Origin of Mythology, 183 



Titan is certainly a denomination of the sun, and prob- 

 ably of Celtic origin. It is the Irish Tethin, sun, formed 

 from teith, heat, with on,, or from di, ti, light, the root of 

 dens,, day, dies, with the Celtic tan, teine, fire, written in 

 other dialects zan, tzan, sun. The syllable ii or di, the 

 I'ootoi dies, dius, ^'^i> signifies in Chinese, high, elevated. 

 The radical idea may be high, or light ; for the early na- 

 tions of the world used the same word to express very 

 different ideas, when bearing some analogy to each other, 

 as we still use great, high, illustrious and splendid. I find 

 on tracing words to their primitive roots, that the same 

 words are used to express high, head, chief, great, illus- 

 trious, prince, and other similar ideas.* 



Jupiter, says Bachart, is Ham or Cham, the son of 

 Noah. Faber observes that although under the name of 

 Jupiter or Hammon, the Egyptians worshipped their an- 

 cestor Ham, yet this deity seems not unfrequently to be 

 Noah himself. He then proceeds to retail the ancient fa- 

 bles respecting his birth and ofiices, as if he had been a 

 real being, f 



•Jupiter is usually supposed to be compotmded of Jove 

 and pater, father Jove. Vallancey supposes the last syl- 

 lables of the name to be the Irish peiter, a thunderbolt.t 



Jupiter is indeed a compound word of which Jove, Jah^ 

 \}ci!t Jehovah of the Jews, is certainly the basis. The origin 

 of this name exhibits, in a striking manner, the process of 

 forming language. In most languages, as far as my in- 

 formation extends, the terms used to signify spirit, or the 

 intellectual principle, are primarily the names of breath, 



air, wind ; as aninia and animus, ct.iB!M<;, spirit us, -^evf^^a 



NoAV the Hebrew word ^m^ Iheue or love, from the verb 

 mn heue, or eue, to exist, that is, to breathe, is a mere 

 onomatope ; an imitation of a strong expiration, or for- 



* Gebelin. Monde Priin. vol. i. 51, and ii. 63. It is worthy of re- 

 mark that the Teutonic nations form their word day, from li, di, op 

 t/?s, light ; while the Slavonic natiyns use our word iu.'z for the sam« 

 purpose, cix\]xn'g daij, dzcn, or rf-:?V?z....Cluver. Germ. Antiq. lib.i.25. 



t Bochart, lib. i. ca. 8. — Faber, vol. ii. 292. 



\ Orient. Coll. ii. 102-7. Hns this name any connection with the 

 Ya{iet or Jafict of the Hindoos ? Jijajte.ti is Lord of the eurth. Asiut. 

 Res. iii. S13. 



