Hetho-Homerica (Naming of Odysseus and Naming of the Evil Brother in the Hittite Tale of Appu and His Sons)
Tsymbursky Vadim L.
The study is focused on the parallel drawn by the author for the first time between the nam-ing of Odysseus by his grandfather Autolykos in τ 407-409 (πολλοισι γάρ έγωγε όδυσσάμενος τόσ' ίκάνω…τω δ' 'Οδυσσεύς όνομ' έστω έπώνυμον «I came hither angry with many a man... therefore may he be called by the name Odysseus»), where Odysseus' name is interpreted as «angry, wrathful», and the lines from the Hittite «Tale of Appu and His Sons» (in J. Siegelova's publication Rs. Ill, 14-16): ku-u-ua-pi[(.-a)t-t(a)-as]-m[i-i]s DINGIRMES-as NIG.SI.SA-an (15) KASKAL-an U-[UL e-ep-pi-ir(nu-za)] LUHUL-lu (вар. HUL-pa-an) KASKAL-an har-ki-ir (16) nu-us-si-i[s-sa-an LUHUL-l]u SlIM-an e-es-du «Because my pater-nal gods did not choose... the good way, but kept the evil way (the way of the evil), may his name be 'the Evil One'». The idea of the «evil way» as a basis for giving the child an «evil» name is common for both narratives and is realized within similar plot frames. Their elements are: (1) Autilykos (born on Parnassus) and Appu both live a wealthy life in the central part of their lands, in the mountains; (2) Autolykos' prayer for granting him a grandson (x 404) and Ap-pu's prayer for granting him children; (3) ritual of naming with the participation of a nurse who puts the child upon the name-giver's knees. The author indicates phonetic closeness between the designation of Appu's abode in the Hittite tale (parnassa «into his house», the word is com-mon Anatolian, cf. Luw. parna- «house», Lye. prnnawate «he built») and the name of Autoly-kos' dwelling-place Παρνησός. Не also admits that the name of the Evil son in Luwian ver-sions of the same tale (Hit. idualuS ~ Luw. adduwaliS, Hierogl. Luw. dtuwata-, atutila-) may have been echoed by the names of Autolykos and/or Odysseus in Greek folklore (*Adutis: Οδυσσεύς, *Aduwalis: Αύτόλυκος). In the author's opinion, a bilingual Greek poet, Homer himself or one of his predecessors, having noticed numerous points that the Greek narrative had in common with that of Asia Minor, could have elaborated the former in the line of the vernacular tale, introducing in the epic the motif of the «evil» way as the basis for the «evil» name.