Illuyankas

lluyankas was a dangerous Hittite dragon being.

Illuyankas defeated the Hittite storm god, Teshub, in a battle at Kiskilussa, in what is now Turkey. Seeking revenge, Teshub’s daughter, Inaras, invited Illuyankas to a feast. Once he was too gorged to move, Illuyankas was killed by the storm god and the other gods.

In another version of the myth, Illuyankas not only defeated Teshub but also stole the storm god’s eyes and heart. Illuyankas’s daughter married Teshub’s son. The son managed to get the stolen eyes and heart back and returned them to his father. Teshub was then able to slay Illuyankas. When Teshub’s son sided with the dragon, the storm god killed him as well.

The ritual of Illuyankas’s defeat was invoked every spring to symbolize Earth’s rebirth.

Written by : Ira Spar

Sources

• Gurney, O.R. The Hittites. Rev. ed. New York: Penguin,1990.
• Hoffner, Harry A. Hittite Myths. 2nd ed. Atlanta, GA: Scholars, 1991.
• Hooke, S.H. Middle Eastern Mythology. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2004.

SEE ALSO:

• Hittite Mythology
• Middle Eastern Mythology

SOURCE:

Storytelling: an encyclopedia of mythology and folklore – Edited by : Josepha Sherman – © 2008 by M.E. Sharpe, Inc.