natri, The Lycian Apollo
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The prescence of the theophoric name natrbbiyEmi (𐊏𐊀𐊗𐊕𐊂𐊂𐊆𐊊𐊚𐊎𐊆) and it’s Greek counterpart Apollodotos (Ἀπολλόδοτος) in the Letoon trilingual has lead scholars to identify natr(i)- (𐊏𐊀𐊗𐊕𐊆) with Apollo. Bryce points out that natrbbiyEmi seems to be a direct translation of the Greek name, with the ending -bbiyEmi / -piyEmi (a past participle of the verb piye- “to give”) reflecting the dotos in Apollodotos.1 The name natri does appear on the Xanthos stele as well, this time accompanied by the epithet toraxssi (𐊗𐊒𐊕𐊀𐊜𐊖𐊖𐊆). Neumann equates this term with θυρξεύς, an epithet given to Apollo at Kyaneai.2
| Pausanias 2.21.13 | Translation |
|---|---|
| Κυανεῶν δὲ τῶν πρὸς Λυκίᾳ πλησιαίτατα χρηστήριον Ἀπόλλωνός ἐστι Θυρξέως: παρέχεται δὲ ὕδωρ τὸ πρὸς ταῖς Κυανέαις ἔσω ἐνιδόντα τινὰ ἐς τὴν πηγὴν ὁμοίως πάντα ὁπόσα θέλει θεάσασθαι. | Close to Kyaneai by Lycia, where there is an oracle of Apollo Thyrxeus, the water shows to him who looks into the spring all the things that he wants to behold. |
Bryce cautions that natri’s identification with Apollo—and even his identification as a divinity—is built upon a “series of conjectures” and that his indentifications should be treated as such.3 If indeed natri was a native Lycian deity, he certainly was not as popular as other Lycian divinities. It seems strange that the Lycians would have equated such a popular god as Apollo with a less popular divinity, especially since the Greek world was associating Apollo with Lycia as early as the 8th century in the Homeric epics.
Notes
1 Bryce (1986) 187
2 Neumann (1979) 263
3 Bryce (1986) 188
Sources
Bryce, Trevor R. The Lycians in Literary and Epigraphic Sources, vol. 1, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen, 1986.
Neumann, G. “Namen und Epiklesen lykischer Goetter,” in Florilegium Anatolicum, 1979.