Trifunctional hypothesis
The trifunctional hypothesis of prehistoric Proto-Indo-European society postulates a tripartite ideology ("idéologie tripartite").
Quotes
edit- That the tripartite ideology conforms to the nature of things is probable, and the undoubted temporal success of the Indo-Europeans is perhaps due to the fact that they, more than any other society, including many societies that were just as gifted, were aware of this natural division in the functions of community life. It cannot be fortuitous that some of the greatest successes and demonstrations of power, right up to the modern history of Europe, are based on clear and simple revivals of this ancient archetype, as has been elegantly stated by Mr. Mircea Eliade: the three orders that existed under the French monarchy (clergy, nobility and third estate), the three essential linchpins of the Soviet State (the Party with its police, the Red Army and the workers and farmers) and the three cornerstones of the Nazi State (the Partei with its police, the Wehrmacht and the Arbeitsfront) constituted, or still constitute, machines of incontestable efficiency.
- Dumézil, Georges. 1949. L’Héritage indo-européen à Rome, Paris, Gallimard. 1949, p. 241, 1985, p. 323 quoted in Jean-Paul Demoule - The Indo-Europeans_ Archaeology, Language, Race, and the Search for the Origins of the West-OUP USA (2023)
