"The Asiatic Dionysos" Miss Gladys
Davis tells us that "in his aspect of Moon 'the lord of stars' Soma has
in this character the antelope as his symbol. In fact, one of the names
given to the moon by the early Indians was 'mriga-piplu' or marked
like an antelope" (p. 202). Further she adds: "The Sanskrit name for the
lunar mansion over which Soma presides is 'mriga-siras' or the
deer-headed." If it be admitted that Soma is merely the Aryan
specialization of Ea and Osiris, as I have claimed, Sayce's association
of Ea with the antelope is corroborated, even if it is not explained.

In China the dragon was sometimes called "the celestial stag" (de Groot,
_op. cit._, p. 1143). In Mexico the deer has the same intimate celestial
relations as it has in the Old World (see Seler, _Zeit. f. Ethnologie_,
Bd. 41, p. 414). I have already referred to the remarkable Maya
deer-crocodile _makara_ in the Liverpool Museum (p. 103).

The systematic zoology of the ancients was lacking in the precision of
modern times; and there are reasons for supposing that the antelope and
gazelle could exchange places the one with the other in their divine
roles; the deer and the rabbit were also their surrogates. In India a
spotted rabbit can take the place of the antelope in playing the part of
what we call "the man in the moon". This interpretation is common, not
only in India, but also in China, and is repeatedly found in the ancient
Mexican codices (Seler, _op. cit._). In the spread of the ideas we have
just been considering from Babylonia towards the north we find that the
deer takes the place of the antelope.

In view of the close resemblance between the Indian god Soma and the
Phrygian Dionysus, which has been demonstrated by Miss Gladys Davis, it
is of interest to note that in the service of the Greek god a man was
disguised as a stag, slain and eaten.[229]

Artemis also, one of the many _avatars_ of the Great Mother, who was
also related to the moon, was closely associated with the deer.

I have already referred to the fact that in Africa the dragon role of
the female antelope may be assumed by the cow or buffalo. In the case of
the gods Soma and Dionysus their association with the antelope or deer
may be extended to the bull. Miss Davis (_op. cit._) states that in the
Homa Yasht the deer-headed lunar mansion over which the god presides is
spoken of as "leading the Paurvas," i.e. Pleiades: "Mazda brought to
thee (Homa) the star-studded spi