Response to ‘The fall of Phaethon: a Greco-Roman geomyth preserves the memory of a meteorite impact in Bavaria (south-east Germany)’ by Rappenglück et al. (Antiquity 84)

Abstract

The authors comment on the date of the formation of the Tüttensee, holding that it was not created by a meteorite in the first millennium BC as claimed in the Antiquity article, but formed at the end of the Ice Age and can have nothing to do with Phaethon and his chariot. In reply, Rappenglück et al. offer a brief defence of their thesis.

The Fall of Phaethon in Context: A New Synthesis of Mythological, Archaeological and Geological Evidence

“…A key example is the divine succession myth (Ouranos-Kronos-Zeus) contained in the Theogony of the 8th-century BC poet Hesiod. Such a double succession is almost unparalleled in global mythology except for Near Eastern instances-notably those contained in the Hurrian series of songs customarily 74 James and van der Sluijs Journal of ancient near eastern religions 16 (2016) 67-94 known as the Kumarbi Cycle, of which both the overall scheme and numerous details closely resemble the Greek counterpart (van Dongen 2010;2011;López-Ruiz 2010: 87). In both the Greek and Hurrian versions, the authority of the newly-established sky god (Zeus/Tešub) is challenged by various rebels.…”