Atepomarus

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Deity in Celtic Gaul

title: "Atepomarus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gaulish-gods", "health-gods"] description: "Deity in Celtic Gaul" topic_path: "general/gaulish-gods" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atepomarus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Deity in Celtic Gaul ::

Atepomarus or Atepomaros in Celtic Gaul was a healing god from Mauvières (Indre). Apollo was associated with this god in the form Apollo Atepomarus.

At some of Apollo's healing sanctuaries (as at Sainte-Sabine, 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. They escape from Sereroneus and arrive at a hill. Momorus, who had skills in augury, 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's De fluviis.

As a theonym

The name appears as a theonym attached to Graeco-Roman deities Apollo and Mercurius. An inscription of Apollo Atepomarus was found in Mauvières, 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.

References

  1. Jacques Lacroix. (2007). "Les noms d'origine gauloise - La Gaule des dieux". Errance.
  2. Lacroix, Jacques. (2012). "Les noms d'origine gauloise: La Gaule Des Combats". Éditions Errance.
  3. (1996). "Dictionnaire de Mythologie Celte". Éditions du Rocher.
  4. (1971). "Inscriptions de Rennes". Gallia.
  5. (2008). "Etymological Dictionary of Proto Celtic". Brill.
  6. Jacques Lacroix. (2007). "Les noms d'origine gauloise - La Gaule des dieux". Errance.
  7. Lacroix, Jacques. (2012). "Les noms d'origine gauloise: La Gaule Des Combats". Éditions Errance.
  8. (2002). "Lugus et le cheval". Dialogues d'histoire ancienne.
  9. [[Edgar Polomé. Polomé, Edgar C.]] "Etymologische Anmerkungen zu keltischen Götternamen". In: ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'' (ZcP) 49-50, no. 1 (1997): 741. https://doi.org/10.1515/zcph.1997.49-50.1.737
  10. (2012). "Patrice Lajoye, ''Des dieux gaulois. Petits essais de mythologie''. Budapest, Archaeolingua alapítvány, Series Minor no 26, 2008". Études Celtiques.
  11. (2017). "The Sons of Remus: Identity in Roman Gaul and Spain". Harvard University Press.
  12. (1985). "Mais où sont les druides d'antan... ? Tradition religieuse et identité culturelle en Gaule". Dialogues d'histoire ancienne.
  13. (2004). "Mercure et les ''Ateii'' de ''Carpentorate'' (Carpentras, Vaucluse): Note sur une inscription récemment découverte". Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise.
  14. (1983). "Apollon guérisseur en Gaule: Ses origines, son caractère, les divinités qui lui sont associées - Chapitre II". Revue archéologique du Centre de la France.
  15. (1992). "Les grands sanctuaires "ruraux" d'Aquitaine et le culte impérial". Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité.

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