The Trifunctional Nature of the Greek Goddess of Dawn

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the Greek Goddess of Dawn Eos as a transfunctional figure. In Homer’s epics the scope of her activity is limited. The goddess herself appears in the narrative primarily in descriptions of the arrival of a new day. However, analysis of written and archaeological materials shows that Eos held greater importance in an earlier Greek belief system, but over time she lost the original distinctive features of the Goddess of Dawn in favor of more active characters, including Hera and Aphrodite. The sources and the proposed research procedure also lead to the conclusion that the abstract Goddess of Victory participated in the acquisition of features previously reserved for the Goddess of Dawn.