or (), romanized as Hausos, is the reconstructed name of the dawn goddess in Proto-Indo-European mythology.
Her attributes were subsequently expanded and adopted into female deities found in subsequent cultures and mythologies, including solar goddesses. is believed to have been one of the most important deities worshipped by Proto-Indo-European speakers due to the consistency of her characterization in subsequent traditions.
Name Etymology The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European name of the dawn, , derives from the verbal root ('to shine', 'glow red', 'a flame') extended by the suffix . The same root also underlies the word for 'gold', , inherited in Latin , Old Prussian , and Lithuanian .; ;
The word for the dawn as a meteorological event has also been preserved in the Balto-Slavic *auṣ(t)ro ( Lithuanian 'dawn', 'morning light', Proto-Slavic *ȕtro 'morning', 'dawn', Old Church Slavonic 'in the morning'); the Sanskrit ('dawn'); and in the Ancient Greek ('tomorrow').Pronk, Tijmen. "Old Church Slavonic (j)utro, Vedic uṣár- 'daybreak, morning'". In: L. van Beek, M. de Vaan, A. Kloekhorst, G. Kroonen, M. Peyrot & T. Pronk (eds.) Farnah: Indo-Iranian and Indo-European studies in honor of Sasha Lubotsky. Ann Arbor: Beech Stave Press. 2018. pp. 298–306.
A derivative adverb, , meaning "east" (), is reflected in the Latvian ('east'); Avestan ('east'); Italic (compare Latin 'south wind, south'); Old Church Slavonic ('summer'); and the Germanic ( Old Norse , English east, Middle High German ).; ; The same root seems to be preserved in the Baltic names for the northeast wind: Lith. auštrinis and Latvian , , . Also related are the Old Norse Austri, described in the as one of four dwarves that guard the four cardinal points (with him representing the east),Shipley, Joseph Twadell. The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1984. p. 237. and ('The eastern way'), attested in medieval Germanic literature.MUCENIECKS, André Szczawlinska. "A ideia de leste nas fontes escandinavas: um estudo de conceituação histórico-geográfica". in: Revista Signum, 2015, vol. 16, n.3, pp. 97–125. (in Brazilian Portuguese)
Epithets A common epithet associated with is , meaning "Daughter of *Dyēus," the Proto-Indo-European sky god.; Cognates stemming from the formulaic expression appear in multiple mythological traditions. Ushas was named as the "Daughter of Heaven" in the Rigveda; Eos was associated with the title "Daughter of Zeus" in Pre-Homeric Greece; "Daughter of Dievas" was ascribed to a Lithuanian sun goddess; and the Albanian goddess Prende was regarded as the daughter of the sky god Zojz.;
Evidence
Cognates stemming from the root and associated with a dawn goddess are attested in the following cultures and mythologies: PIE: , meaning "to shine, light up, glow red; a flame", PIE: , the Dawn-goddess Indo-Iranian: , – See entries vas- and usás-. Vedic: Uṣás (), dawn goddess, and the most addressed goddess in the Rigveda, with twenty-one hymns. Avestan: Ušå, honoured in one passage of the Avesta (Gāh 5. 5), and Ušahina, the angel separating midnight from the moment when the stars can become visible. Hellenic: *Auhṓs Greek: Ēṓs (), goddess of the dawn, and Aotis, an epithet used by the Spartan poet Alcman and interpreted as a dawn goddess. Ancient Greek literature: fragments of works of poet Panyassis of Halicarnassus mention epithets Eoies ("He of the Dawn") and Aoos ('man of the dawn') in reference to Adonis, as a possible indicator of his Eastern origin;Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Century. Edited and Translated by Martin L. West. London, England; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 2003. pp. 216-217. Matthews, Victor J. Panyassis of Halikarnassos: Text and Commentary. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill. 1974. pp. 123-124 (footnote nr. 4). the name Aoos also appears as a son of Eos. Mycenaean: the word a-wo-i-jo (Āw(ʰ)oʰios; )Luján, Eugénio R. "Los temas en -s en micénico". In: Donum Mycenologicum: Mycenaean Studies in Honour of Francisco Aura Jorro. Edited by Alberto Bernabé and Eugenio R. Luján. Bibliothèque des cahiers de L'Institut de Linguistique de Louvain Vol. 131. Louvain-la-Neuve; Walpole, MA: Peeters. 2014. p. 68. is attested in a tablet from Pylos; interpreted as a shepherd's personal name related to "dawn",Nakassis, Dimitri. "Labor and Individuals in Late Bronze Age Pylos". In: Labor in the Ancient World. Edited by Piotr Steinkeller and Michael Hudson. Dresden: ISLET-Verlag. 2015 . p. 605. .Davies, Anna Morpurgo (1972). "Greek and Indo-European semiconsonants: Mycenaean u and w". In: Acta Mycenaea, vol. 2 (M.S. Ruipérez, ed.). Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca. p. 93.Jorro, Francisco Aura. "Reflexiones sobre el léxico micénico" In: Conuentus Classicorum: temas y formas del Mundo Clásico. Coord. por Jesús de la Villa, Emma Falque Rey, José Francisco González Castro, María José Muñoz Jiménez, Vol. 1, 2017, pp. 307. . or dative Āwōiōi; Italic: > (with an a-stem extension likely explained by the feminine gender) Roman: Aurora, whose attributes are the same as the Greek Eos; the original motif of may have been preserved in Mater Matuta. Eous or Eoös, an obscure poetic term meaning 'east' or 'oriental', is attested to in Lucan's Pharsalia, Hyginus's Fabulae, the Titanomachy,Severyns, Albert. Le cycle épique dans l'école d'aristarque. Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l'Université de Liége. Fascicule IX. 1928. p. 174. and as the name given to one of the Sun's horses in Ovid's Metamorphoses,Rose, H. J. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. London and New York: Routledge. 2005 . p. 25. . Thracian: Auza-, attested in personal name (Auzakenthos 'dawn-child'), believed by linguists Vladimir I. Georgiev and to attest the name of a Thracian dawn goddess.Georgiev, Vladimir I.. "Thrakisch und Dakisch". Band 29/2. Teilband Sprache und Literatur (Sprachen und Schriften [Forts.]), edited by Wolfgang Haase, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 1983. p. 1155. Georgiev, Vladimir I.. "Thrakisch und Dakisch". Band 29/2. Teilband Sprache und Literatur (Sprachen und Schriften [Forts.]), edited by Wolfgang Haase, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 1983. p. 1210. Duridanov, Ivan. "Thrakische und dakische Namen". 1. Halbband: Ein internationales Handbuch zur Onomastik. Edited by Ernst Eichler, Gerold Hilty, Heinrich Löffler, Hugo Steger and Ladislav Zgusta. Berlin; New York: De Gruyter Mouton, 1995. p. 831. PIE: , locative singular of , Armenian (Proto): *aw(h)i-, evolving as *awi̯ -o-, then *ayɣwo-, Armenian: Ayg (այգ), goddess of the dawn. Germanic: , a personal name generally interpreted as meaning 'light-beam' or 'ray of light', Old Norse: Aurvandil, whose frozen toe was made into a star by Thor, Old English: , meaning "dawn, ray of light", Old High German: Aurendil, Orentil; Lombardic: Auriwandalo, Gothic: (), Morning Star, Lucifer ("light-bringer"), PIE: (or ), "matutinal, pertaining to the dawn",Gąsiorowski, Piotr. "The Germanic reflexes of PIE *-sr- in the context of Verner's Law". In: The sound of Indo-European: Phonetics, Phonemics, and Morphophonemics. Editors: Benedicte Nielsen Whitehead, Thomas Olander, Birgit Anne Olsen, Jens Elmegård Rasmussen. Museum Tusculanum Press. 2012. pp. 122-123. Balto-Slavic: *Auṣ(t)ro, Baltic: *Auš(t)ra, "dawn", Lithuanian: Aušrinė, personification of the morning star, said to begin each day by lighting a fire for the sun; Aušra (sometimes Auska), goddess of sunrise, given as the answer to a Baltic riddle about a maiden who loses her keys;Vaitkeviciene, Daiva. "Baltic and East Slavic Charms". In: The Power of Words: Studies on Charms and Charming in Europe. edited by James Kapaló, Éva Pócs and William Ryan. Budapest, Hungary: CEU (Central European University) Press. 2013. pp. 215-216. and Auštra (interpreted as "dawn" or "northeast wind"), a character in a fable that guards the entry to paradise. Latvian: Auseklis (ausa "dawn" attached to the derivative suffix -eklis), personification of the morning star, and a reluctant goddess of the dawn; female personal names include Ausma and Austra;Palmaitis, M.-L. "Romeo Moses and Psyche Brünhild? Or Cupid the Serpent and the Morning Star?". In: Paris, Catherine (éditeur). Caucasologie et mythologie comparée, Actes du Colloque international du C.N.R.S. - IVe Colloque de Caucasologie (Sévres, 27 - 29 juin 1988). Paris: PEETERS. 1992. p. 181. words ausma and ausmiņa denoting "Morgendämmerung" ('dawn, daybreak');Dravnieks, J. Vaciski latviska vardnica. Sestais iespiedums. Riga: Technisko un Praktisko Rakstu Apgads. 1944. p. 133. Vaciski latviska vardnica by Project Runeberg Slavic: *(j)ȕtro, "morning, dawn", Polish: Jutrzenka or Justrzenka; Czech: Jitřenka, name and personification of the morning and evening star. Polabians: Jutrobog (Latin: Jutry Bog or Jutrny Boh), literally "Morning God", a deity mentioned by German historians in the 18th century, and possibly (although disputed) Jüterbog: a town in east Germany named after the Slavic god. Kashubians: Described as worshipping the god Jastrzebog and the goddess Jastra at Jastarnia, from which the Kashubian term for Easter, Jastrë, was derived. Their names may be related to the Polabian god Jutrobog, influenced by the Proto-Germanic deity *Austrōn, or derive from the word jasny ('bright'). Germanic: , goddess of the springtime celebrated during a yearly festival, at the origin of the word 'Easter' in some West Germanic languages, Romano-Germanic: matronae Austriahenae, a name present in votive inscriptions found in 1958 in Germany. Old English: , personification of Easter. Old High German: *Ōstara (pl. Ôstarûn), personification of Easter (Modern German: Ostern). Old Saxon: *Āsteron, possibly attested in the name asteronhus ('Easter-house').
Description The attributes of the dawn goddess are reconstructed using the common traits found in later Indo-European dawn goddesses, including those from Greek, Hindu, Slavic, and Baltic mythologies. One of the most common characteristics of the goddess was her radiance and brilliance, as she is almost always described as a "bringer of light". Various cognates associated with the goddess derive from the Proto-Indo-European root , meaning "to glow", or "shine." More specifically, was ascribed with the attribute "wide-shining" or "far-shining"— a trait possibly attested in the Greek theonym Euryphaessa ("wide-shining") and the Sanskrit poetic expression ("[Ushas] shines out widely").Massetti, Laura. "Once Upon a Time a *Sleeping Beauty ... Indo-European Parallels to Sole, Luna e Talia (Giambattista Basile Pentamerone 5.5)". In: AIΩN - Linguistica n. 9 (2020). pp. 99-100. She was also closely associated with the colors of the dawn: gold, saffron, red, and crimson, and is frequently described as dancing.
Other traits attributed to include her residence and vehicle. She is usually depicted dwelling on an island in the ocean or generally living in the east. The goddess is often described as driving some sort of vehicle pulled by horses, which later cultures typically adapted as a chariot. However, likely drove a wagon or similar carrier, as chariot technology first appeared in the Sintashta culture (2100–1800 BC), and is generally associated with the Indo-Iranian peoples. In myth, the goddess uses her vehicle to bring the dawn or new day; she was also frequently depicted as refusing to bring the dawn, an act for which she is punished. Similarly, is depicted as the opener of the doors or gates of heaven for her father, the sky god *Dyēus.