The Idaean Syndrome V°

This paper explores a cluster of interconnected hypotheses about the personal name Gyges — both the Lydian king and the mythological Hundred-hander — and the morpheme -ka- in Anatolian onomastics. Building on the Lydian compound *kuka-, attested in the numismatic legend kukalim, the author proposes that *ku- may carry the meaning "god/daimon" and *-ka- that of "offspring," so that Gyges' name could be understood as "offspring of god/goddess." If this reading holds, it would suggest a deliberate ideology of divine descent running through the early Mermnad dynasty, possibly reflected in Plato's treatment of the Gyges myth. The paper then traces *-ka- as a nominal element across a range of Anatolian place names and personal names, drawing on evidence from Hittite, Luwian, Lycian, Lydian, and Carian, while remaining attentive to the limits of the available data. A further section considers the Hittite deity Ḫašamili — associated with invisibility, the underworld, and the protection of kings — as a possible Anatolian counterpart to the mythological Gyges, suggesting that the two figures may draw on a shared religious and narrative tradition. The paper closes by revisiting the Hittite kinship terms neka-, nekna-, and kaina- in light of the proposed value of *-ka-, offering tentative new segmentations that may clarify their morphological structure.