Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



Paieon. Another epithet is Pandrosos "all- 

 dew " indicating once more a dusk and moon 

 divinity. In Italy the goddess Minerva's 

 name is explained by Isaac Taylor as Etrus- 

 can for " heavens-red/' She and Pallas repre- 

 sent a being like the daughter of Mana in 

 the Kalevala of the Finns — that dread spectre 

 of the under- wo rid — and it may well be that 

 the "Men" in Menrfa and the "Man" in 

 Manala are the same word. 



Our goddess's miraculous birth should not 

 be forgot when we try to find her original 

 meaning below the surface of her worship in 

 classical Greece. Remembering that Pan was 

 before Zeus, not as the goat-foot, but sovereign 

 of the day, the sun and weather, the peculiar 

 circumstances of the birth of Pallas Athene 

 receive explanation. It will be remembered 

 that she sprang full-armed from the head of 

 her sire. So does the dawn rise above the 

 head of the sun, spring from its head, as it 

 approaches the horizon ; so does the moon 

 II i6i 



