fourth book of Bibliotheca historica, writes that the Celts who dwelt along the ocean worshipped the Dioscuroi "more than the other gods".Diodorus, Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily, with an English translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. II. London: Heinemann. 1933. pp. 522-523. The conjecture that it refers to the Gallic gods Divanno and Dinomogetimarus has no firm support.
In one of the Irish myths involving Macha (the Dindsenchas of Ard Macha), she is forced to race against the horses of King of Ulster while in late pregnancy. As a talented rider, she wins the race but starts giving birth to Fír and Fial immediately after crossing the finish line.MacLeod, Sharon Paice. “A Confluence of Wisdom: The Symbolism of Wells, Whirlpools, Waterfalls and Rivers in Early Celtic Sources”. In: Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 26/27 (2006): 348-349. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40732065. The archetype is also partly matched by figures such as the Gallic sun god Belenus, whose epithet Atepomarus meant "having good horses"; Grannus, who is associated with the healing goddess Sirona (her name means "star"); Maponos ("Son of God"), considered in Irish mythology as the son of Dagda, associated with healing,Dexter, Miriam Robbins. "The hippomorphic goddess and her offspring". In: JIES 18/3-4 (Fall/Winter, 1990). pp. 285–307.
The Welsh Brân and Manawydan may also be reflexes of the Divine Twins.
Comparative mythologist Alexander Haggerty Krappe suggested that two heroes, Feradach and Foltlebar, brothers and sons of the king of Innia, are expressions of the mytheme. These heroes help the expedition of the Fianna into Tir fa Thuinn (a realm on the other side of the sea), in a Orphean mission to rescue some of their members, in the tale The pursuit of the Gilla Decair and his horse. Both are expert navigators: one can build a ship and the other can follow the wild birds.Krappe, Alexander Haggerty, “La poursuite du Gilla Dacker et les Dioscures celtiques”. In: Revue Celtique 49 (1932): 96-108.
Other possible candidates are members of Lugh's retinue, Atepomarus and Momorus (fr).Persigout, Jean-Paul. Dictionnaire de Mythologie Celte. Dieux et Héros. Éditions du Rocher. 1996. p. 103. . Atepomarus is presumed to mean "Great Horseman" or "having great horses", based on the possible presence of Celtic stem -epo- 'horse' in his name. Both appear as a pair of Celtic kings and founders of Lugdunum. They escape from Sereroneus and arrive at a hill. Momorus, who had skills in augury, sees a murder of crows and names the hill Lougodunum, after the crows. This myth is reported in the works of Klitophon of Rhodes and in Pseudo-Plutarch's De fluviis.Johnston, Andrew C. The Sons of Remus: Identity in Roman Gaul and Spain. Harvard University Press. 2017. pp. 142, 144. .
Germanic Tacitus mentions a divine pair of twins called the Alcis worshipped by the Naharvali, whom he compares to the Roman twin horsemen Castor and Pollux. These twins can be associated with the Indo-European myth of the divine twin horsemen (Dioscuri) attested in various Indo-European cultures. Among later Germanic peoples, twin founding figures such as Hengist and Horsa allude to the motif of the divine twins. The Anglo-Saxon heroes are said to have come by the sea in response to a plea from the beleaguered British king Vortigern. Descendants of Odin, their names mean 'Stallion' and 'Horse', respectively, strengthening the connection.
In Scandinavia, images of divine twins are attested from the 15th century BCE until the 8th century CE, after which they disappear, apparently as a result of religious change. Swedish historian Jonathan Lindström posits that the (1700BCE - 500BCE), located in Enköping municipality, depicts the divine twins aiding the hero Ingwaz on his journey eastwards. Norse texts contain no identifiable divine twins, though scholars have sought parallels between gods and heroes.
The myth of the Icelandic settlers Ingólfr Arnarson and Hjörleifr Hróðmarsson, which appears in the legendary account of the settlement of Iceland, may contain several motifs of the Indo-European twin mytheme (being founders and brothers), also paralleling Hengist and Horsa.
Another founding pair of twins in Germanic tradition is brothers Dan and Angul, described in the Gesta Danorum by scholar Saxo Grammaticus.
The Haddingjar were two brothers who appear in many versions of Germanic legends.
Graeco-Roman Amphion and Zethus, another pair of twins fathered by Zeus and Antiope, are portrayed as the legendary founders of Thebes. They are called "Dioskouroi, riders of white horses" (λευκόπωλοι) by Euripides in his play The Phoenician Women (the same epithet is used in Heracles and in the lost play Antiope). In keeping with the theme of distinction between the twins, Amphion was said to be the more contemplative, sensitive one, whereas Zethus was more masculine and tied to physical pursuits, like hunting and cattle-breeding.
The mother of Romulus and Remus, Rhea Silvia, placed them in a basket before her death, which she put in the river to protect them from murder, before they were found by the she-wolf who raised them. The Palici, a pair of Sicilian twin deities fathered by Zeus in one account, may also be a reflex of the original mytheme.Witczak, K. T.; Zawiasa, D. "The Sicilian Palici as representatives of the indo-european divine twins". In: ΜΥΘΟΣ, n. 12, 2004-2005. pp. 93-106.