THE COMMON ATTRIBUTES BETWEEN THE BALTIC THUNDER GOD PERKŪNAS AND HIS ANTIQUE EQUIVALENTS JUPITER AND ZEUS

Abstract

The problem of regional uniqueness and intercultural relations of traditional images of Thunder-god as mythological celestial, cosmogonic, astronomic-calendaric and atmospheric being remains relevant to this day. Perkūnas image, his representations and attributes share certain similarities in different European cultures but they are still not investigated from visual point of view. This semiological investigation is mainly based on a comparative and interdisciplinary analysis of visual and narrative representations of the Baltic and Antique Thunder-gods. It aims to reveal the intercultural contextuality of the symbolic elements of images of Baltic Perkūnas and to demonstrate their similarities with the attributes of supreme Antique deities Zeus and Jupiter. A diachronic intercultural analysis of local, national or regional representations of Baltic Thunder-god helps avoid a localized ethno-centrism in explaining images of European deities as mere elements of a regional culture and will shed new light on their broader archetypal basis. It aims to bring some controversial, unique and fragmented interpretations of Baltic Thundergod symbolism into the light of a wider transcultural historical context. The author draws from a wide range of comparative data: from Lithuanian, Prussian, Eastern and Western European Christian, and other classical sources. This complex overview is primarily based on medieval and folk art images, artefacts and architecture. Folklore, language and other ethnographic material and mythology-related data are also used. Such a comparative and interdisciplinary attitude to the European Thunder gods‟ attributes, drawing on anthropology, art history and folklore approached from a Baltic perspective, will help to establish new insights into the deeper understanding of celestial symbolism implicated in similarities of thunder god‟s attributes and congeniality of these mythical representations tradition till our days.