Atsuhiko Yoshida (吉田敦彦, born 22 December 1934) is a Japanese

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

best known for his research on parallels between

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

and

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of year ...

Biography

Atsuhiko Yoshida was born on 22 December 1934. He received his degrees in

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Seikei University is a private university in the Kichijōji area of the city of Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. Its name derives from a passage in the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. Its campus is noted for its rows of zelkova trees, which is listed as on ...

and the University of Tokyo. Yoshida subsequently researched at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, where he came under the influence of

Georges Dumézil Georges Edmond Raoul Dumézil (4 March 189811 October 1986) was a French philologist, linguist, and religious studies scholar who specialized in comparative linguistics and mythology. He was a professor at Istanbul University, École pratique d ...

.C. Scott Littleton, ''The New Comparative Mythology: An Anthropological Assessment of the Theories of Georges Dumézil'', University of California Press, Berkeley (1973), pp. 208 ''ff''. He subsequently worked as a visiting lecturer at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

and the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Returning to Japan, Yoshida became a professor at Seikei University. He subsequently became a professor at

Gakushuin University is a private university in Mejiro, Toshima Ward, Tokyo. It was re-established after World War II as an affiliate of the Gakushūin School Corporation. The privatized successor to the original Gakushūin University (or "Peers School") was estab ...

. Yoshida retired as professor emeritus in 2006. With and

C. Scott Littleton Covington Scott Littleton (July 1, 1933 – November 25, 2010) was an American anthropologist who was Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Occidental College. A co-founder of the ''Journal of Indo-European Studies'', Littleto ...

, Yoshida has conducted pioneering studies in relations between

(particularly Greek) and

. He was awarded the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

in 2013.

Scholarship

Yoshida first came to the attention of the field of comparative mythology with a series of articles published in the 1960s. In "Survivances de la tripartition fonctionelle en Grèce" (1964), Yoshida discusses the concept of ideological tripartition in early Greek mythological sources, with examples drawn from

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

, and some

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; grc, Μυκῆναι or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos; and south of Corinth. Th ...

an-era texts. This area of scholarship had been pursued by Yoshida's mentor, Georges Dumézil, who considered it a very difficult field. The same year, Yoshida published "La structure de l'illustration du bouclier d'Achille" discusses how the elaborate design described by Homer for the shield of

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...

, the topic of which concerns much of Book XVIII of the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

'', reflects

ideology. This article also expanded on Dumézil's exploration of tripartite function in Indo-European myth. In subsequent articles, Yoshida discussed parallels between a series of deaths within a Greek mythological family and another instance from

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

, how the function of cups as symbols of sovereignty in Greek myth corresponds to similar traditions in

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and other Indo-European traditions, and the appearance of functional triads in the depiction of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

and in the ''Iliad''. Separately, Yoshida discussed instances in which Indo-European concepts also appear in some of the earliest surviving

, suggesting that these elements might have been foreign introductions, rather than indigenous traditions that merely resembled those of the west. Yoshida further explored the possible relationship between Japanese and western mythology in "Japanese Mythology and the Indo-European Trifunctional System" (1977), building on Dumézil's earlier research. The transmission of mythological elements from the west to Japan, as well as the incorporation of other east Asian myths within early Japanese tradition, formed the basis of much of Yoshida's Japanese-language scholarship between 1974 and 1993.Kazuo Matsumura, ''Mythical Thinkings: What Can We Learn from Comparative Mythology?'', Countershock Press, Frankston (1987–2013), pp. 142 ''ff.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshida, Atsuhiko 1934 births Indo-Europeanists Japanese classical scholars Living people Mythographers University of Tokyo alumni Academic staff of Gakushuin University Academic staff of Seikei University

Biography

Scholarship

See also

References