Editing Caucasus (section)

==Mythology==
In [[Greek mythology]], the Caucasus was one of the pillars supporting the world.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gregović|first=Marko|date=2018-02-21|title=Caucasus — The Mountain Where They Chained Prometheus|url=https://medium.com/@grexovic/caucasus-the-mountain-where-they-chained-prometheus-564c1ef83bab|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Medium|language=en|archive-date=12 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612041744/https://medium.com/@grexovic/caucasus-the-mountain-where-they-chained-prometheus-564c1ef83bab|url-status=dead}}</ref> After presenting man with the gift of fire, [[Prometheus]] (or [[Amirani]] in the [[Georgian mythology|Georgian version]]) was chained there by [[Zeus]], to have his liver eaten daily by an eagle as punishment for defying Zeus's wish to keep the "secret of fire" from humans.

In [[Persian mythology]], the Caucasus might be associated with the mythic [[Mount Qaf]] which is believed to surround the known world. It is the battlefield of [[Saoshyant]] and the nest of the [[Simurgh]].{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

The [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] poet [[Ovid]] placed the Caucasus in [[Scythia]] and depicted it as a cold and stony mountain which was the abode of personified hunger. The Greek hero [[Jason]] sailed to the west coast of the Caucasus in pursuit of the [[Golden Fleece]], and there met [[Medea]], a daughter of [[Aeëtes|King Aeëtes]] of [[Colchis]].

===Later folklore===
The Caucasus has a rich folklore tradition.<ref name="Rashidvash, pp. 33–34">Rashidvash, pp. 33&ndash;34.</ref> This tradition has been preserved orally&mdash;necessitated by the fact that for most of the languages involved, there was no alphabet until the early twentieth century&mdash;and only began to be written down in the late nineteenth century.<ref>Mayor, p. xx; Hunt, p. 9.</ref> One important tradition is that of the [[Nart sagas]], which tell stories of a race of ancient heroes called the Narts. These sagas include such figures as [[Satanaya]], the mother of the Narts, [[Sosruquo]] a shape changer and trickster, [[Tlepsh]] a blacksmith god, and [[Batradz]], a mighty hero.<ref name="Rashidvash, pp. 33–34" /> The folklore of the Caucasus shows ancient [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] [[Zoroastrian]] influence, involve battles with ancient [[Goths]], [[Huns]] and [[Khazars]], and contain many connections with ancient [[India]]n, [[Scandinavians|Norse Scandinavian]], and Greek cultures.<ref>Rashidvash, pp. 33&ndash;34; for connections found in the Nart sagas, see Colarusso, pp. 5&ndash;7.</ref>

===Links between Greek mythology and subsequent folklore===
Caucasian folklore contains many links with the myths of the ancient Greeks. There are resemblances between the mother goddess Satanaya and the Greek goddess of love [[Aphrodite]].<ref>Rashidvash, p. 33; Colarusso, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 6], 44, 53, 399.</ref> The story of how the trickster Nart Sosruquo, became invulnerable parallels that of the Greek hero [[Achilles]].<ref>When Sosruquo was born burning in flames, the blacksmith god Tlepsh, grabbed Sosruquo and plunged him into water, making him invulnerable except where he was held by tongs, see Rashidvash, pp. 33&ndash;34; Colarusso, pp. 52&ndash;54 (Circassian Saga 8: ''Lady Setenaya and the Shepherd: The Birth of Sawseruquo''), 185&ndash;186 (Abaza Saga 47: ''How Sosruquo Was Born''), 387&ndash;394 (Ubykh Saga 86: ''The Birth of Soseruquo''), cf. pp. 323&ndash;328 (Abkhaz Saga 75: ''The Mother of Heroes'').</ref> The ancient Greek [[Amazons]] may be connected to a Caucasian "warrior Forest-Mother, Amaz-an".<ref>Rashidvash, p. 34; Colarusso, pp. 130, 318.</ref>

Caucasian legends include stories involving giants similar to [[Homer]]'s [[Polyphemus]] story.<ref>Hunt, pp. 9, 13, 201, 210&ndash;229; Bachvarova, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wxd-CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 p. 106]; Mayor, pp. xxi; Rashidvash, p. 34; Colarusso. pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 6&ndash;7], [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 170] (Circassian Saga 37: ''A Cyclops Bound atop Was'hamakhwa''), [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 200&ndash;202] (Abaza Saga 52: ''How Sosruquo Brought Fire to His Troops'').</ref> In these stories, the giant is almost always a [[shepherd]],<ref>Hunt, p. 13.</ref> and he is variously a one-eyed rock-throwing cannibal, who lives in a cave (the exit of which is often blocked by a stone), kills the hero's companions, is blinded by a hot stake, and whose flock of animals is stolen by the hero and his men, all motifs which (along with still others) are also found in the Polyphemus story.<ref>Hunt, Table 1, pp. 211&ndash;212.</ref> In one example from [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], two brothers, who are being held prisoner by a giant one-eyed shepherd called "One-eye", take a spit, heat it up, stab it into the giant's eye, and escape.<ref>Hunt, pp. 218&ndash;222 (45. The Story of One-eye (''Georgian'')).</ref>

There are also links with the ancient Greek myth of [[Prometheus]].<ref>Mayor, p. xxi; Hunt, pp. 14, 330&ndash;357; Calarusso, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 7], [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 170], [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 200&mdash;202]; Rashidvash, p. 34.</ref> Many legends, widespread in the Caucasus, contain motifs shared with the Prometheus story.<ref>Hunt, p. 14. Hunt, p. 330, mentions forty-four versions.</ref> These motifs include a giant hero, his conflict with God or gods, the stealing of fire and giving it to men, being chained, and being tormented by a bird who pecks at his liver (or heart).<ref>Hunt, pp. 330&ndash;331.</ref> The [[Adyghe people|Adyge]]/[[Circassians|Circassian]] Nart Nasran,<ref>Colarusso, pp. 158&ndash;168 (Circassian Saga 34: ''How Pataraz Freed Bearded Nasran, Who Was Chained to the High Mountain''), 168&ndash;169 (Circassian Saga 35: ''Bound Nasran''); Hunt, pp. 355&ndash;356; Rashidvash, p. 34.</ref> the [[Georgians|Georgian]] [[Amirani]],<ref>Hunt, pp. 332&ndash;337, 351&ndash;355; Colarusso, p. 169.</ref> the [[Chechens|Chechen]] [[Pkharmat]],<ref>Hunt, pp. 332, 339&ndash;344.</ref> and the [[Abkhazians|Abkhazian]] [[Abrskil]],<ref>Hunt, pp. 333, 347&ndash;351.</ref> are examples of such Prometheus-like figures.