Esus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Drawing of a relief of Esus found under Notre Dame .

Esus (also Hesus , Aesus ) was a Celtic god of trade and the ways, who, rarely seen as a god of war , was worshiped by the Gauls .

mythology

It is unclear whether Esus can be identified with a Roman deity. The Roman poet Lucan classified him alongside Teutates and Taranis as one of the three main Gallic gods. Later Lucan commentators equated him with the Roman Mercurius . It is unclear whether the Roman conqueror of Gaul, Gaius Julius Caesar , also referred to Esus in his description of Mercurius as the most widely revered god of the Gauls. In the Lucan scholias of Bern , Esus is also compared with Mars . His name is possibly related to the Gallic tribe of the Esuvians , whose tribal god he may have been. It is also unclear whether an inscription from Hültenhausen , which names a Mercurio Esunertus , denotes a variant of Esus; most likely this is the name of the founder. Interesting is a grave inscription from Caesarea near today's Cherchell in Algeria , which names an Esus - besides an inscription from Paris, the only inscribed evidence of Esus.

Cult practice

According to the Bernese Lucan scholias, Esus was above all the god of merchants, to whom "inhuman altars" were consecrated in the eyes of the Romans and to whom people were hanged on trees in honor "until the flesh came off the bones". It is not entirely clear what kind of sacrifice was meant here, whether those who were executed were merely displayed on trees or whether people were hanged from the tree itself or even split in two by branches falling back. In general, the sources of the actual cult of Esus are sparse and difficult to assess, so that a satisfactory picture of the actual function of the god and his cult can hardly be reconstructed.

iconography

Only a representation of the Esus - on the Stele of Nautae Parisiaci - is an inscription clearly as ESVS named. Since the relief on the Trier Mercurius altar is very similar to this, the identification as Esus seems certain. A tree-cutting deity can be seen on both depictions, and a bull and three or two cranes are depicted in the branches, the latter being shown on a separate relief in Paris and inscribed with Tarvos Trigaranus . On the other side of the Trier consecration stone, Mercurius and a companion as well as another unnamed goddess are depicted. However, the Esus myth that is represented here, as well as the character of Esus, has not been passed down.

Difficulties of etymology

The interpretation of the name Esus is highly controversial. So one often finds an interpretation as "Lord", e.g. B. in Bernhard Maier, who on a relationship to the Latin and Etruscan. erus (“lord”, “master”) with a long “ē”, but also with venet. aisu (“deity”) with a short “e”, indicates. D. F. L. Belloguet suspected a relationship with the root As ("life") (as in the Indo-Iranian Asura and in the Nordic Aesir ). R. Nedoma derives the name from the proto-Indo-European root ice- ("anger, passion") and H. d'Arbois de Jubainville also suspected the meaning of "anger, haste". J. Vendryes, however, derives the name from Esu- (“good”), while D. Martin, with his derivation from the Breton (h) euzuz with the meaning “terrible”, represents the exact opposite. Other lesser-known interpretations derive from kelt. (v) esu- (“good”, cf. Vendryes), is- (“desire”), proto-Indo-European Ais (“honor, respect”) or italic Aisus, Esus (“God”) ab (cf. Belloguet) .

Esoteric

The Welsh author Iolo Morganwg , who is considered the father of the modern druids , equated Esus with the legendary figure "Hu-Gadarn" to "Hu-Hesus" and identified him with Jesus Christ and the legendary founder of the Druid cult and inventor of the Ogham script. Other neo-pagan authors identify Esus with the Irish legendary figure Easar and worship him as the god of hunting or fire (according to an uncertain etymology of Indo-European * aidh- ("fire")).

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten - Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . 1999, p. 643ff.
  2. ↑ Lucan: Pharsalia . Liber I , lines 444 ff.
  3. ↑ CIL 13, 11644 Mercurio / Esuner / tus / Souni f (iliuds) / v (otum) s (olvit) l (ibens) m (erito)
  4. ↑ AE 1985, 934 Peregrinus [3] / quod Esus fuit iuben [s]
  5. ↑ a b CIL XIII, 03026 Tib (erio) Caesare / Aug (usto) Iovi Optum / o / Maxsumo (!) S (acrum) / nautae Parisiac [i] / publice posierun / [t (!)] // Eurises / / Senant U [s] eiloni (?) // Iovis // Tarvos (?) Trigaranus // Volcanus // Esus // [C] ernunnos // Castor // [3] // Smert [ri] os // Fort [una?] //] TVS [// D
  6. ^ Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier : Trier - Augustus city of the Treverians. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein 1984, ISBN 3-8053-0792-6 , p. 249f.
  7. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . P. 118 f.