ヴァハグン

ヴァハグン（Վահագն、Vahagn Vishapakagh＝ヴィシャップ殺しのヴァハグン、ヴァハクン）は、アルメニアに古代から語り継がれる太陽と火と戦いの神である。ある時から、彼の存在はアラマズドとアナヒットとトライアドを結成する。ギリシャのヘーラクレースやイラン神話のウルスラグナと同一視されている。

エウヘメリズム信仰では、全ての神は元は人間であり、ヴァハグンも同様に紀元前6世紀のエルワンド王の息子でバブとティランの兄弟、アルメニアの王位継承者として記録されている。

歴史家モーセス・ホレナツィのアルメニア史には、彼の誕生とドラゴン（ヴィシャップ）殺しの偉業を謳った歌が収録されている。

ヴァハグンまたはヴァハクン（アルメニア語：Վահագն）は、アルメニア神話の軍神で、ヴァハグ・ビシャパカグ（Վահագն Վիշապաքաղ, 'Vahagn the Dragon-reaper' ）としても知られている。学者たちは、アルメニアの先史時代のパンテオンの雷神、あるいは太陽と火の神、また戦争、勇気、勝利の神であるとみなしている。アラマズド、アナヒットとトライアドを形成している。ヴァハグンは、語源的にはインド・イランの神ウルスラグナのパルティア名である*Varhraγnに由来するが、2つの神には重要な相違点がある。

Vahagn was worshipped at a tripartite temple complex together with his bride Astghik and the goddess Anahit in the district of Taron, on the slopes of a mountain called Karke near the settlement of Ashtishat.テンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn After Armenia came under Hellenistic influence in antiquity, Vahagn was identified with the Greek deity Heracles, but also rarely with Apollo.テンプレート:Sfn

Name

The theonym Vahagn is cognates with Verethragna, the name of the Indo-Iranian god of victory mentioned in Avesta, as well as the Vedic Vŗtrahan, the usual epithet of the thunder god Indra.テンプレート:Sfn It was borrowed into Armenian from Parthian *Varhraγn and developed from the earlier form *Varhagn.テンプレート:Sfn In the old Armenian calendar, the twenty-seventh day of the month was called Vahagn.テンプレート:Sfn Additionally, the planet Mars was called Atraher ("fire-hair") by the ancient Armenians in reference to Vahagn.テンプレート:Sfn Today, Vahagn is used as a male given name among Armenians.

Historical attestations

Vahagn is mentioned in a number of Classical Armenian written sources.テンプレート:Sfn For example, in the history attributed to Agathangelos, Armenian king Tiridates III evokes the triad of Aramazd, Anahit and Vahagn in a greeting to his people: "May health and prosperity come to you by the help of the gods, rich fullness from manly Aramazd, providence from Anahit the Lady, and bravery come to you from brave Vahagn."テンプレート:Sfn

Historian Movses Khorenatsi refers to Vahagn as one of the sons of Tigranes (a mythologized composite figure of several Armenian kings in Khorenatsi's history) and records the following song about him:テンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn

Khorenatsi does not give the rest of the song, but states that it tells of how Vahagn fought and conquered vishaps, which are the dragons of Armenian mythology.テンプレート:Sfn This attribute of Vahagn is the reason for his title vishapakagh, meaning "reaper of vishaps" or "dragon-reaper."テンプレート:Sfn

The 7th-century Armenian author Anania Shirakatsi relates a myth where Vahagn steals some straw from Barsham (i.e., Baalshamin) and drops it on his way back, creating the Milky Way. This is supposed to be the origin of one of the folk names of the Milky Way in Armenian, Hardagoghi chanaparh, literally "the way of the straw-thief."テンプレート:Sfn

Temple

The chief temple of Vahagn at Ashtishat on the slopes of Mount Karke was often called the Vahevanean or Vahevahean temple because its priests were members of the Vahevuni or Vahnuni noble house, who claimed descent from Vahagn.テンプレート:Sfn Vahagn was worshipped jointly at the temple together with Anahit and Astghik.テンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn According to Agathangelos, after King Tiridates III's conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century, the first head of the Armenian Church Gregory the Illuminator went to Ashtishat and destroyed the temple of Vahagn.テンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn A church was constructed on the site of the destroyed temple, which became the first Mother See of the Armenian Church.テンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn

Interpretations and comparative mythology

Georges Dumézil noted that Vahagn seems closer to the Vedic Vŗtrahan Indra than the Avestan Verethragna, since the former is depicted as a dragon/serpent-slayer like Vahagn, while the latter is not.テンプレート:Sfn Vahagn has frequently been regarded as a counterpart of Indra, but Armen Petrosyan considers the similarities between the two to be underlying Indo-European commonalities rather than the result of direct borrowing, since in that case the dissimilarity with Verethragna would be inexplicable.テンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn Philologist Vyacheslav Ivanov considered the Song of Vahagn recorded by Khorenatsi to be "one of the striking examples of Indo-European poetry."テンプレート:Sfn In Ivanov's view, the myth of Vahagn contains several layers, including the later Iranian myth of Verethragna and an earlier Indo-European layer of a god persecuting the enemy.テンプレート:Sfn Armen Petrosyan considers Vahagn to be a pre-Iranian Armenian god who took on an Iranian name, rather than a complete borrowing.テンプレート:Sfn Petrosyan has also drawn parallels between Vahagn and the Vedic fire deity Agni, based on similarities in the accounts of their birth.テンプレート:Sfn Vahagn may have acquired his attribute of dragon-slayer from the Hurro-Urartian deity Teshub.テンプレート:Sfn

Vahagn was identified with Heracles during the Hellenistic period.テンプレート:Sfn In the 5th-century Armenian translation of the Bible, Vahagn is used to translate Heracles in 2 Maccabees 4:19, while Khorenatsi states that the song of Vahagn tells of heroic deeds reminiscent of Heracles.テンプレート:Sfn More rarely, he was identified with the sun god Apollo.テンプレート:Sfn John the Baptist has been called the "Christian heir of Vahagn's character," as a church dedicated to him was built near the demolished temple of Vahagn.テンプレート:Sfn

Bibliography

• テンプレート:Cite book
• テンプレート:Cite book
• テンプレート:Cite journal
• テンプレート:Cite encyclopedia
• テンプレート:Cite book
• テンプレート:Cite journal
• テンプレート:Cite journal
• テンプレート:Cite book
• テンプレート:Cite book
• テンプレート:Encyclopædia Iranica

Further reading

• A History of Armenia (Armenian Mythology) by Vahan M. Kurkjian. Published by the Armenian General Benevolent Union of America 1958/YR.

See also

• Astłik
• Hayk