Common Myths of both Portugal and Tartessos

Even though the Iberian Peninsula was located in the extreme west of the known world in what was once believed to be the end of the world, it was in here that one of the most extraordinary civilizations developed - Tartassos. But like all great civilizations, after having risen, it fell.

Tartessians are the ancestors of the Andalusians, not of the Portuguese, but we still share legends and myths, and today I’m going to tell you one of these stories.

Legend of Abidis

Portuguese Legend (Legend of Scalabis)

When the Greeks were preparing to leave for the Trojan war, and while Sanson was fighting the Philistines in the Middle East, a great king named Gorgoris was rulling over the Iberian Peninsula. Gorgóris had a daughter who got pregnant, and it is said the father of the child was either a man of low repute or Gorgóris himself, but regardless of the version we accept, all say the King was determined to kill the baby to protect his honour.

The child, who was named Abidis, was thrown at the beasts to be devoured, but to everyone’s surprise the animals refused to touch him, so the king decided to deprive the wild beasts of food for several days and then to delivered them the child again, but once more they did not touch him. Gorgóris was bewildered by the strange behaviour of the animals, but it did not stop him from continuing trying to murder the child. To finnally accomplish this, he decided to put the child inside a basket and throw it into the Tagus river. The basket was then taken by the waters of the river and arrived to a very fertile region, where the child was found and breastfed by a deer. This region was named Scalabius, or Esca Abius, which means “delicacy of Abidis”, because it was there he was fed by a deer. For years Abidis lived in these regions with the deers, behaving as one of them.

As time passed, the king started to get reports describing a child who was living with deers and he immediatelly suspected it was his grandchild. He sent men to capture him, but this time he didn’t want to kill him, he wanted to raise him and make him his heir. After his capture and education, Abidis became wise, docile and prepared to rule.

Legend of Tartessos

The Legend of Habidis in Tartessos is very similar, and was retold by Justinus¹.

The king Gargoris had a grandson by his daughter who was unchast and to hide it he tried to kill him by exposing him, but he was nursed by wild beasts, then he ordered him to be thrown at a narrow road so that the cattle would trample on him, but he escaped unharmed. Then he ordered his grandson to be thrown at hungry dogs and swine, but the animals refused to eat him. Finnaly he ordered him to be thrown at the ocean, but the child was able to arrive at the coast and was nursed by a female deer. Later, he was captured and the king recognised him and appointed him as his successor.

The Portuguese legend was taken from a 16th-17th century book concerning the mythical history of the Iberian Peninsula, later focussing solely on Portugal. So, this myth is integrated in a wider and more complex mythology.

No one can tell for sure why Santarém shares its myth with Tartessos, maybe we will never know, but that’s not what really matters. What really matters is the myth itself. Like Fernando Pessoa said:

“The myth is the nothing that is everything”

1. JUSTINUS, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus’ Phillipic Histories, 44-4 (https://www.attalus.org/translate/justin7.html)