Reve (deity)

Reo is a name appearing on Latin dedications to a Lusitanian-Gallaecian deity, usually with an epithet relating to a place, such as Reo Paramaeco discovered in Lugo in Galicia. The name ''Reo'' is in the Latin dative case, for a Latinized name ''*Reus''.

Epigraphy

Reve is considered to be a very diffused Palaeo-Hispanic deity in the Western part of the Iberian Peninsula, which would indicate it was "the most popular" of the pantheon. The name appears in at least 20 attestations, with variations:

* ''Reue Reumiraego'' (Vilardevós, Orense);
* ''Reo Bormanico'';
* ''Reo Paramaeco'' (Lugo);
* ''Reoue Vadumic(o)'';
* ''Reve Anabaraeco'', ''Reuue Anabaraeco'', ''Reuue Anabaraego'' (Rubiana and Las Burgas, Orense);
* ''Reve Larauco'' (Serra do Larouco, Ourense);
* ''Reve Veisuto'' (Mosteiro de Ribeira, Xinzo de Lima, Ourense);
* ''Reue Marandicui'' (Guiães, Vila-Real);
* ''Reve amoaego arcuneu'' (Ginza de Limia, Orense);
* ''Reve siboico'' (alternate readings: ''Tebieco'' or ''Siddico'') (Celanova, Orense);
* ''Reve langanidae(i)gui'' (Castelo Branco);
* ''Reve langanid eco' (Castelo Branco);
* ''Reve langanitaeco'' (Idanha-a-Nova, Castelo Branco);
* ''Rebe Trasanci'';

Interpretations

Analysing the attestations, a nominative form ''*Reu-s'' or ''*Revs'' is proposed.

The name ''Rebe'' is indicated as the betacist form of ''Reve'', interpreted by Villar and Prósper as a feminine form of the theonym.

Epithets

The epithet ''Bormanico'' probably derives from a river name ''*Bormano-'', a word cognate to the name of continental Celtic deity '' Borvo''.

Apart from ''Reo Larauco'' ('Reus of Larouco') the epithets share an ''-aik-'' element interpreted as an adjectival marker familiar from Lusitanian inscriptions in the dedications to Reo ''Paramaeco'' ('Reus of Paramo') ''Amoaego Arcunii'', ''Anabaraeco'', and ''Alabaraico Sulensi''.

The first element ''Reo/Reus'' is very similar to the name ''Reue'' appearing on the Lusitanian Cabeço das Fráguas inscription, part of which reads INDI TAVROM IFADEM REVE T..., usually interpreted as "and (''or'' thereafter) a fertile(?) bull for Reue" with the epithet lost. ''Reue'' therefore also seems to be a dative in the Lusitanian form of the name. ''Reue'' appears again on the Ribeira da Venda inscription, including an epithet, as REVE AHARACVI - this time the deity is receiving a sacrifice of ten sheep.

Etymology

Reflex of the Proto-Indo-European Sky-God

Polish scholar K. T. Witczak derives the name from earlier ''* diewo'', suggesting that the Lusitanian language changed the Proto-Indo European ''d'' to ''r'', making Reo a sky deity similar to (and having a name cognate with) the Greek Zeus and Roman Jupiter, something which may be supported by dedications to him near mountains which also allude to Roman Jupiter.

Water deity

In another line of scholarship, other authorities such as Blázquez and Villar suggest he may have been a deity linked to rivers and that the name derives from a root meaning 'a flow' or 'current'.

See also

* Bull (mythology)

References

Bibliography

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* Prósper, Blanca María; Liébana, Francisco Villar.
Nuevo epígrafe votivo dedicado a la divinidad Reve en La Coruña
. In: ''Palaeohispánica: Revista sobre lenguas y culturas de la Hispania antigua'' Nº. 3, 2003, pp. 271–282. .
* Prósper, Blanca María (2010).
REVE ANABARAECO, Divinidad Acuática De Las Burgas (Orense)
. In: ''Palaeohispanica. Revista Sobre Lenguas Y Culturas De La Hispania Antigua'', n.º 9 (noviembre), 203-14. https://doi.org/10.36707/palaeohispanica.v0i9.224.
* Redentor, Armando (2013).
Testemunhos De Reve No Ocidente Brácaro
. In: ''Palaeohispanica. Revista Sobre Lenguas Y Culturas De La Hispania Antigua'' n.º 13 (julio) pp. 219–35.
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Further reading

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reo (Deity)
Lusitanian gods
Gallaecian gods