Telibinu, dieu agraire et fondateur hittite

par Michel Mazoyer

Thèse de doctorat en Sciences des religions

Sous la direction de Jean-Marie Durand.

Soutenue en 1995

à Paris, EPHE .

mots clés

Résumé

Jusqu'a une date recente telibinu a ete considere essentiellement comme un dieu agraire et son mythe comme retracant le cycle des saisons. L'objectif de cette these est de montrer que telibinu, qui etait une divinite agraire a l'epoque hattie, est devenu dieu fondateur chez les hittires, tout en conservant sa premiere fonction, et que son mythe constitue le recit etiologique de la fondation du royaume hittite. Ce mythe, qui a servi d'archetype a toute la litterature, souligne particulierement les devastations causees par le depart du dieu et les tentatives pour le faire rentrer. Ces deux elements constituent les traits fondamentaux de la religion hittite. Les dieux risquant toujours de disparaitre et d'emporter avec eux la prosperite du pays, le role du roi et du clerge est de maintenir les divinites dans leur sanctuaire. La partie du mythe qui evoque le retour du dieu est presentee comme l'age d'or de l'histoire du pays hittite et definit l'ideologie de la royaute, symbolisee par le contenu de l'egide remise au roi par telibinu. Conformement a l'organisation du pantheon hittite, telibinu n'agit jamais seul. Ayant une double fonction, puisqu'il est agraire et fondateur, il a la particularite d'etre au centre de deux groupes de divinites. Telibinu ne se contente pas de fonder, il assure la protection de sa fondation. Cette caracteristique le rapproche des dieux qu'on appelle les kal. Nous nous sommes permis a la fin de quelques chapitres de souligner certaines analogies entre la vie de telibinu et celles d'autres divinites indo-europeennes, grecques et romaines.

Titre traduit

Telibinu agrarian god and founder of the hittites

Résumé

Until quite recently, telibinu was considered essentially as an agrarian god, and his myth as telling of the cycle of seasons. The aim of this dissertation is to show that telibinu, who had been an agrarian deity in hatti times, became a founding god of the hittites while retaining at the same time his former role, and that his myth constitutes the etiological narrative of the founding of the hittite kingdom. This myth, which has been widely used as an archetype in literature, insists especially on the devastation brought about by the god's departure and on attemps at ensuring his return. These two elements are the basic features of the hittite religion. Since the gods were constantly likely to vanish and to take away with them the country's prosperity, the king's and the priests'mission was to secure the deities' presence in their shrines. That part of the myth which tells about the return of the god is presented as the golden age of the hittites'history and defines the ideology of their kingship as symbolized by the aegis which telibinu handed over to the king. According to the organisation of the hittite pantheon, telibinu never acted alone. As both an agrarian and a founding god, he was at the center of two groups of deities. Not only was telibinu a founder, he was also the protector of his foundation. This reminds one of those gods called kal. We have take the liberty to emphasize at the end of a few chapters some analogies between telibinu's life and those of other indo-european deities, greek and roman.