Epona

In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was the goddess of horses and ponies. She was also a fertility and mother goddess, and was frequently depicted in art and sculptures with a patera, cornucopia, ears of grain, and foals.^[1] She and her horses might also have escorted souls in the afterlife, as seen in later literary parallels such as the character Rhiannon from the Welsh Mabinogion.^[2][3]

Epona's worship as the patroness of cavalry was widespread in the Roman Empire between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.^{[4][5]: 295} While adopted Celtic deities were usually only associated with specific localities, Epona was "the sole Celtic divinity ultimately worshipped in Rome itself."^[6]

The name Epona ('Great Mare') originates from Gaulish, an extinct Celtic language. It is derived from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European word for horse: éḱwos,^[7] which appeared in the reconstructed Proto-Celtic language as *ekʷos ('horse'),^[a] and later became the Celtic epos ('horse').^[8] The word is paired with the augmentative suffix -on which is frequently, although not exclusively, found in theonyms (ex. Sirona, Matrona) and the usual Gaulish feminine singular -a.^[9] Alternately, scholars have suggested that the -ona (or -ana) suffix references sacred water, specifically springs or other water sources.^[5]: 295

One of the earliest attestations to Epona as a goddess is the Satires (100–127 CE) of Juvenal, which links the worship and iconography of Epona to stables.^[10] Small images of Epona have been found in Roman sites of stables and barns over a wide territory. Similarly, Epona is mentioned in The Golden Ass (2nd century CE) by Apuleius, where an aedicular niche with her image on a pillar in a stable has been garlanded with freshly picked roses.^[11]

A euhemeristic account of Epona's origin is found in the Parallela Minora, attributed to Pseudo-Plutarch:

Fulvius Stellus hated women and used to consort with a mare and in due time the mare gave birth to a beautiful girl and they named her Epona. She is the goddess that is concerned with the protection of horses. So Agesilaüs in the third book of his Italian History.^[12]

The tale was conveyed in Giambattista Della Porta's edition of Magia naturalis (1589), erroneously citing Plutarch's Life of Solon.^[13] It may represent some recollection of ancient Indo-European horse sacrifice— such as the Vedic ashvamedha or the Irish ritual described by Giraldus Cambrensis— both of which are related to kingship. In the Celtic ritual, the king mates with a white mare thought to embody the goddess of sovereignty.^[14][15]

Pausanias relates a similar Greek myth regarding Demeter Erinys ('Vengeful Demeter'), who, in the form of a mare, was raped by Poseidon in the form of a stallion.^[16][17] Demeter was venerated as a mare at Lycosoura in Arcadia.

The majority of artifacts related to and dedicated to Epona have been found in what was eastern and northeastern Roman Gaul and around the Roman limes in the German Rhineland, which were garrisoned by cavalry.^[5]: 295 Historian Fernand Benoît claimed that the earliest Epona worship occurred in the Roman Danubian provinces, and asserted that she has been introduced to the Gallic limes by horsemen from the east; however, this suggestion is not widely accepted.^[18] The extant evidence for Epona's cult and worship primarily consists of votive objects, inscriptions, and small statues typically created from stone or clay. Objects dedicated to Epona are often found around sacred water— specifically wells, springs, and the Moselle— indicating that she was likely seen as a healer.^[19][8]

Although the name 'Epona' is Gaulish, dedicatory inscriptions to Epona are in Latin or, rarely, in Greek. They were made not only by Celts, but also by Germans and other inhabitants of the Roman Empire. One inscription dedicated to Epona from Mainz, Germany, identifies the dedicator as Syrian.^[20] Most often, inscriptions were created by a single individual to honor a pledge or vow to the goddess; most individuals were non-high ranking members of the military— specifically the cavalry— and had Romanized names or Roman surnames.^[5]: 299

A long Latin inscription from the first century BCE— engraved on a lead sheet and accompanying the sacrifice of a filly and the votive gift of a cauldron— was found in 1887 at Rom, Deux-Sèvres (Roman settlement of Rauranum). Olmsted reads the inscription as invoking the goddess with an archaic profusion of epithets, including: Eponina ('dear little Epona'), Atanta ('horse-goddess'), Potia ('powerful mistress' (compare Greek Potnia)), Dibonia (Latin, the 'good goddess'), Catona ('of battle'), and Vovesia. However, Olmsted's interpretation has not been generally accepted by other scholars; Meid interprets the same inscription as an invocation of the goddess Dibona in vulgar Greek for aid in a romantic dispute.^[21]

Two inscriptions mention a temple dedicated to Epona in modern-day Nièvre, France. The temple was apparently installed on the site where the Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix was defeated by Caesar in 52 CE during the Gallic Wars.^[19][8] Evidence of potential cultic or temple sites have additionally been found in Asse and Elewijt in modern-day Belgium.^[22]

In regional cults in Roman-occupied Gaul, Epona was worshipped as a mother goddess who oversaw the welfare of horses, donkeys, mules, and their riders. Horses were a key component of Pre-Roman Gallic life; Gallic soldiers held their horses in high regard, as seen by Vercingetorix sending away his horses rather than letting them be captured or killed.^[19] Epona likely embodied the domesticated aspects of the horse— representing fertility, abundance, reproduction, and protection. She was likely also viewed as a goddess of horse-breeding, as altars dedicated to the goddess were commonly placed in stables.^[3] While she was later associated with the cavalry, iconography indicates that she was likely a peaceful divinity before Roman contact: associated with fertility and protection rather than war.^[7]

Some objects dedicated to the goddess also suggest that she played a funerary role; additionally, horses were believed to guide the soul into the afterlife in some ancient cultures.^[3] Benoît suggested that images of Epona, in addition to those of the serpent-tailed ("anguiforme") daemon, symbolized a theme of victory over death; he found both images to be manifestations of Mediterranean symbolism, which reached Gaul through contacts with Etruria and Magna Graecia.^[23]

When Romans came into contact with Celtic deities, they often interpreted the new deity through existing Roman models in a process known as interpretatio romana.^[19] As Gaul was Romanized under the early Empire, Epona's sovereign role evolved into a protector of cavalry.^[24] Local Gallic customs and Epona's cult were spread across the Roman Empire by the auxilia, alae, numeri, and equites singulares, military units that were primarily recruited from Gaul, Lower Germany, and Pannonia. Due to the modest nature of the goddess' extant offerings and inscriptions, scholars have suggested that Epona may have retained her rustic qualities and focus on healing and fertility even as she was adopted by the Romans.^[5]

Epona's feast day in the Roman calendar was given as December 18 on a rustic calendar from Guidizzolo, Italy,^[25] although this may have been only a local celebration. She was incorporated into the Roman imperial cult and invoked on behalf of the emperor as Epona Augusta or Epona Regina ('queen').^{[26][5]: 300}

Evidence of Epona's cult has been found as far west as the Roman province of Hispania, in the Iberian Peninsula. The core of the cult was likely centered around Celtiberia, a region populated by Hispano-Celtic speakers that was later absorbed into the Empire. She is attested to in Cantabria and Palencia in modern-day Spain, where she was known as Epane.^[27] Generally, in art from this region, Epona is depicted riding a horse, standing among a herd of horses, or feeding foals.

A small stone altar dedicated to the goddess was found in Andújar, Andalusia, likely dating to the late 1st or early 2nd centuries CE. The goddess herself is not depicted, but a mule is carved into the surface. The expansion of her cult outside of Celtiberia and into cities along the Sierra Morena is likely due to the vast network of copper mines in the region; her worshippers likely worked at or owned these mines.^[3]

The probable date of c. 1380–550 BC ascribed to the giant chalk horse carved into the hillside turf at Uffington, in southern England, may be too early to be directly associated with Epona and may not actually represent a horse at all. The West Country traditional hobby-horse riders parading on May Day at Padstow, Cornwall and Minehead, Somerset, which survived to the mid-20th century, despite Morris dances having been forgotten, was thought by folklorists through the 20th Century to have deep roots in the veneration of Epona, as may the British aversion to eating horsemeat.^[28] At Padstow, at the end of the festivities, the hobby-horse was formerly ritually submerged in the sea.^[29] However, there is no firm evidence of the festival before the 18th century.

A provincial, small (7.5 cm high) Roman bronze of a seated Epona, flanked by an "extremely small" mare and stallion, was found in England.^[30] Lying on her lap and on the patera raised in her right hand are disproportionately large ears of grain; ears of grain also protrude from the mouths of the ponies, whose heads are turned toward the goddess. On her left arm she holds a yoke, which curves up above her shoulder, an attribute unique to this bronze statuette.^[b]

In the medieval Welsh collection of stories known as the Mabinogion, the regal figure of Rhiannon rides a white horse, whose slow, effortless gait supernaturally outpaces all pursuit. Wrongly accused of killing her offspring, Rhiannon has to play the role of horse for seven years as punishment, offering to carry travellers to the court and telling them her story; she also wears the work-collar of an ass. She and her son, who is fathered by the sea-god (cf Romano-Greek Poseidon, god of horses and the sea), are sometimes described as mare and foal^[31] Ronald Hutton is skeptical of connections claimed between Epona and Rhiannon; the latter is a much later, literary creation, though it also draws on oral traditions now lost.^[32] A south Welsh folk ritual called Mari Lwyd (Grey Mare) is still undertaken in December, which some folklorists likewise have held up as an apparent survival of the veneration of Epona, but again there is no firm evidence to support the age, origins or purpose of the practice.

Sculptures of Epona fall into five types, as distinguished by Benoît: riding, standing or seated before a horse, standing or seated between two horses, a tamer of horses in the manner of potnia theron, and the symbolic mare and foal. Most commonly, statues are stone, bronze, or terracotta, and depict the goddess riding sidesaddle.^[19][33] In the Equestrian type, common in Gaul, she is depicted sitting side-saddle on a horse or (rarely) lying on one; in the Imperial type (more common outside Gaul) she sits on a throne flanked by two or more horses or foals.^[34]

In addition to horses, Epona is most frequently depicted holding a cornucopia, with bowls or dishes of fruit, bread, or corn also being common; the cornucopia may have been a Roman addition.^[3] These objects are also paired with other goddesses of fertility and abundance such as Fortuna and the Matres. She is also sometimes associated with birds or dogs; the dog is a symbol of Sucellus, Gallic god of agriculture and wine.^[33]

Reliefs and sculptures depicting the goddess have been found in Pannonia, Moesia Inferior, Dacia, and the central Balkans; she is often seated and flanked by two horses, wearing a long-sleeved tunic (chiton) with a belt and himation layered over it.^[35] She is also represented on the handle of a silver patera holding a foal and wearing a corona muralis. Her worshippers in this region may have primarily consisted of blacksmiths and miners from Gaul that worked in the area's silver and lead mines.^[8] Additionally, Epona may be the unidentified goddess depicted interacting with— often blessing— the Thracian Horseman, an obscure deity worshipped in the region.^[35]

In The Legend of Zelda franchise, the main character Link's horse is named Epona. The horse is always shown as a palomino or flaxen chestnut mare with a white mane.

Artist Enya's namesake album of 1987 contains a track titled Epona, as part of the soundtrack of the BBC documentary The Celts.^[36]

On Mackinac Island, Michigan, Epona is celebrated each June with stable tours, a blessing of the animals and the Epona and Barkus Parade. Mackinac Island does not permit personal automobiles; the primary source of transportation remains the horse, so celebrating Epona has special significance on this island in the upper midwest.^[37] The "Feast of Epona" involves the blessing of horses and other animals by a local churchman.^[38]

Epona is also worshipped today by neo-druids^[39] and other pagans and polytheists.^[40]

The Goddess name inspired the name of the EPONA (Energetic Particle Onset Admonitor) instrument on the Giotto spacecraft.^[41]

• Horse sacrifice
• White horse (mythology)