ABSTRACT
The compelling conclusion which is indicated by this investigation of parallels is that extensive influence from Mesopotamia exists in these Homeric hymns and in the works of Hesiod, which generally speaking belong to the early archaic era. The influence appears to be of a fundamental nature, since the ideas and motifs are the basis for most of the events and activities of the gods in the myths. What is indicated by the study of this body of literature is that the Greeks seem to have had an intimate knowledge of many central ideas and concepts of Mesopotamian mythology and the motifs which express them. This is indicated by the parallels in the Greek myths with the specific Mesopotamian myths in this study, because these Mesopotamian myths are major features of the Mesopotamian religious mythological corpus. It is clear that the Greeks were fully cognizant of central ideas and many motifs of the two major strands seen in the Mesopotamian mythology, the goddess-and-consort strand and the heroic strand, and that they understood them. They also clearly knew at some stage the creation-of-mankind myths of the important god Enki. It is ideas and motifs of these three groups of myths that have figured so prominently in the study of parallels in the Greek hymns and in Hesiod. At the same time, it is clear that a large number of mythological, religious and cosmological ideas which are found in these Mesopotamian myths were not taken over or accepted, whether they were known to the Greeks or not. Some ideas seem to have had a large impact on Greece, while others are not found at all. In the same way, some Mesopotamian myths seem to have been particularly influential, since the parallels of idea and motif with these are numerous and often profound. In the case of other Mesopotamian myths, only a few parallels are found.
