Lusitanian mythology
Encyclopedia
Lusitanian mythology is the mythology
of the Lusitanians
, the Indo-European people
of western Iberia
, in the territory comprising most of modern Portugal
, Extremadura
and a small part of Salamanca
.
Lusitanian deities heavily influenced all of the religious practices in western Iberia, namely also in Gallaecia
. They mingled with Roman
deities after Lusitania was conquered
.
, were a number of deities among whom were Endovelicus
, Ataegina
, Nabia
and Trebaruna
. Endovelicus was a god of healing and also had oracular
functions. With ninety-four separate dedications, he appears to have been the most important of all. Ataegina is less well defined; her name has been derived from Celtic
*atte-gena perhaps meaning "reborn". Nabia may have been two separate deities, the consort of the Lusitanian equivalent of the Roman Jupiter
and another associated with earth and sacred springs while Trebaruna's name appears in inscriptions in the Lusitanian language
associated with another, presumably male deity named Reve, whom Witczak suggests may be the equivalent of the Roman Iovis or Jupiter, both names ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European
*diewo-.
Bandua
or Bandi is another with numerous dedications: the name is male in most inscriptions and yet the only depiction being female, it seems the name referred to numerous deities, especially since Bandi/Bandue often carries an epithet associating the name with that of a town or other location such as Bandua Roudaeco, Etobrico or Brealiacui. The god or goddess was probably the protector of the local community, often associated with the Roman Mars
and in one dedication is considered a god or goddess of the Vexillum
or standard.
, Lares
, Nymph
s and Genii
, were the main types of divinity
worshiped, known from the Latin epigraphy
, although many names are recorded in the Lusitanian
or Celtiberian
languages.
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
of the Lusitanians
Lusitanians
The Lusitanians were an Indo-European people living in the Western Iberian Peninsula long before it became the Roman province of Lusitania . They spoke the Lusitanian language which might have been Celtic. The modern Portuguese people see the Lusitanians as their ancestors...
, the Indo-European people
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language , a reconstructed prehistoric language of Eurasia.Knowledge of them comes chiefly from the linguistic reconstruction, along with material evidence from archaeology and archaeogenetics...
of western Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, in the territory comprising most of modern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...
and a small part of Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
.
Lusitanian deities heavily influenced all of the religious practices in western Iberia, namely also in Gallaecia
Gallaecia
Gallaecia or Callaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania...
. They mingled with Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
deities after Lusitania was conquered
Lusitanian War
The Lusitanian War, called the Purinos Polemos , was a war of resistance fought between the advancing legions of the Roman Republic and the Lusitani tribes of Hispania Ulterior from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitani revolted on two separate occasions and were pacified...
.
Main pantheon
Of particular importance and popularity, especially following the Roman conquestLusitania
Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
, were a number of deities among whom were Endovelicus
Endovelicus
Endovelicus , was an Iron Age god of public health and safety, worshipped in pre-Roman and Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia. He was associated with chthonic oracles and healing, and was probably the recipient of pig sacrifices...
, Ataegina
Ataegina
Ataegina or Ataecina was a popular goddess worshipped by the ancient Iberians, Lusitanians, and Celtiberians of the Iberian Peninsula.-Name and functions:...
, Nabia
Nabia
Nabia was the goddess of rivers and water in Gallaecian and Lusitanian mythology, in the territory of modern Galicia and Portugal.The present-day Navia River and Avia_ in Galicia, was named in honor of the deity...
and Trebaruna
Trebaruna
Trebaruna, also Treborunnis and possibly *Trebarunu was a Lusitanian deity, probably a goddess.Trebaruna's cult was located in the cultural area of Gallaecia and Lusitania...
. Endovelicus was a god of healing and also had oracular
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
functions. With ninety-four separate dedications, he appears to have been the most important of all. Ataegina is less well defined; her name has been derived from Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
*atte-gena perhaps meaning "reborn". Nabia may have been two separate deities, the consort of the Lusitanian equivalent of the Roman Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
and another associated with earth and sacred springs while Trebaruna's name appears in inscriptions in the Lusitanian language
Lusitanian language
Lusitanian was a paleohispanic language that apparently belonged to the Indo-European family. Its relationship to the Celtic languages of the Iberian Peninsula, either as a member, a cousin , or as a different branch of Indo-European, is debated. It is known from only five inscriptions, dated from...
associated with another, presumably male deity named Reve, whom Witczak suggests may be the equivalent of the Roman Iovis or Jupiter, both names ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
*diewo-.
Bandua
Bandua
In classical Celtic polytheism as well as in Gallaecian and Lusitanian mythology, Bandua was a theonym used to refer to a god or goddess worshipped in Iberia by Gallaeci and Lusitanians. Whether the name referred to a discrete deity or was an epithet applied to different deities is arguable.-Extent...
or Bandi is another with numerous dedications: the name is male in most inscriptions and yet the only depiction being female, it seems the name referred to numerous deities, especially since Bandi/Bandue often carries an epithet associating the name with that of a town or other location such as Bandua Roudaeco, Etobrico or Brealiacui. The god or goddess was probably the protector of the local community, often associated with the Roman Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
and in one dedication is considered a god or goddess of the Vexillum
Vexillum
The vexillum was a flag-like object used in the Classical Era of the Roman Empire. The word is itself a diminutive for the Latin word, velum, sail, which confirms the historical evidence that vexilla were literally "little sails" i.e. flag-like standards...
or standard.
Deities
DiiDeus
Deus is Latin for "god" or "deity".Latin deus and dīvus "divine", are descended from Proto-Indo-European *deiwos, from the same root as *Dyēus, the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon...
, Lares
Lares
Lares , archaically Lases, were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries or fruitfulness, hero-ancestors, or an amalgam of these....
, Nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
s and Genii
Genius (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion, the genius was the individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person, place or thing.-Nature of the genius:...
, were the main types of divinity
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
worshiped, known from the Latin epigraphy
Epigraphy
Epigraphy Epigraphy Epigraphy (from the , literally "on-writing", is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be...
, although many names are recorded in the Lusitanian
Lusitanian language
Lusitanian was a paleohispanic language that apparently belonged to the Indo-European family. Its relationship to the Celtic languages of the Iberian Peninsula, either as a member, a cousin , or as a different branch of Indo-European, is debated. It is known from only five inscriptions, dated from...
or Celtiberian
Celtiberian language
Celtiberian is an extinct Indo-European language of the Celtic branch spoken by the Celtiberians in an area of the Iberian Peninsula lyingbetween the headwaters of the Duero, Tajo, Júcar and Turia rivers and the Ebro river...
languages.
See also
- Enchanted Moura
- Castro cultureCastro cultureCastro culture is the archaeological term for naming the Celtic archaeological culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Peninsula from the end of the Bronze Age until it was subsumed in local Roman culture...
- Celtic mythologyCeltic mythologyCeltic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
- Etruscan mythologyEtruscan mythologyThe Etruscans were a diachronically continuous population, with a distinct language and culture during the period of earliest European writing, in the Mediterranean Iron Age in the second half of the first millennium BC...
- Germanic mythologyGermanic mythologyGermanic mythology is a comprehensive term for myths associated with historical Germanic paganism, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, Continental Germanic mythology, and other versions of the mythologies of the Germanic peoples...
- Greek mythologyGreek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
- List of deities
- Lusitanian languageLusitanian languageLusitanian was a paleohispanic language that apparently belonged to the Indo-European family. Its relationship to the Celtic languages of the Iberian Peninsula, either as a member, a cousin , or as a different branch of Indo-European, is debated. It is known from only five inscriptions, dated from...
- OphiussaOphiussaOphiussa, also spelled Ophiusa, is the ancient name given by the ancient Greeks to what is now Portuguese territory near the mouth of the river Tagus...
- Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian PeninsulaPre-Roman peoples of the Iberian PeninsulaThis is a list of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian peninsula .-Non-Indo-European:*Aquitanians**Aquitani**Autrigones - some consider them Celtic .**Caristii - some consider them Celtic ....
- Proto-Indo-European mythology
- Roman mythologyRoman mythologyRoman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...