or (), romanized as Hausos, is the reconstructed name of the dawn goddess in Proto-Indo-European mythology.
Her attributes were subsequently expanded and adopted into female deities found in subsequent cultures and mythologies, including solar goddesses. is believed to have been one of the most important deities worshipped by Proto-Indo-European speakers due to the consistency of her characterization in subsequent traditions.
The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European name of the dawn, , derives from the verbal root ('to shine', 'glow red', 'a flame') extended by the suffix . The same root also underlies the word for 'gold', , inherited in Latin , Old Prussian , and Lithuanian .
The word for the dawn as a meteorological event has also been preserved in the Balto-Slavic *auá¹£(t)ro ( Lithuanian 'dawn', 'morning light', Proto-Slavic *ÃÂtro 'morning', 'dawn', Old Church Slavonic 'in the morning'); the Sanskrit ('dawn'); and in the Ancient Greek ('tomorrow').
A derivative adverb, , meaning "east" (), is reflected in the Latvian ('east'); Avestan ('east'); Italic (compare Latin 'south wind, south'); Old Church Slavonic ('summer'); and the Germanic ( Old Norse , English east, Middle High German ). The same root seems to be preserved in the Baltic names for the northeast wind: Lith. auà ¡trinis and Latvian , , . Also related are the Old Norse Austri, described in the as one of four dwarves that guard the four cardinal points (with him representing the east), and ('The eastern way'), attested in medieval Germanic literature.
A common epithet associated with is , meaning "Daughter of *DyÃÂus," the Proto-Indo-European sky god. Cognates stemming from the formulaic expression appear in multiple mythological traditions. Ushas was named as the "Daughter of Heaven" in the Rigveda; Eos was associated with the title "Daughter of Zeus" Pre-Homeric Greece; "Daughter of Dievas" was ascribed to a Lithuanian sun goddess; and the Albanian goddess Prende was regarded as the daughter of the sky god Zojz.
Cognates stemming from the root and associated with a dawn goddess are attested in the following cultures and mythologies:
The attributes of the dawn goddess are reconstructed using the common traits found in later Indo-European dawn goddesses, including those from Greek, Hindu, Slavic, and Baltic mythologies. One of the most common characteristics of the goddess was her radiance and brilliance, as she is almost always described as a "bringer of light". Various cognates associated with the goddess derive from the Proto-Indo-European root , meaning "to glow", or "shine." More specifically, was ascribed with the attribute "wide-shining" or "far-shining"â a trait possibly attested in the Greek theonym Euryphaessa ("wide-shining") and the Sanskrit poetic expression ("[<nowiki/>Ushas] shines out widely"). She was also closely associated with the colors of the dawn: gold, saffron, red, and crimson, and is frequently described as dancing.
Other traits attributed to include her residence and vehicle. She is usually depicted dwelling on an island in the ocean or generally living in the east. The goddess is often described as driving some sort of vehicle pulled by horses, which later cultures typically adapted as a chariot. However, likely drove a wagon or similar carrier, as chariot technology first appeared in the Sintashta culture (2100âÂÂ1800 BC), and is generally associated with the Indo-Iranian peoples. In myth, the goddess uses her vehicle to bring the dawn or new day; she was also frequently depicted as refusing to bring the dawn, an act for which she is punished. Similarly, is depicted as the opener of the doors or gates of heaven for her father, the sky god *DyÃÂus.
The spread hand as the image of the sun's rays in the morning may also be of Proto-Indo-European origin. The Homeric expressions 'rose-armed' () and 'rosy-fingered Dawn' (), as well as Bacchylides' formula 'gold-armed' (), can be semantically compared with the Vedic formulas 'golden-handed' () and 'broad-handed' (). According to Martin L. West, "the 'rose' part is probably a Greek refinement."
In Greek mythology, Eos was the goddess and personification of the dawn. She is described as living "beyond the streams of Oceanus at the ends of the earth". A more precise location of her home is given in Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus claims Eos lives at the mythical island of Aeaea, stating that it houses "the dwelling of early Dawn and her dancing-lawns (), and the risings of the sun". In the Hymn to Aphrodite, the home was described as having 'shining doors' (), behind which Eos locked her lover Tithonus. Homer also depicts Eos herself, wearing saffron-colored robes () and riding in a chariot pulled by a pair of horses named Lampos and Phaethon. Similarly, the Greek lyric poet Bacchylides calls her "white-horsed Dawn" (). The colour and number of the horses varies between authors, with common colours being white and red.
In the Iliad, "early-born", also translated as "born in the morning", () is given as an epithet of Eos. In the Orphic Hymns, she is called ("light-bringing"), ("shining on mortals"), and ("bright-shining"). In Homeric formulas, she was also referred to as "gold-throned" ().
A possible mythological descendant of may be Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Scholars posit similarities based on her connection with a sky deity as her fatherâ Zeus or Uranusâ and her association with the colours red and gold. In the Iliad, Aphrodite is hurt by a mortal and her wounds are tended to by her mother Dione. Dione is seen as a female counterpart to Zeus, and is thought to etymologically derive from the Proto-Indo-European root .
Aurora was the goddess of the dawn in Roman mythology, and the equivalent of the Greek Eos. Similar imagery is utilized when describing both goddesses, likely due to the Hellenization of Roman culture. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Aurora opens the red doors () to fill her rosy halls, and in Nonnus' Dionysiaca the goddess shakes off her sleep and leaves Cephalus in order to "open the gates of sunrise" ( ). Ovid associates her with the colours yellow, red, and purple, and describes her as ("the golden-yellow one") in his Amores. Similarly to Eos, Aurora drives a biga or a rosy-red quadriga in Virgil's Aeneid.
Ushas is the Rigvedic and Vedic goddess of the dawn in Hinduism. In the ancient Rigveda, she is described as the daughter of the sky god Dyáuá¹£, born from the harnessing of the Aà Âvins. She is described as "the Dawn's shine" (); the dawn is "gold-coloured" (); and she throws on embroidered garments "like a dancer" (). She wears crimson garments and a gleaming gold veil. In the Samaveda, she is described as "red, like mare"; she shots "ruddy beams of light", "yokes red steeds to her car"," and "harnesses the red cows." Her horses are said to be pale red, ruddy, yellowish, or reddish-yellow in Vedic traditions.
The Avesta refers to a mythical eastern mountain called "Dawn-house" (). TheYasnas also mention a mountain named , possibly meaning "crack of dawn" (as a noun) or "having reddish cracks" (as an adjective).
In Latvian and Lithuanian mythology, SaulÃÂ is the goddess of the sun. In Baltic folklore, SaulÃÂ is said to live in a silver-gated castle at the end of the sea, located somewhere in the east, or to go to an island in the middle of the sea for her nocturnal rest. In folksongs, SaulÃÂ sinks into the bottom of a lake in a silver cradle to sleep "in the white seafoam".
In the Lithuanian tradition, the sun is portrayed as a "golden wheel" or a "golden circle" that rolls down the mountain at sunset. Saulé is also described as being dressed in clothes woven with "threads of red, gold, silver and white". In Latvian folk songs, Saulàand her daughter(s) are dressed of shawls woven with gold thread, and Saulàwears shoes of gold, which parallels the Greek poet Sappho describing Eos as ("golden-sandalled"). The goddess is portrayed as dancing in her gilded shoes on a silver hill, and her fellow Baltic goddess Auà ¡rinàis said to dance on a stone for the people on the first day of summer. Saulàis sometimes portrayed as waking up 'red' () or 'in a red tree' during the morning. Her association with red may represent the "fiery aspect" of the sun: the setting and the rising sun are equated with a rose wreath and a rose in bloom, due to their circular shapes.
Saulàdrives a carriage with copper-wheels, a "gleaming copper chariot", or a golden chariot pulled by untiring horses. Alternately, she has been described as driving a "sleigh" (kamaà Âià Âa) made of fish bones. The goddess is portrayed driving her shining car on the way to her husband, the Moon. In other accounts, she is said to sail the World Sea on a silver or golden boat, which, according to legend, is what her chariot transforms into for her night travels. In a Latvian folk song, Saulàhangs her sparkling crown on a tree in the evening and enters a golden boat to sail away.
The goddess' horses are commonly said to be white in colour; in other accounts they are described as three horses with golden, silver and diamond coats. In Latvian folk songs (), her horses are described as having hooves and bridles of gold, and coats that are yellow, golden, or bay in colour: "reflect[ing] the hues of the bright sky". When she begins her nocturnal journey through the World Sea, her chariot changes into a boat and "the Sun swims her horses".
In Lithuanian mythology, Auà ¡rinàis the goddess of the morning star (Venus) who prepares the way for Saulàeach morning. In one myth, a man named Joseph becomes fascinated with Auà ¡rinÃÂ, and goes on a quest to find the 'second sun', who is actually a maiden that lives on an island in the sea and has the same hair as the Sun.
According to Russian folklorist Alexander Afanasyev, the figure of the Dawn in Slavic tradition is varied: she is described in a Serbian folksong as a maiden sitting on a silver throne in the water, her legs of a yellow color and her arms of gold. In a Croatian fairy tale, the ("Dawn-maiden") "sails the sea in the early morning in her boat of gold with a silver paddle" (alternatively, a silver boat with golden oars) and sails back to Buyan, the mysterious island where she dwells.
In Slavic paganism, Zorya is the personification and guardian deity of the dawn. She is also depicted as a beautiful golden-haired woman who lives in a golden kingdom "at the edge of the White World", and rows through the seas with her silver boat and golden oar (alternatively, a golden boat and silver oar). The home of Zorya is commonly believed to be on the island of Buyan, where her brother, the Sun, dwelt along with his attendants: the North, West and East winds. Although Zorya is not described driving a chariot or wagon pulled by horses, she is still described in a tale as preparing the "fiery horses" of the Sun at the beginning and end of the day. Some versions of her myth split the functions of the goddess into two versions or sisters: Zorya Utrennyaya, the goddess of the dawn, and Zorya Vechernyaya, the goddess of the dusk.
In a Russian saying, Zorya is invoked as a ( "red maiden"), and in another story, Zorya sits on a golden chair and holds a silver disk or mirror (identified as the sun). In other stories, a maiden sits on the white-hot stone Alatyr in Buyan, weaving red silk. More specifically, the maiden is described as the "rose-fingered" Zorya, who, with her golden needle, weaves a veil over the sky in rosy and "blood-red" colours using a thread of "yellow ore".
Remnants of the root and its derivations survive in onomastics of the Middle Ages. A medieval French obituary from the 12th century, from Moissac, in Occitania, registers compound names of Germanic origin that contain root Aur- (e.g., Auraldus) and Austr- (e.g., Austremonius, Austrinus, Austris). Names of Frankish origin are attested in a "polyptyque" of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, containing aust- (sometimes host- or ost-) and austr- (or ostr- > French out-). Germanic personal names in Galicia and Iberian toponyms with prefix aus-, astr- and aust- (> ost-) also attest the survival of the root well into medieval times.
In Albanian paganism, Prende is the goddess of the dawn whose name traces back to the PIE ("he who brings the light through"), from which the Ancient Greek (Persephone), is considered to have descended from. Prende is also called â an Albanian phrase meaning "near day" or "dawn". Afërdita also serves as the native name for the planet Venus. The Albanian imperative form 'come forth the dawn' traces back to Proto-Albanian 'come forth brightness of the day/dawn', from PIE . According to linguist Václav Blaà ¾ek, the Albanian word ("star") finds a probable ultimate etymology in the root ("dawn"), specifically through ("morning-star'), which implies the quite natural semantic evolution 'dawn' > 'morning star' > 'star'.
In Albanian mythology, Prende is pulled across the sky in her chariot by swallows, called ("the Lady's Birds"), which are connected to the chariot by the rainbow (), which is also known as or ("the Lady's Belt").
A character named Gwawrdur is mentioned in the Mabinogion tale of Culhwch and Olwen. Stefan Zimmer suggests either a remnant of the Dawn goddess or a name meaning "(with) the color of steel", since gwawr may also mean 'color, hue, shade'. The name also appears in the Canu Aneirin under the variants Gwardur, Guaurud, Guaurdur, (G)waredur, or (G)waledur. All of these stem from the Middle Welsh ('dawn'; also 'hero, prince'). According to linguist Ranko MatasoviÃÂ, the latter derives from Proto-Celtic *warë- ('sunrise, east', Middle Irish ), itself from the PIE root ('spring').
Scholars have argued that the Roman name AurÃÂlius (originally AusÃÂlius, from Sabine 'sun') and the Etruscan sun god Usil (probably of Osco-Umbrian origin) may be related to the Indo-European word for the dawn. A figure in Belarusian tradition named ÃÂÃÂÃÂõýà(Ausenis) and related to the coming of spring is speculated to be cognate to .
An expression of formulaic poetry can be found in the Proto-Indo-European expression ('it dawns'), attested in Lithuanian and , Latvian , Avestan , or Sanskrit . The poetic formula 'the lighting dawn' is also attested in the Indo-Iranian tradition: Sanskrit , and Young Avestan . A hapax legomenon uà Âád-bhiḥ (instr. pl.) is also attested.
Other remnants of the root are present in the Zoroastrian prayer to the dawn HoshbÃÂm, and in Uà ¡ahin gÃÂh (the dawn watch), sung between midnight and dawn. In Persian historical and sacred literature, namely, the Bundahishn, in the chapter about the genealogy of the Kayanid dynasty, princess FrÃÂnag, in exile with "FrÃÂdà Ân's Glory" after escaping her father's murderous intentions, promises to give her firstborn son, Kay Apiweh, to "à Âà ¡ebÃÂm". à Âà ¡ebÃÂm, in return, saves Franag. In the Yasht about Zam, the Angel of the Munificent Earth, a passage reads upaoá¹£ÃÂÃÂ<sup>ÃÂ</sup>à Âhà('situated in the rosy dawn'), "a hypostatic derivation from unattested *upa uá¹£ÃÂÃÂhu 'up in the morning light(s)'".
A special carol, zorile ("dawn"), was sung by the colindÃÂtori (traditional Romanian singers) during funerals, imploring the Dawns not be in a hurry to break, or begging them to prevent the dead from departing this world. The word is of Slavic origin, with the term for 'dawn' attached to the Romanian article -le.
Stefan Zimmer suggests that Welsh literary expression ym bronn y dyd ("at the breast/bosom of the day") is an archaic formula possibly referring to the Dawn goddess, who bared her breast.
According to Michael Witzel, the Japanese goddess of the dawn Uzume, revered in Shinto, was influenced by Vedic religion. It has been suggested by anthropologist Kevin Tuite that Georgian goddess Dali also shows several parallels with Indo-European dawn goddesses.