The Near Eastern Chaoskampf in the River Battle of Iliad 21

Abstract

This essay explores the river battle of Iliad 21 in terms of rhe Near Eastern m)thological motif known as the Chaoskampf wherein an order-promoting storm deity prevails over a water deity associated with chaos. The first section outlines four notable features ofthe protean Chaoskampf traditions in ancient Near Eastern literature, from Mesopotamia to the Levant to Anatolia. The second section traces these four features into the Iliad's river battle and explains their presence by proposing cross-traditional mythopoesis, confluent with other cultural exchanges as established in recent decades. Understanding this part ofthe ¡Uadzs influenced by West Asian traditions will help to explain why it is Hephaistos, not storm god Zeus, who unleashes his fire upon the menacing river god. The role of Hephaistos is examined against the roles of Ugaritic Kotharwa-Hasis and Hittite-Hurrian Ea in their respective Chaoskampf myths.

Greek and Canaanite Mythologies: Zeus, Baal, and their Rivals

“…Following up our comparison to Near Eastern mythologies, Hephaistos finds a close counterpart in the Ugaritic and later Phoenician craftsman deity Kothar‐wa‐Hasis, who is instrumental in helping Baal attain his position and (like Hephaistos) builds palaces and weapons for the gods (Handy , pp. 133–135; Kitts , pp. 104–105; Bremmer , pp.…”

“…Far from an impossible or comical threat against Zeus's supreme power (Louden , pp. 213–14), the battle belongs to the cosmogonic subgenre of Chaoskampf , in which Hephaistos acts as a surrogate of Zeus in defense of his linear descendant Achilles (grandson of Aiakos, son of Zeus) (Kitts ).…”