Atepomarus in

Celtic Gaul Gallia Celtica, meaning "Celtic Gaul" in Latin, was a cultural region of Gaul inhabited by Celts, located in what is now France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the west bank of the Rhine in Germany. According to the Roman ethnography and Julius ...

was a healing god.

Mauvières Mauvières () is a commune in the Indre department in central France. Geography The commune is located in the parc naturel régional de la Brenne. The river Anglin forms most of the commune's western border. Population See also *Communes ...

(Indre),

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

was associated with this god in the form Apollo Atepomarus. At some of Apollo's healing sanctuaries (as at

Sainte-Sabine Sainte-Sabine () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), ...

, Burgundy) small figurines of horses were associated with him.

Names and etymology

The title also appears as ''Atepomerus''. Scholarship suggests the name is a compound of ''at-'' (intensifier), ''-epo-'' (the Celtic word for "horse") and ''-marus'' ("large, great"). Thus, the epithet is sometimes translated as "Great Horseman" or "possessing a great horse". Pierre-Yves Lambert rejects his connection with horses and suggests an etymology based on ''*ad-tepo'', related to 'protection, refuge'.

Role

As founder

A character named Atepomarus appears with a Momoros ( fr) as a pair of Celtic kings and founders of

Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settle ...

. They escape from Sereroneus and arrive at a hill. Momorus, who had skills in

augury Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" (Latin ''aus ...

, sees a murder of crows and names the hill ''Lougodunum'', after the crows. This myth is reported in the works of Klitophon of Rhodes and in

Pseudo-Plutarch Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the actual, but unknown, authors of a number of pseudepigrapha (falsely attributed works) attributed to Plutarch but now known to have not been written by him. Some of these works were included in s ...

's ''De fluviis''.

As a theonym

The name appears as a theonym attached to Graeco-Roman deities

and

Mercurius Mercury (; la, Mercurius ) is a major god in Roman religion and mythology, being one of the 12 Dii Consentes within the ancient Roman pantheon. He is the god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication (including divinati ...

. An inscription of ''Apollo Atepomarus'' was found in

, tied to the Gallic tribe of the Bituriges.

References

Bibliography

* ''Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend.'' Miranda Green. Thames and Hudson Ltd. London. 1997 * ''Animals in Celtic Life and Myth'', Miranda Green, Routledge.

External links

Atepomarus at celtnet
{{Celtic mythology (ancient) Gaulish gods Health gods