No relation? Or the same thing?

December 15, 2008 9:32 AM

Mythology/historical question - I'm looking for the interrelation and correlation between Astarte and Astaroth.

Wiki states that the Jewish demonization of Astarte became Ashtoreth, a demoness of lust etc etc. Astaroth, however, is a male force with completely different domains and influences. Is it just an unlikely coincidence that these two god/demons have identical names and come from the same region, or is there some cultural transition between the two forms? Basically, I'd like to see some sort of genealogical tree of ideas and regions that indicates the connection, if there is one.

posted by FatherDagon to religion & philosophy (8 comments total)

If you check the Wikipedia page for Astaroth, it says: According to Lon Milo DuQuette and Christopher S. Hyatt, Astaroth is "a thinly disguised version of the goddess Astarte...." The book cited is Aleister Crowley's Illustrated Goetia.

I can't find any references to a male deity named Astaroth older than four or five hundred years. It looks to me like he was an invention of the demonologists of the late middle ages, intended to be a male counterpart of Astarte. I'm happy to be corrected if there is an older reference out there.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:28 AM on December 15, 2008

My friend says: "The goddess Astarte had different names in different languages, and that means that her name is really close to, and maybe intentionally close to, the Hebrew word for the pillar shrines that everyone uses here and there throughout the Hebrew Bible: Asheroth (plural). It has been proposed by Biblical scholars that Ashera was actually conceived at times as YHWH's wife, and that those pillars might have been to worship her: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=2005&letter=A"
posted by hermitosis at 11:39 AM on December 15, 2008

Continued: "I can't really locate when the word became a masculine one, but I suspect that it was not Jews who did it. The name is just too feminine if you know Hebrew. My best guess is that it was Christians who knew that the word's demonic associations (developed throughout the Prophetic books), but really had no concept of its history or etymology. This article is not bad either."
posted by hermitosis at 11:43 AM on December 15, 2008

Also, here. "The Massoretic pointing in the Hebrew Tanach indicate the pronunciation as ‘Ashtōreth instead of the expected ‘Ashtereth, probably because the two last syllables have here been pointed with the vowels belonging to bōsheth 'abomination' to indicate that word should be substituted when reading. The plural form, referring to multiple ‘Ashtarts, is pointed as ‘Ashtār�th."
posted by hermitosis at 11:47 AM on December 15, 2008

I've found various references that indicate there's a connection between the two, but none that outline how that connection came to be. The most detailed rundown I've found is here, but it seems to represent Astaroth as just an alteration of the name Astarte and brands it as a female Phoenician god. However, the description of Astaroth I've always been more familiar with seems to be rooted in the Lesser Key of Solomon, which has it's source texts dated to the mid-sixteenth century - almost 3000 years after the heyday of Astarte worship.

Is there any direct lineage between these two, or did someone just appropriate the name a few hundred years ago and make up a new description out of whole cloth?
posted by FatherDagon at 11:49 AM on December 15, 2008

Astaroth is "a thinly disguised version of the goddess Astarte...."

That's what I thought at first, but comparing the two they seem to have rather significantly different domains. Astarte (and her contemporary regional analogs) were generally female sexuality fertility, love, and war, with some slight variations along the way. Even the original Hebrew conversion Ashtoreth is regarded as a "demoness of lust", succubus type thing - pretty much exactly how a negative view of a female sex goddess would come across. Howe'er, Astaroth of the Lesser Keys flavor is someone who "teaches mathematical sciences and handicrafts, can make men invisible and lead them to hidden treasures, and answers every question formulated to him. He was also said to give to mortal beings the power over serpents." Also patron of inquisitions, etc.

The one thing that gets me is this: "He also goes by the name ‘Ashtart/Astarte which was rendered in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible as Astharthe (singular) and Astharoth (plural), that last form rendered in the King James Version of the Bible as Ashtaroth. It seems this plural form was taken either from the Latin or from some translation or other by those who did not know it was a plural form."

Is that indicating that the entire connection is due to a translation error or some such? There doesn't seem to be much similarity between them other than the name, and that appears to have just been picked out of a hat because it sounded familiar.
posted by FatherDagon at 12:03 PM on December 15, 2008

I'm afraid I can't help with this specific question, but on the general issue of sex/function drift, I suggest you read about Guanyin (觀音, Japanese Kannon), the East Asian Buddhist goddess of compassion, who was originally the male bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (अवलोकितेश्वर). Lots of things happen to god(desse)s in their passage across cultures.
posted by languagehat at 1:25 PM on December 15, 2008

I think you are on the right track. Looks to me like someone appropriated the name based on a translation error. I'm only fluent in ANE deities to the extent that's it's come up in my Old Testament studies, but I can't find any ancient references to a male Ahtaroth (or similar) in my reference books. It wouldn't be a surprise if some 16th C. writer wasn't up to speed on his ancient gods and invented a backstory for Astaroth when he didn't realize that the name he was reading referred to than old goddess. I can't prove that supposition, but I see no link between the old goddess and relatively new references to the demon.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:29 PM on December 15, 2008