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CHRISTOPHER BARON

University of Notre Dame

The name of a Scythian goddess whom Herodotus equates with the Greek earth goddess Gaia (Gē, 4.59.2). However, the Old Iranian root āp‐ denotes “water.” Though some scholars believe Herodotus (or his source) to be mistaken, or posit a brief lacuna in the text (Humbach and Faiss 2012, 7), the link between water and the life‐giving power of the earth may explain Herodotus’ identification (Ustinova 1999, 74–75). As a river goddess, Api may correspond to the “daughter of BORYSTHENES” whose union with ZEUS (Scythian PAPAEUS), according to the SCYTHIANS, produced the first man, TARGITAUS (4.5.1).

SEE ALSO: Ethnography; Gods and the Divine; Religion, Greek