![Heracura](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Heracura.jpg)
Erecura or Aerecura (also found as ''Herecura'' or ''Eracura'') was a goddess worshipped in ancient times, often thought to be
Celtic in origin, mostly represented with the attributes of
Proserpina
Proserpina ( , ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whose ...
and associated with the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
god
Dis Pater
Dis, DIS or variants may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Dis'' (album), by Jan Garbarek, 1976
* ''Dís'', a soundtrack album by Jóhann Jóhannsson, 2004
* "Dis", a song by The Gazette from the 2003 album '' Hankou Seimeibun''
* "dis ...
, as on an altar from Sulzbach.
[ Beck (2009), p. 136.] She appears with Dis Pater in a statue found at
Oberseebach,
Switzerland, and in several magical texts from Austria, once in the company of
Cerberus
In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the ...
and once probably with
Ogmios
Ogmios (also known as Ogmius; grc, Ὄγμιος; la, Ogmius, Ogimius) was the Celtic deity of eloquence.[OG ...](_blank)
. A further inscription to her has been found near
Stuttgart, Germany. Besides her
chthonic symbols, she is often depicted with such attributes of fertility as the
cornucopia
In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...
and apple baskets.
She is believed to be similar to Greek
Hecate
Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depict ...
, while the two goddesses share similar names.
[P. Monaghan ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore'' New York: Facts On File, Inc, 2004. , p. 4.] She is depicted in a seated posture, wearing a full robe and bearing trays or baskets of fruit, in depictions from Cannstatt
and Sulzbach.
Miranda Green calls Aericura a "
Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...
Hecuba
Hecuba (; also Hecabe; grc, Ἑκάβη, Hekábē, ) was a queen in Greek mythology, the wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War.
Description
Hecuba was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the ''Chronography'' as "da ...
", while Noémie Beck characterizes her as a "land-goddess" sharing both underworld and fertility aspects with Dis Pater.
Representations of Erecura are most commonly found in the
Danubian area of
Southern Germany
Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...
and
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
, but they also occur in Italy, Great Britain, and France. Her inscriptions are concentrated in
Stuttgart and along the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
. Several monuments in honour of Erecura occur in cemeteries or other funereal contexts.
Jona Lendering
Jona Lendering (born 29 October 1964) is a Dutch historian and the author of books on antiquity, Dutch history and modern management. He has an MA in history from Leiden University and an MA in Mediterranean culture from the Amsterdam Free Unive ...
notes the similarity between her iconography and that of
Nehalennia
Nehalennia (spelled variously) is a goddess of unclear origin, perhaps Germanic or Celtic. She is attested on and depicted upon numerous votive altars discovered around what is now the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, where the Schelde Riv ...
, who was worshipped in
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agripp ...
,
while Beck sees no significant difference between her attributes and those of the
Matres and Matronae
The Matres (Latin for "mothers") and Matronae (Latin for "matrons") were female deities venerated in Northwestern Europe, of whom relics are found dating from the first to the fifth century AD. They are depicted on votive offerings and altars th ...
.
Geographically, the areas in which Erecura and Dis Pater were worshipped appear to be in complementary distribution with those where the cult of
Sucellus and
Nantosuelta is attested, and Beck suggests that these cults were functionally similar although iconographically distinct.
[ Beck (2009), p. 137.]
A male deity called
Arecurius or Aericurus is named on an altar-stone in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
, England, although Beck cautions that "this inscription is quite uncertain, and it might be a misreading of
Mercurio".
Etymology
The
theonym
A theonym (from Greek ''theos'' (Θεός), " god"'','' attached to ''onoma'' (ὄνομα), "name") is the proper name of a deity.
Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics (the study of the etymology, history, and ...
is of unclear origin. It has been connected with Latin ''aes, aeris'' 'copper, bronze, money, wealth', ''era'' 'mistress' and the name of the Greek goddess
Hera. Many different Latinised forms of this goddess's name occur: ''Aeraecura'' at
Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...
; ''Aerecura'' at
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
,
Xanten
Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel.
Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the wo ...
,
Aquileia and
Roşia Montană; ''Aericura'' at
Sulzbach, Malsch, ''Eracura'' in
Mautern, Austria, ''Ercura'' at
Fliehburg, ''Erecura'' at
Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's ...
and
Belley in Aube; ''Heracura'' at
Stockstadt am Rhein
Stockstadt am Rhein is a municipality in Groß-Gerau district in Hesse, Germany, lying on the southern edge of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region.
Geography
Location
Stockstadt lies in the Rhine rift right on the Kühkopf-Knoblochsaue EU reserve. ...
, ''Herecura'' at
Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's ...
,
Freinsheim
Freinsheim (; Palatine German: Fränsem) is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is among the state's smaller towns. It is also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a ...
and
Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar (; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; Swabian: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) s ...
, where the form ''Herequra'' is also found.
[Lajoye, Patrice; ''Inventaire des divinités celtiques de l’Antiquité'', Caen: Société de Mythologie Française. Available a]
L’Arbre Celtique
The alternation between the initial
H and
A may be due to the letters' similar shape in the
classical Latin capitals ordinarily used in
epigraphic inscriptions in the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
, particularly since less literate members of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
’s community sometimes misinterpreted the
phonemic value of a given letter.
[This is also apparent in the inscriptions to Belatucadrus. ]Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...
(2004), p. 102. A name of the form or appears to underlie the alternations ''Aeraecura'' ~ ''Aerecura'' ~ ''Aericura'' ~ ''Eracura'' ~ ''Ercura'' ~ ''Erecura'' ~ ''Heracura'' ~ ''Herecura'' ~ ''Herequra''.
Though the goddess herself may be
Celtic, it is open to question whether the name is of
Celtic origin or even
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
. Lendering considers her cult to be of
Illyrian origin, spreading from
Aquileia and only reaching the Danubian and Rhenish border regions through the Roman troops deployed there.
Beck considers the name to be of Germanic origin.
[ Beck (2009), p. 135.]
Bibliography
Works cited
References
*
*
Ellis, Peter Berresford, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford Paperback Reference), Oxford University Press, (1994):
* Egger, Rudolf. ''Römische Antike und frühes Christentum: Ausgewählte Schriften von Rudolf Egger; Zur Vollendung seines 80. Lebensjahres'', ed. Artur Betz and Gotbert Moro. 2 vols. Klagenfurt: Verlag des Geschichtsvereines für Kärnten, 1962–63. (
LOC call number DB29.E29.)
*
Green, Miranda (2004). ''The gods of the Celts.'' Sparkford, UK: Sutton Publishing.
* MacKillop, James. ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. .
* Wood, Juliette, ''The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art'', Thorsons Publishers (2002):
External links
Proto-Celtic — English lexicon
{{Celtic mythology (ancient)
Gaulish goddesses
Death goddesses
Earth goddesses
Underworld goddesses
Proserpina
Hecate