Secondly, Zeus Souolibrogenos is a Galatian theonym, souoli meaning sun, brog meaning country or borderland in Gaulish or the Galatian variant (Koch, 2006). Unfortunately, the author does not give a meaning for the ‘enos’ at the end. However, it could have come from Gaulish ‘genos’, meaning son of, born from, sprung from (Delamarree, 2003) or *genos meaning family, and ‘to be born’ (Matasović, 2009). ‘Brogenos’ originally may have been a double g or one left out. Further, Eichner (1994) interprets ‘brog-‘ as a theonym belonging to deities of borders. This etymology may be suggestive of the geography of Galatia, which was largely treeless and sunny and had many nations surrounding it. Therefore, a God of borders and solar associations fits the scene. Further supporting this, solar deities are often believed to have the gift of far-sight; for example, Grannus’ epithet Amarcolitanos meaning "The one with a piercing or far-reaching look" (Hofeneder, 2010). Or Apollo “whose light-producing eye views all within, and all beneath the sky” (Orphic Hymn 34). Therefore the meaning of the theonym or epithet Souolibrogenos may be a kenning meaning "one who dwells in the sun's territory, sky dweller", “one who is born of the sky/sun”, “of the suns horizon” or “one who dwells at the sunny borders”. Zeus Souolibrogenos could have been called to watch and defend the border, either as one who dwells at the border or who watches the borders from the sky.
And finally, Zeus Tavianos, the protector God of Tavium, which was the town of the Trokmoi (one of the three Galatian tribes). Tavianos was the Greek name for the Hittite God Teššop, who was then recontextualised by the Galatians (Strobel, 2009). Tavianos was given a large bronze statue in the middle of Tavium, and His presence granted asylum, as seen by Strabo here (12.5.2):
“The Trocmi possess the parts near Pontus and Cappadocia. These are the most powerful of the parts occupied by the Galatians. They have these walled garrisons: Tavium, the emporium of the people in that part of the country, where are the colossal statue of Zeus in bronze and his sacred precinct, a place of refuge…” Strabo, Geography, 12.5.2, (Loeb trans).
Another translation is slightly different;
“They have three walled fortresses, Tavium, a mart for the people in that quarter, where there is a colossal statue of Jupiter in brass, and a grove, which is used as a place of refuge…” Strabo, Geography, 12.5.2, (Bell & Sons).
But either way, Tavianos was associated with asylum and may have had himself a sacred grove in which people would shelter and was worshipped. Tavianos was of supra-regional importance through His giving of the right to asylum (Strobel, 2009). Tavianos, as Tessup/Tessub (or any number of variations), was a storm God of the Hittites and later Anatolians, who was associated with bulls and kingship (Wilhelm, 2013). Tessup, in one myth, may have destroyed the city he was the patron of due to their disobedience, which led him to move to the Underworld as his abode was destroyed. This is a mythic perspective of the movement of the Anatolian Gods, who would often be given offerings to return to their temples after going away someplace else. This was perhaps the Anatolians' understanding when prayers were not being answered (Wilhelm, 2013). Whether or not Tavianos retained any of Tessups mythos or nature is unknowable, but it perhaps points to Tavianos being the God very specifically of Tavium. However, as we will see below, Tavianos does travel with his worshipers to Dacia later on.
The association of these Gods with Zeus speaks firstly to the Hellenisation of the Galatians, but also the spheres of influence They had. Weather, especially storms and rain, mountains, kingship, and law are common threads between these Gods (Dowden, 2006). The name, title or epithet Zeus became common for any Gods with Zeus like qualities or imagery (Dowden, 2006). In addition, there were many other Zeuses worshipped by the Galatians, including but not limited to Sabazius, Anpeleites, Masphaltënos, Bennios, Akraios, Bussumaros, Casios, Narenos, Olympios, Sarnendenos, Mykaleus, Taenos, Taouianos.
The ‘Zeus’ epithets, including those expanded upon above, many had their origin in Galatia and were spread out from there by the movement of Galatians, who would set up groups such as the ‘Galatae consistentes’ in Dacia, and would dedicate altars to their native Gods (Güney, 2019).
In conclusion, the Galatians worshipped many ‘Zeuses’ or Gods called such. Tavianos, Souolibrogenos and Bussurigios were just three of the dozens they worshipped throughout the pre-Christian period, and there are many more to be reconstructed. These ‘Zeuses’ likely had similar iconography and associations as the classical Greek Zeus. Still, these Zeuses likely had attributes unique to the Galatians' cultural, linguistic, and geographic context.
And a big thanks to all those that helped with the etymology! Cassanâ, Ressagnos, Kaz and adrexia.
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