Reo is a name appearing on Latin dedications to a
Lusitanian-
Gallaeci
The Gallaeci (also Callaeci or Callaici; grc, Καλλαϊκοί) were a Celtic tribal complex who inhabited Gallaecia, the north-western corner of Iberia, a region roughly corresponding to what is now the Norte Region in northern Portugal, a ...
an 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
In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...
, for a
Latinized name
Latinisation (or Latinization) of names, also known as onomastic Latinisation, is the practice of rendering a ''non''-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly found with historical proper names, including personal names and toponyms, and in ...
''*Reus''.
Name and meaning
Apart from ''Reo Larauco'' (Reus of
Larouco
Larouco is a municipality in Ourense (province) in the Galicia region of north-west Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' ( ...
) 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.
Polish scholar K. T. Witczak derives the name from earlier ''*
diewo'', suggesting that the
Lusitanian language
Lusitanian (so named after the Lusitani or Lusitanians) was an Indo-European Paleohispanic language. There has been support for either a connection with the ancient Italic languages or Celtic languages. It is known from only six sizeable inscri ...
changed the
Proto-Indo European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
''d'' to ''r'', making Reo a sky deity similar to (and having a name
cognate with) the Greek
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
and Roman
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
, something which may be supported by dedications to him near mountains which also allude to Roman Jupiter; however 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)
Cattle are prominent in some religions and mythologies. As such, numerous peoples throughout the world have at one point in time honored bulls as sacred. In the Sumerian religion, Marduk is the "bull of Utu". In Hinduism, Shiva's steed is ...
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
*
*
* Pedreño, Juan Carlos Olivares. "Los dioses soberanos y los ríos en la religión indígena de la Hispania indoeuropea". In: ''Gerión'' n. 18 (2000). pp. 191-212.
*
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. https://ifc.dpz.es/ojs/index.php/palaeohispanica/article/view/162.
Lusitanian gods
Gallaecian gods
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