Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 11, 2026

Atepomarus

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

Last revised
Jun 11, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
626 w
Citations
18
Source
Wikipedia ↗

Atepomarus1 or Atepomaros2 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.3

Scholarship suggests the name is a compound of at- (intensifier), -epo- (the Celtic word for "horse") and -marus ("large, great").45 Thus, the epithet is sometimes translated as "Great Horseman"67 or "possessing a great horse".89

Pierre-Yves Lambert rejects his connection with horses and suggests an etymology based on *ad-tepo, related to 'protection, refuge'.10

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.114128

As a theonym

The name appears as a theonym attached to Graeco-Roman deities Apollo and Mercurius.813 An inscription of Apollo Atepomarus was found in Mauvières, tied to the Gallic tribe of the Bituriges.1415

References

References

  1. Jacques Lacroix (2007). Les noms d'origine gauloise - La Gaule des dieux (in French). Errance. p. 102. ISBN 978-2-87772-349-7.
  2. Lacroix, Jacques (2012). Les noms d'origine gauloise: La Gaule Des Combats (in French). Éditions Errance. p. 184. ISBN 978-2-87772-479-1.
  3. Persigout, Jean-Paul (1996). Dictionnaire de Mythologie Celte (in French). Éditions du Rocher. p. 103. ISBN 2-268-00968-8.
  4. Bousquet, Jean (1971). "Inscriptions de Rennes". Gallia (in French). 29 (1): 109–122 [116: footnote 15]. doi:10.3406/galia.1971.2572.
  5. Matasovic, Ranko (2008). Etymological Dictionary of Proto Celtic. Brill. p. 258. ISBN 978-90-04-17336-1.
  6. Jacques Lacroix (2007). Les noms d'origine gauloise - La Gaule des dieux (in French). Errance. p. 102. ISBN 978-2-87772-349-7. On trouve aussi dans les inscriptions un théonyme ATEPOMARUS, le «Grand-Cavalier» (surnom de l'Apollon ou du Mercure gaulois) ... [We also find among the inscriptions a theonym ATEPOMARUS, the "Great Horseman" (epithet to the Gaulish Apollo or the Gaulish Mercury) ...]
  7. Lacroix, Jacques (2012). Les noms d'origine gauloise: La Gaule Des Combats (in French). Éditions Errance. p. 184. ISBN 978-2-87772-479-1. ... ATÉPOMAROS (le "Très-grand-Cavalier") ...
  8. Gricourt, Daniel; Hollard, Dominique (2002). "Lugus et le cheval". Dialogues d'histoire ancienne (in French). 28 (2): 121–166 [124, 126]. doi:10.3406/dha.2002.2475.
  9. 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. Lambert, Pierre-Yves (2012). "Patrice Lajoye, Des dieux gaulois. Petits essais de mythologie. Budapest, Archaeolingua alapítvány, Series Minor no 26, 2008". [Review]. Études Celtiques (in French). 38: 320–321 [321].
  11. Johnston, Andrew C. (2017). The Sons of Remus: Identity in Roman Gaul and Spain. Harvard University Press. pp. 142, 144. ISBN 9780674660106.
  12. Clavel-Lévêque, Monique (1985). "Mais où sont les druides d'antan... ? Tradition religieuse et identité culturelle en Gaule". Dialogues d'histoire ancienne (in French). 11: 556–604 [598]. doi:10.3406/dha.1985.1675.
  13. Carru, Dominique; Christol, Michel; Janon, Michel (2004). "Mercure et les Ateii de Carpentorate (Carpentras, Vaucluse): Note sur une inscription récemment découverte". Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise (in French). 37 (1): 277–289 [285]. doi:10.3406/ran.2004.1143.
  14. Hatt, Jean-Jacques (1983). "Apollon guérisseur en Gaule: Ses origines, son caractère, les divinités qui lui sont associées - Chapitre II". Revue archéologique du Centre de la France (in French). 22 (3): 185–218 [189]. doi:10.3406/racf.1983.2383.
  15. Fincker, Myriam; Tassaux, Francis (1992). "Les grands sanctuaires "ruraux" d'Aquitaine et le culte impérial". Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité (in French). 104 (1): 41–76 [71]. doi:10.3406/mefr.1992.1746.
Bibliography

Bibliography

  • Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. Miranda Green. Thames and Hudson Ltd. London. 1997
  • Animals in Celtic Life and Myth, Miranda Green, Routledge.
Further reading

Further reading

External links