Among the words you can now read (Endings You Can See) are names that every reader of Greek myths knows. The tablets record offerings to gods, and many of those gods are the Olympians of later Greece, named centuries before Homer.
Key idea
The tablets name po-se-da-o (Poseidon), di-we and di-wo (Zeus, "to Zeus", "of Zeus"), e-ra (Hera), di-wo-nu-so (Dionysus), e-ma-a2 (Hermes) and a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja (Mistress Athena), among others.
| Signs | Spelled | Greek | God |
|---|---|---|---|
| 𐀡𐀮𐀅𐀃 | po-se-da-o | Ποσειδῶν Poseidon | Poseidon |
| 𐀇𐀸 | di-we | Διί Dii | to Zeus |
| 𐀁𐀨 | e-ra | Ἥρα Hera | Hera |
| 𐀇𐀺𐀝𐀰 | di-wo-nu-so | Διόνυσος Dionysos | Dionysus |
| 𐀁𐀔𐁀 | e-ma-a2 | Ἑρμῆς Hermes | Hermes |
| 𐀀𐀲𐀙𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja | Ἀθηνᾶ πότνια Athena potnia | Mistress Athena |
| 𐀀𐀩 | a-re | Ἄρης Ares | Ares |
| 𐀁𐀩𐀄𐀴𐀊 | e-re-u-ti-ja | Εἰλείθυια Eileithyia | Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth |
Surprises
- Poseidon receives many offerings at Pylos; he seems more important there than Zeus.
- Dionysus was once thought to be a late arrival in Greece. His name is on tablets from Pylos and Chania.
- Drimios, called the son of Zeus on Tn 316, is unknown from later Greek religion.
- Potnia, "Lady" or "Mistress", appears often, sometimes with a place or a name, as in a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja, which most read as Mistress Athena.
The gods turn up at several palaces: Zeus, Hera and Poseidon at Pylos; Mistress Athena and others at Knossos; Dionysus at Chania and Pylos. Some offering lists are dated by month, so the tablets also tell us a little about the religious year, though not what the gods were believed to do.
Why it works
Why are we confident these are gods, not people with the same names? The context: these names receive offerings of oil, honey, gold vessels or animals, often at named shrines, in lists alongside words like te-o (god) and po-ti-ni-ja (lady). And the names match later Greek gods through the regular spelling rules.
Common mistake
Assuming the Olympians were invented later, in Homer's time or after. Several are named on the tablets, though we know little of the myths told about them then; the tablets give names and offerings, not stories. Check: separate what the tablets show (a name and an offering) from what later myths add (family stories, adventures).
Worked example: Read a name
Read 𐀡𐀮𐀅𐀃.
- po-se-da-o, four plain syllables.
- The later name is Poseidon.
Answer: po-se-da-o, Poseidon
Worked example: To or of?
An offering list begins with di-we. Is the offering to Zeus or of Zeus?
- di-we is the dative.
- The dative marks the receiver: "to Zeus".
Answer: To Zeus.
Worked example: Read a name
Read 𐀁𐀨 and name the goddess.
- e is the vowel sign; ra is r + a.
- h is not written, so e-ra is Hera.
Answer: e-ra, Hera
The reading of e-ma-a2 as Hermes (e-ma-ha) is widely accepted, but the a2 sign makes the exact form a little uncertain. A few other names, like Drimios, have no later Greek match at all.