Epona
Sign in to saveKey facts
- Deity.type
- Celtic
- Deity.image
- Engraving of Epona in the stable of a circus. Engraved from a (lost) wall painting in the Circus of Maxentius.jpg
- Deity.caption
- Epona surrounded by four foals in the stables of a circus, engraved from a lost wall panting in the Circus of Maxentius
- Deity.deity_of
- Gallo-Roman Horse Goddess
- Deity.mount
- Mare
- Deity.venerated_in
- Roman Empire
- Deity.symbols
- Foal, patera, corn, fruit, cornucopia
- Deity.gender
- Female
- Deity.ethnic_group
- Gauls
- Deity.day
- December 18
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
18 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Origins
- Functions and worship
- Evidence
- Epona in Gaul
- Roman Epona
- Epona in Hispania
- In Britain
- Rhiannon
- Iconography
- In literature and art
- Today
- See also
- References
- Footnotes
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Further reading
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. 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.
Epona's worship as the patroness of cavalry was widespread in the Roman Empire between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. While adopted Celtic deities were usually only associated with specific localities, Epona was "the sole Celtic divinity ultimately worshipped in Rome itself."