View source for Erecura

{{Short description|Ancient Celtic goddess}}
[[Image:Erecura distribution.png|right|thumb|220px|Map showing the location of inscriptions to this goddess, under various spellings.]]
[[File:Heracura.jpg|thumb|Figurine dating from the 2nd or 3rd century A. D. found in Stuttgart, Germany]]
'''Erecura''' or '''Aerecura''' {{IPAc-en|ɛ|r|ɛ|ˈ|k|ʊr|ə}} (also found as ''Herecura'' or ''Eracura'')<ref>Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl. ''Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie.'' Paris: Editions Errance, 2001. {{ISBN|2-87772-200-7}}. pp. 18, 40, 45.</ref> was a goddess worshipped in ancient times, often thought to be [[Celt]]ic in origin, mostly represented with the attributes of [[Proserpina]] and associated with the [[Roman mythology|Roman]] [[underworld]] god [[Dis Pater]], as on an altar from Sulzbach.<ref name="beck136">[[#beck|Beck]] (2009), p. 136.</ref> 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]] and once probably with [[Ogmios]].<ref>[[#egger|Egger]] (1962-63), I.84-85; I.276-79; II.24-33.</ref> 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]] and apple baskets.<ref name="lendering"/> She is believed to be similar to Greek [[Hecate]], while the two goddesses share similar names.<ref name="monaghan">P. Monaghan ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore'' New York: Facts On File, Inc, 2004. {{ISBN|0-8160-4524-0}}, p. 4.</ref>  She is depicted in a seated posture, wearing a full robe and bearing trays or baskets of fruit, in depictions from Cannstatt<ref name="beck135"/> and Sulzbach.<ref name="beck136"/> Miranda Green calls Aericura a "[[Gaulish]] [[Hecuba]]",<ref>[[#green|Green]] (2004), p. 124.</ref> while Noémie Beck characterizes her as a "land-goddess" sharing both underworld and fertility aspects with Dis Pater.<ref name="beck137"/>

Representations of Erecura are most commonly found in the [[Danube|Danubian]] area of [[Southern Germany]] and [[Slovenia]], but they also occur in Italy, Great Britain, and France. Her inscriptions are concentrated in [[Stuttgart]] and along the [[Rhine]]. Several monuments in honour of Erecura occur in cemeteries or other funereal contexts.<ref name="beck137"/> [[Jona Lendering]] notes the similarity between her iconography and that of [[Nehalennia]], who was worshipped in [[Germania Inferior]],<ref name="lendering"/> while Beck sees no significant difference between her attributes and those of the [[Matres and Matronae]].<ref name="beck135"/> 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.<ref name="beck137">[[#beck|Beck]] (2009), p. 137.</ref>

A male deity called [[Arecurius]] or Aericurus is named on an altar-stone in [[Northumberland]], England,<ref>R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright. ''The Roman Inscriptions of Britain'' (RIB), Vol. 1:  The Inscriptions on Stone. RIB 1123. See also the relevant page of [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/corstopitum.htm roman-britain.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820145944/http://www.roman-britain.org/places/corstopitum.htm |date=August 20, 2006 }}.</ref> although Beck cautions that "this inscription is quite uncertain, and it might be a misreading of [[Mercury (god)|Mercurio]]".<ref name="beck135"/>

==Etymology==
[[File:Bad Cannstatt Herecura-Relief Kopie img01.jpg|thumb|Copy of a Roman statue of Herecura]]
The [[wikt:theonym|theonym]] 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]].<ref>[[#egger|Egger]] (1962), I.84-85.</ref> Many different Latinised forms of this goddess's name occur: ''Aeraecura'' at [[Perugia]]; ''Aerecura'' at [[Mainz]], [[Xanten]], [[Aquileia]] and [[Roşia Montană]]; ''Aericura'' at [[:de:Sulzbach (Malsch)|Sulzbach, Malsch]], ''Eracura'' in [[:de:Mautern an der Donau|Mautern, Austria]], ''Ercura'' at [[:de:Fliehburg|Fliehburg]], ''Erecura'' at [[:de:Cannstatt|Cannstatt]] and [[Aube|Belley in Aube]]; ''Heracura'' at [[Stockstadt am Rhein]], ''Herecura'' at [[:de:Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt|Cannstatt]], [[Freinsheim]] and [[Rottenburg am Neckar]], where the form ''Herequra'' is also found.<ref name="inventaire">Lajoye, Patrice; ''Inventaire des divinités celtiques de l’Antiquité'', Caen: Société de Mythologie Française. Available at [http://www.arbre-celtique.com/approfondissements/divinites/inventaire-div/div_liste.php?nomloc=%28tous%29 L’Arbre Celtique].</ref>

The alternation between the initial [[H]] and [[A]] may be due to the letters' similar shape in the [[History of the Latin alphabet|classical Latin capitals]] ordinarily used in [[Epigraphy|epigraphic inscriptions]] in the [[Roman Empire]],<ref>[[#green|Green]] (2004), pp. 120–121.</ref> particularly since less literate members of the [[Roman Empire]]’s community sometimes misinterpreted the [[phoneme|phonemic value]] of a given letter.<ref>This is also apparent in the inscriptions to [[Belatucadrus]]. [[#green|Green]] (2004), p. 102.</ref> A name of the form {{IPA|*/aereˈkuːra/}} or {{IPA|*/(h)ɛːrɛˈkuːra/}} appears to underlie the alternations ''Aeraecura'' ~ ''Aerecura'' ~ ''Aericura'' ~ ''Eracura'' ~ ''Ercura'' ~ ''Erecura'' ~ ''Heracura'' ~ ''Herecura'' ~ ''Herequra''.

Though the goddess herself may be [[Celtic polytheism|Celtic]], it is open to question whether the name is of [[Celtic languages|Celtic origin]] or even [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]. Lendering considers her cult to be of [[Illyria]]n origin, spreading from [[Aquileia]] and only reaching the Danubian and Rhenish border regions through the Roman troops deployed there.<ref name="lendering">{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/religion/herecura/ |author=Jona Lendering |title=Herecura |website=Livius.org |access-date=2015-05-28 |date=2014}}</ref> Beck considers the name to be of Germanic origin.<ref name="beck135">[[#beck|Beck]] (2009), p. 135.</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Works cited===
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===References===
* {{anchor|beck}} {{cite thesis|first=Noémie |last=Beck |title=Goddesses in Celtic Religion—Cult and Mythology: A Comparative Study of Ancient Ireland, Britain and Gaul |degree=PhD |date=2009 |publisher=Université Lumière Lyon 2, University College of Dublin}}
* [[Peter Berresford Ellis|Ellis, Peter Berresford]], ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford Paperback Reference), Oxford University Press, (1994): {{ISBN|0-19-508961-8}}
* {{anchor|egger}} 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. ([[Library of Congress|LOC]] call number DB29.E29.)
* {{anchor|green}} [[Miranda Green (academic)|Green, Miranda]] (2004). ''The gods of the Celts.'' Sparkford, UK: Sutton Publishing.
* MacKillop, James. ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0-19-280120-1}}.
* Wood, Juliette, ''The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art'', Thorsons Publishers (2002): {{ISBN|0-00-764059-5}}

==External links==
* [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf Proto-Celtic — English lexicon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060114133008/http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf |date=2006-01-14 }}
* [http://www.kernunnos.com/deities/ogmios/ogmios.html Ogmios Ogma and Heracles (Lucian)]
* [https://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nehalennia/herecura.html Livius.org: Herecura] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121229041633/http://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nehalennia/herecura.html |date=2012-12-29 }}

{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}

[[Category:Gaulish goddesses]]
[[Category:Death goddesses]]
[[Category:Earth goddesses]]
[[Category:Underworld goddesses]]
[[Category:Proserpina]]
[[Category:Hecate]]