Georges Dumézil
Encyclopedia
Georges Dumézil was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty
and power in Proto-Indo-European religion
and society
. He is considered one of the major contributors to mythography
, in particular for his formulation of the trifunctional hypothesis
of social class
in ancient societies.
Dumézil's father was a classicist and so he became interested in ancient languages at a young age—it has been said that he could read the Aeneid
in Latin
at the age of nine. During his time in secondary school, he was also influenced by Michel Bréal
, a leading French philologist
who was the grandfather of one of his classmates. By the time he entered the École Normale Supérieure
in 1916, then, he was already on the road to studying linguistics
and the classics.
Dumézil's studies were delayed by World War I
, when he was drafted and served as an artillery officer. After the war he resumed his studies, where he was particularly influenced by Antoine Meillet
. He aggregated
in 1919 in Classics and then received his doctorate in 1924 after writing a thesis comparing the common origins of the Greek ambrosia
and a similarly named Indian drink Amrita which was said to make its imbiber immortal. The dissertation was controversial because some of the examiners, such as Henri Hubert
, thought that Dumézil took liberty with the facts in order to generate a more beautiful interpretation (this would come to be a common criticism of Dumézil's work).
Feeling that he had little place in the French academy, Dumézil moved to Turkey
in 1925 to teach at the University of Istanbul, created as part of Atatürk's attempt to create a modern, secular nation. As a result he learned Turkish and developed an interest in the Ubykh language
and travelled widely in Russia, Turkey, and the Caucasus. As a result, he became one of the premier experts of Caucasian languages to work in French. He compared the Etruscan language
with the Caucasian languages. In 1931 he took another position, this one in Uppsala
, Sweden
, which allowed him to hone his skills in the Germanic stocks of Indo-European
.
In 1929 Dumézil published Flamen-Brahman, the first full statement of his trifunctional hypothesis
; the idea was repeated in Mitra-Varuna, perhaps his most accessible work.
Dumézil's influence rose in the mid-1930s. In 1935 he left Uppsala
to take up a chair of Comparative Religion of Indo-European Peoples at the prestigious École Pratique des Hautes Études
. He was named a professor at the Collège de France
in 1949, and was finally elected to the Académie Française
in 1978 thanks to the patronage of his colleague and fellow student of myth, Claude Lévi-Strauss
. In 1984 he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca
.
Dumézil is also well known for mentoring many younger French scholars. Michel Foucault
, for instance, benefitted from his patronage when Dumézil arranged for him to teach temporarily in Uppsala early on in his career.
Many themes of Dumézil's work have continued influence in ancient religious studies: for example, his impulse to comparative study, and his basic insight that polytheistic gods must be studied not simply by themselves, but in the pairs and ensembles in which their worshippers grouped them.
especially has leveled accusations of fascism against Dumézil. Scholars like Arnaldo Momigliano
, Carlo Ginzburg
and Lincoln have argued that Dumézil was in favor of a traditional hierarchical order in Europe, that his Indo-European dualism and tripartite ideology may be also related to Italian and French fascist ideas, and that he was in favor of French fascism (but not of German Nazism). Lincoln also wrote that writers like Alain de Benoist
, Jean Haudry
, or Roger Pearson
have frequently cited Dumézil's work "in support of their positions — their fondness for hierarchy and authority, for example, their antipathy toward egalitarianism and the ideals of the Enlightenment, or their triumphal view of "Indo-Europeans" as superior to all other peoples".
In the 1930s Dumézil supported the monarchist "Action française
" and held Benito Mussolini
in high regard. Dumézil's relations with De Benoist and Haudry were ambiguous, but among his "closest colleagues" were Otto Höfler
(who was in the SS-Ahnenerbe
), Jan de Vries (a Nazi collaborator) and Stig Wikander (who had an ambiguous relation to Nazism). However, Dumézil's scholarly writings contain neither claims of superiority of the Indo-European people or culture, nor any political statement connected to fascism. Moreover, Dumézil, in response to a text written by Momigliano indicating that Dumézil might have been keen on Nazi ideology, wrote "fascist and nazi conceptions of a hierarchical society have never been part of my intuition nor of my conduct".
Such criticism of Dumézil has been emphatically disputed by Didier Eribon
in his 1992 book Faut-il brûler Dumézil? Mythologie, science et politique.
Toute la bibliographie qui vient d'être énumérée constitue les balbutiements de la mythologie comparée, et a ensuite été reconnue erronée par Dumézil.
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
and power in Proto-Indo-European religion
Proto-Indo-European religion
Proto-Indo-European religion is the hypothesized religion of the Proto-Indo-European peoples based on the existence of similarities among the deities, religious practices and mythologies of the Indo-European peoples. Reconstruction of the hypotheses below is based on linguistic evidence using the...
and society
Proto-Indo-European society
Proto-Indo-European refers to the single ancestor language common to all Indo-European languages. It is therefore a linguistic concept, not an ethnic, social or cultural one, so there is no direct evidence of the nature of Proto-Indo-European 'society'. Much depends on the unsettled Indo-European...
. He is considered one of the major contributors to mythography
Mythography
A mythographer, or a mythologist is a compiler of myths. The word derives from the Greek "μυθογραφία" , "writing of fables", from "μῦθος" , "speech, word, fact, story, narrative" + "γράφω" , "to write, to inscribe". Mythography is then the rendering of myths in the arts...
, in particular for his formulation of the trifunctional hypothesis
Trifunctional hypothesis
The trifunctional hypothesis of prehistoric Proto-Indo-European society postulates a tripartite ideology reflected in the existence of three classes or castes—priests, warriors, and commoners —corresponding to the three functions of the sacral, the martial and the economic, respectively...
of social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
in ancient societies.
Life and work
Dumézil's father was a classicist and so he became interested in ancient languages at a young age—it has been said that he could read the Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
at the age of nine. During his time in secondary school, he was also influenced by Michel Bréal
Michel Bréal
"Breal" redirects here. For the Rapper see B-RealMichel Jules Alfred Bréal , French philologist, was born at Landau in Rhenish Bavaria. He is often identified as a founder of modern semantics....
, a leading French philologist
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
who was the grandfather of one of his classmates. By the time he entered the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
in 1916, then, he was already on the road to studying linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and the classics.
Dumézil's studies were delayed by World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when he was drafted and served as an artillery officer. After the war he resumed his studies, where he was particularly influenced by Antoine Meillet
Antoine Meillet
Paul Jules Antoine Meillet was one of the most important French linguists of the early 20th century. Meillet began his studies at the Sorbonne, where he was influenced by Michel Bréal, Ferdinand de Saussure, and the members of the Année Sociologique. In 1890 he was part of a research trip to the...
. He aggregated
Agrégation
In France, the agrégation is a civil service competitive examination for some positions in the public education system. The laureates are known as agrégés...
in 1919 in Classics and then received his doctorate in 1924 after writing a thesis comparing the common origins of the Greek ambrosia
Ambrosia
In ancient Greek mythology, ambrosia is sometimes the food or drink of the Greek gods , often depicted as conferring ageless immortality upon whoever consumes it...
and a similarly named Indian drink Amrita which was said to make its imbiber immortal. The dissertation was controversial because some of the examiners, such as Henri Hubert
Henri Hubert
Henri Hubert was an archaeologist and sociologist of comparative religion who is best known for his work on the Celts and his collaboration with Marcel Mauss and other members of the Annee Sociologique....
, thought that Dumézil took liberty with the facts in order to generate a more beautiful interpretation (this would come to be a common criticism of Dumézil's work).
Feeling that he had little place in the French academy, Dumézil moved to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in 1925 to teach at the University of Istanbul, created as part of Atatürk's attempt to create a modern, secular nation. As a result he learned Turkish and developed an interest in the Ubykh language
Ubykh language
Ubykh or Ubyx is an extinct language of the Northwestern Caucasian group, spoken by the Ubykh people...
and travelled widely in Russia, Turkey, and the Caucasus. As a result, he became one of the premier experts of Caucasian languages to work in French. He compared the Etruscan language
Etruscan language
The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...
with the Caucasian languages. In 1931 he took another position, this one in Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, which allowed him to hone his skills in the Germanic stocks of Indo-European
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
.
In 1929 Dumézil published Flamen-Brahman, the first full statement of his trifunctional hypothesis
Trifunctional hypothesis
The trifunctional hypothesis of prehistoric Proto-Indo-European society postulates a tripartite ideology reflected in the existence of three classes or castes—priests, warriors, and commoners —corresponding to the three functions of the sacral, the martial and the economic, respectively...
; the idea was repeated in Mitra-Varuna, perhaps his most accessible work.
Dumézil's influence rose in the mid-1930s. In 1935 he left Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
to take up a chair of Comparative Religion of Indo-European Peoples at the prestigious École Pratique des Hautes Études
École pratique des hautes études
The École pratique des hautes études is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions....
. He was named a professor at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
in 1949, and was finally elected to the Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
in 1978 thanks to the patronage of his colleague and fellow student of myth, Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with James George Frazer, the "father of modern anthropology"....
. In 1984 he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca
Prix mondial Cino Del Duca
The Prix mondial Cino Del Duca is an international literary award.-Origins and operations:It was established in 1969 in France by Simone Del Duca to continue the work of her husband, publishing magnate Cino Del Duca .Designed to recognize and reward an author whose work constitutes, in a...
.
Dumézil is also well known for mentoring many younger French scholars. Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
, for instance, benefitted from his patronage when Dumézil arranged for him to teach temporarily in Uppsala early on in his career.
Many themes of Dumézil's work have continued influence in ancient religious studies: for example, his impulse to comparative study, and his basic insight that polytheistic gods must be studied not simply by themselves, but in the pairs and ensembles in which their worshippers grouped them.
Criticism
Aside from Dumézil's scholarly writings, his personal opinions received some criticism. Bruce LincolnBruce Lincoln
Bruce Lincoln is Caroline E. Haskell Professor of the History of Religions in the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.For many years his primary scholarly concern was the study of Indo-European religion, where his work came to criticize the ideological presuppositions of research on...
especially has leveled accusations of fascism against Dumézil. Scholars like Arnaldo Momigliano
Arnaldo Momigliano
Arnaldo Dante Momigliano KBE was an Italian historian known for his work in historiography, characterized by Donald Kagan as the "world’s leading student of the writing of history in the ancient world." He became Professor of Roman history at the University of Turin in 1936, but as a Jew soon lost...
, Carlo Ginzburg
Carlo Ginzburg
Carlo Ginzburg is a noted historian and proponent of the field of microhistory. He is best known for his Il formaggio e I vermi which examined the beliefs of an Italian heretic, Menocchio, from Montereale Valcellina.- Biography :The son of Natalia Ginzburg and Leone Ginzburg, he was born...
and Lincoln have argued that Dumézil was in favor of a traditional hierarchical order in Europe, that his Indo-European dualism and tripartite ideology may be also related to Italian and French fascist ideas, and that he was in favor of French fascism (but not of German Nazism). Lincoln also wrote that writers like Alain de Benoist
Alain de Benoist
Alain de Benoist is a French academic, philosopher, a founder of the Nouvelle Droite and head of the French think tank GRECE. Benoist is a critic of liberalism, free markets and egalitarianism.-Biography:...
, Jean Haudry
Jean Haudry
Jean Haudry is a linguist, and a founder of the Institut d'études indo-européennes at the Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 with Jean-Paul Allard and Jean Varenne. Under his leadership the Institut published, between 1982 and 1998, the Études indo-européennes...
, or Roger Pearson
Roger Pearson
Roger Pearson is a British anthropologist, conservationist, eugenics advocate, founder of the Neo Nazi organization Northern League, and publisher of several journals.-Life and work:...
have frequently cited Dumézil's work "in support of their positions — their fondness for hierarchy and authority, for example, their antipathy toward egalitarianism and the ideals of the Enlightenment, or their triumphal view of "Indo-Europeans" as superior to all other peoples".
In the 1930s Dumézil supported the monarchist "Action française
Action Française
The Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...
" and held Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
in high regard. Dumézil's relations with De Benoist and Haudry were ambiguous, but among his "closest colleagues" were Otto Höfler
Otto Höfler
Otto Höfler was an Austrian scholar of German studies. He was a student of Rudolf Much, and adopted Much's "Germanic Continuity Theory," which argued for continuity of ancient Germanic culture into present-day German folklore...
(who was in the SS-Ahnenerbe
Ahnenerbe
The Ahnenerbe was a Nazi German think tank that promoted itself as a "study society for Intellectual Ancient History." Founded on July 1, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler, Herman Wirth, and Richard Walther Darré, the Ahnenerbe's goal was to research the anthropological and cultural history of the Aryan...
), Jan de Vries (a Nazi collaborator) and Stig Wikander (who had an ambiguous relation to Nazism). However, Dumézil's scholarly writings contain neither claims of superiority of the Indo-European people or culture, nor any political statement connected to fascism. Moreover, Dumézil, in response to a text written by Momigliano indicating that Dumézil might have been keen on Nazi ideology, wrote "fascist and nazi conceptions of a hierarchical society have never been part of my intuition nor of my conduct".
Such criticism of Dumézil has been emphatically disputed by Didier Eribon
Didier Eribon
Didier Eribon is a French author and philosopher, and a historian of French intellectual life.- Biography :Didier Eribon was born in Reims....
in his 1992 book Faut-il brûler Dumézil? Mythologie, science et politique.
Works
- Le Festin d'immortalité - Étude de mythologie comparée indo-européenne, sa Mémoire (écrit)|thèse reçue en 1924, published in Annales du Musée Guimet
- Le Crime des Lemniennes - Rites et Légendes du monde égéen, 1924, sa thèse complémentaire
- Le Problème des Centaures - Étude de mythologie comparée indo-européenne , 1929, published in Annales du Musée Guimet
- Ouranos-Varuna - Essai de mythologie comparée indo-européenne, 1932, publié aux éditions Maisonneuve
- Légendes sur les Nartes, suivies de cinq notes mythologiques, 1930, publié par l'Institut d’études slaves
- Flamen-Brahman, 1935
Toute la bibliographie qui vient d'être énumérée constitue les balbutiements de la mythologie comparée, et a ensuite été reconnue erronée par Dumézil.
- Mythes et dieux des Germains - Essai d'interprétation comparative (1939), Presses Universitaires de France
- Mitra-Varuna - Essai sur deux représentations indo-européennes de la Souveraineté, où il analyse la dualité de la fonction souveraine indo-européenne, en comparant des couples de dieux représentant cette fonction (Mitra et Varuna, Thor et Odin, Dius Fidius et Jupiter (mythologie)|Jupiter Summanus), paru en 1940 aux Presses universitaires de France
- Jupiter Mars Quirinus, composé de :
- Essai sur la conception indo-européenne de la société et sur les origines de Rome, 1941
- Naissance de Rome, 1944
- Naissance d'archanges-Essai sur la formation de la religion zoroastrienne, 1945
- Explication de textes indiens et latins, 1948 tous publiés aux éditions Gallimard
- Les Mythes romains, composé de quatre volumes :
- Horace et les Curiaces, 1942
- Servius Tullius|Servius et la Fortune - Essai sur la fonction sociale de louange et de blâme et sur les éléments indo-européens du cens romain, 1943
- Tarpeia - Cinq essais de philologie comparée indo-européenne, 1947, tous publiés aux éditions Gallimard
- Loki, 1948, publié aux GP Maisonneuve
- L'Héritage indo-européen à Rome, 1949, publié par Gallimard
- Le Troisième Souverain - Essai sur le dieu indo-iranien Aryaman et sur la formation de l'histoire mythique de l'Irlande , 1949, publié aux GP Maisonneuve
- Les Dieux indo-européens, 1952, Presses Universitaires de France
- Rituels indo-européens à Rome, 1954, publié par Klincksieck
- Déesses latines et mythes védiques , 1956, publié aux éditions Latomus
- Aspects de la fonction guerrière chez les Indo-Européens, 1956
- Contes et légendes des Oubykhs, 1957, publié par l'Institut d'Ethnologie
- Contes lazes, 1957, publié par l'Institut d'Ethnologie
- L’Idéologie tripartite des Indo-Européens, 1958, publié aux éditions Latomus
- Études oubykhs, 1959, publié aux éditions Maisonneuve
- Les Dieux des Germains, essai sur la formation de la religion scandinave, 1959, Presses Universitaires de France
- Documents anatoliens sur les langues et les traditions du Caucase , 1960–1967, publié aux éditions Maisonneuve
- Le Livre des héros, légendes ossètes sur les Nartes, 1965, publié aux éditions Gallimard
- La Religion romaine archaïque, avec un appendice sur la religion des Étrusques , 1966, publié aux éditions Payot
- Mythe et Épopée, son œuvre majeure :
- L’Idéologie des trois fonctions dans les épopées des peuples indo-européens 1968
- Types épiques indo-européens : un héros, un sorcier, un roi 1971
- Histoires romaines, 1973, tous publiés aux éditions Gallimard
- Idées romaines, 1969, publié aux éditions Gallimard
- Heur et Malheur du guerrier, aspects de la fonction guerrière chez les Indo-Européens, 1969, Presses Universitaires de France
- Du mythe au roman, la Saga de Hadingus et autres essais, 1970, Presses Universitaires de France
- Fêtes romaines d’été et d’automne, suivi de Dix Questions romaines , 1975, publié aux éditions Gallimard
- Le Verbe oubykh, études descriptives et comparatives, 1975, publié par l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres
- Les Dieux souverains des Indo-Européens , 1977, publié aux éditions Gallimard
- Romans de Scythie et d’alentour , 1978, publié aux éditions Payot
- Mariages indo-européens, suivi de Quinze Questions romaines, 1979, publié aux éditions Payot
- Apollon sonore et autres essais, 1982, publié aux éditions Gallimard
- La Courtisane et les Seigneurs colorés, et autres essais - 25 esquisses de mythologie, 1983, publié aux éditions Gallimard.
- Le Moyne noir en gris dedans Varenne - Sotie Nostradamus|nostradamique, 1984, publié aux éditions Gallimard
- L’Oubli de l’homme et l’honneur des dieux, 1985, publié aux éditions Gallimard
- Entretiens avec Didier Eribon, éditions Gallimard, coll. Folio, 1987
- Le Roman des jumeaux - Esquisses de mythologie, édition posthume par Joël Grisward, 1995, publié aux éditions Gallimard.
Further reading
- Littleton, C. ScottC. Scott LittletonCovington Scott Littleton was an American anthropologist and academic.Born in Los Angeles, he served in the Army during the Korean War. Littleton obtained his B.A. , M.A. , and Ph.D...
. The New Comparative Mythology: An Anthropological Assessment of the Theories of Georges Dumézil. University of California Press, 1966. Third 1982 edition ISBN 978-0520041035.
- Haugen, Einar "The Mythical Structure of the Ancient Scandinavians: Some Thoughts on Reading Dumézil" in Introduction to Structuralism, edited by Michael Lane, Basic Books, 1970, ISBN 0456095089.