Editing Maponos

{{short description|Ancient Celtic deity}}
{{Celtic mythology}}
In [[Celtic polytheism|ancient Celtic religion]], '''Maponos''' or '''Maponus''' ("Great Son") is a god of youth known mainly in northern [[Roman conquest of Britain|Britain]] but also in [[Gaul]]. In [[Roman Britain]], he was equated with [[Apollo]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title = Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia|last = Koch|first = John T.|publisher = ABC-CLIO|year = 2006|isbn = 9781851094400|location = Santa Barbara|pages = 1259|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&dq=aberdeen%20breviary%20celtic&pg=PA1259|chapter = Maponos|editor-last = Koch|editor-first = John T.}}</ref>

The [[Welsh mythology|Welsh]] mythological figure [[Mabon ap Modron]] is apparently derived from Maponos,<ref name=":0" /> who by analogy we may suggest was the son of the mother-goddess [[Dea Matrona]]. The Irish god [[Aengus]], also known as the ''Mac Óg'' ("young son"), is probably related to Maponos.

==Etymology==
In [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]], ''mapos'' means a young boy or a son.<ref>Matasović, Ranko. Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, page 253. 2009. Brill.</ref> The suffix ''-onos'' is augmentative. Besides the [[theonym]] ''Maponos'', the root ''mapos'' is found in personal names such as ''Mapodia'', ''Mapillus'', and ''Maponius''; ''mapo'' is also found in the Carjac inscription (RIG L-86). The root is [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*makʷos''. (Delamarre 2003 pp.&nbsp;216–217).

In [[Insular Celtic languages]], the same root is found in [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Cornish language|Cornish]] and [[Breton language|Breton]] ''mab'' meaning ''son'' (Delamarre 2003 pp.&nbsp;216–217), derived from [[Brythonic languages#History and origins|Common Brythonic]] ''*mapos'' (identical to Gaulish). In [[Old Irish]], ''macc'' also means ''son''; it is found in [[Ogham]] inscriptions as the genitive ''maqui'', ''maqqi'', ''maqui'' (Sims-Williams 2003 pp.&nbsp;430–431) with a geminative expressive doubling ''*makʷkʷos''. (This is the source of Scottish and Irish names starting ''Mac'' or ''Mc'' as well as Welsh or Cornish names ''Ap,'' often shortened to just 'P-).

He therefore personified youthfulness, which would explain the [[syncretism]] with the Graeco-Roman god [[Apollo]].

==Evidence for Maponos==
===Epigraphy===
The evidence is mainly epigraphic: Maponos is attested in Britain in a military context,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fleuriot |first=Léon |title=Le vocabulaire de l'inscription gauloise de Chamalières |journal=Études Celtiques |volume=15 |issue=1 |date=1976 |pages=173–190 [189] |doi=10.3406/ecelt.1976.1570 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_1976_num_15_1_1570 |lang=FR |quote=[R. Bromwich] souligne que le culte de Maponos était particulièrement populaire parmi des officiers romains (beaucoup d’entre eux sans doute étaient d’origine celtique) stationnés dans le Nord de la Grande-Bretagne, dans le Northumberland, Cumberland, Lancashire où l’on a trouvé des dédicaces à Maponos. |trans-quote= [R. Bromwich] assigns that the cult of Maponos was particularly popular among Roman soldiers (especially among those of undoubtedly Celtic origin) stationed in Northern Great Britain, in Northumberland, Cumberland and Lancashire, where dedications to Maponos are found.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Irby-Massie |first=Georgia L. |chapter=Celtic Healer and Warrior Maiden |title=Military Religion in Roman Britain |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |publisher=Brill |date=1999 |pages=142–157 [145] |doi=10.1163/9789004351226_006 |isbn=978-90-04-35122-6 |quote=A cult of Maponus is attested, in six British inscriptions, four of which equate the god with Apollo and were made by members of the sixth legion. ... High-ranking officers patronized Maponus' cult, significantly the only British cult to attract prominent attention at Corbridge.}}</ref> and in Gaul in a civilian milieu.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hutton |first=Ronald |title=Pagan Britain |pages=340–396 [363–364] |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |date=2014 |doi=10.12987/9780300198584-011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Maier |first1=Bernhard |last2=Windle |first2=Kevin |chapter=Gallo-Roman Culture |title=The Celts: A History From Earliest Times to the Present |pages=117–134 [123–124] |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |date=2017 |doi=10.1515/9781474427210-012|isbn=978-1-4744-2721-0 }}</ref>

Maponos (“Great Son”) is mentioned in [[Gaul]] at [[Bourbonne-les-Bains]] ([[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]] 13, 05924) and at [[Chamalières]] (RIG L-100) but is attested chiefly in the north of [[Great Britain|Britain]] at [[Brampton, Carlisle, Cumbria|Brampton]], [[Corbridge]] (ancient [[Coria (Corbridge)|Coria]]), [[Ribchester]] (In antiquity, [[Bremetenacum Veteranorum]]) and [[Chesterholm]] (in antiquity, [[Vindolanda]]). Some inscriptions are very simple such as ''Deo Mapono'' ("to the god Maponos") from Chesterholm (AE 1975, 00568). At Corbridge are two dedications (RIB 1120 and RIB 1121) ''Apollini Mapono'' ("to Apollo Maponos") and one (RIB 1122) ''[Deo] / [M]apo[no] / Apo[llini]'' ("to the god Maponos Apollo"). The inscription at Brampton (RIB 2063) by four Germans is to the god Maponos and the [[numen]] of the emperor:.

<blockquote>''Deo / Mapono / et n(umini) Aug(usti) / Durio / et Ramio / et Trupo / et Lurio / Germa/ni v(otum) s(olverunt) l(ibentes) m(erito)''<br>"To the god Maponos and to the [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|Numen of Augustus]], the [[Germanic peoples|Germani]] Durio, Ramio, Trupo and Lurio have fulfilled their [[votum|vow]] willingly, as is deserved."</blockquote>

[[File:Roman altar, North Nave Aisle, Hexham Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 749305.jpg|thumb|upright|Inscription on a Roman-era altar at [[Hexham Abbey]]: "To Apollo Maponos, Quintus Terentius Firmus, son of Quintus, of the [[Roman tribes#The Servian tribes|''tribus Oufentina'']], from Saena [and] [[Praefectus castrorum|prefect of the camp]], [[List of Roman legions|Legio VI Victrix Pia Fidelis]], has dedicated this gift"<ref>CIL VII 1345 = RIB 1, 1120: ''Apollini/ Mapono/ Q(uintus) Terentius/ Q(uinti) f(ilius) Ouf(entina)/ Firmus Saen(a)/ praef(ectus) castr(orum)/ leg(ionis) VI v(ictricis) p(iae) f(idelis)/ d(onum) d(edit)''</ref>]]

This inscription (RIB 583) by a unit of [[Sarmatians]] based at Ribchester shows the association with Apollo and also can be precisely dated to the day (''pridie Kalendas Septembres'', or 29 August in the [[Roman calendar]]) and the year (241 CE, by mention of the [[List of late imperial Roman consuls|two consuls]]).

:''Deo san(cto) / [A]pollini Mapono / [pr]o salute d(omini) n(ostri) / [et] n(umeri) eq(uitum) Sar/[m(atarum)] Bremetenn(acensium) / [G]ordiani / [A]el(ius) Antoni/nus |(centurio) leg(ionis) VI / vic(tricis) domo / Melitenis / praep(ositus) et pr(aefectus) / v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito) / [de]dic(atum) pr(idie) Kal(endas) Sep(tembres) / [Im]p(eratore) d(omino) n(ostro) Gord[i]/[ano A]ug(usto) II e[t] Pon[peia]no(!) co(n)s(ulibus)''

The preceding inscriptions are all in Latin. The name is also found on the inscription from Chamalières, which is a relatively long magical text (12 lines) written in [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] on a rolled lead sheet. The second line calls for the help of Maponos (here in the accusative singular, Maponon: ''artiu maponon aruerriíatin'' (RIG L-100).

===Iconography===
There are at least three statues to Maponos. In one, he is depicted as a harper and stands opposite a Celtic Diana huntress figure. A sketch of this image appears in Ann Ross' ''Pagan Celtic Britain''.<ref name="Jones">{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Mary |title=Apollo Maponos |url=http://www.maryjones.us/jce/maponos.html |website=Jones's Celtic Encyclopedia |access-date=4 August 2019}}</ref>

===Toponymy===
Two items of place-name evidence also attest to Maponos in Britain. Both are from the 7th-century [[Ravenna Cosmography]]. ''Locus Maponi'' (Richmond & Crawford #228) or "the place of Maponos", is thought to be between [[Lochmaben]] and [[Lockerbie]] (the name Lochmaben may be derived from Locus Maponi, with the ''p'' to ''b'' sound shift). ''Maporiton'' (Richmond & Crawford #163) or "the ford of Maponos" is thought to be Ladyward, near Lockerbie. The [[Lochmaben Stone]] lies near Gretna on the farm named Old Graitney, the old name for Gretna. The name Clachmaben, meaning 'stone of Maben or Maponos', has become corrupted to Lochmaben. This stone was probably part of a stone circle and the area is thought to have been a centre for the worship of Maponus. An inscription from [[Birrens]] in Scotland (RIB-3, 3482 / AE 1968, 254) mentions a ''lo(cus) Mabomi'', which is often regarded as a stone-cutter's error for ''locus *Maponi''.<ref name=":0" />

===Coligny Calendar===
The fifteenth day of Riuros on the [[Coligny calendar]] is marked with the name Mapanos, which might be a reference to a festival for Maponos.<ref name=Jones />

==Celtic epithets of Apollo==
In Britain, dedications to Apollo have been found with the following epithets: 
* ''Apollo [[Anextiomarus]]''
* ''Apollo Anicetus Sol''
* ''Apollo [[Grannus]]''
* ''Apollo Maponus'' (shows a Latinising influence, ''-os'' becoming ''-us''). 
It can thus be difficult to tell from a simple dedication to Apollo whether the classical deity is meant  or whether a particular Celtic deity is being referred to under a classical name. The situation in Gaul is even more complicated, with at least twenty epithets being recorded. (Jufer & Luginbühl pp.&nbsp;94–96).

==Later tradition==

===Welsh mythology===
Maponos surfaces in the [[Middle Welsh]] narrative, the [[Mabinogion]], as [[Mabon ap Modron|Mabon]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fleuriot |first=Léon |title=Le vocabulaire de l'inscription gauloise de Chamalières |journal=Études Celtiques |volume=15 |issue=1 |date=1976 |pages=173–190 [189] |doi=10.3406/ecelt.1976.1570 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_1976_num_15_1_1570 |lang=FR |quote=Mais le monde brittonique garde bien le nom lui-même [du dieu Maponos]: Mabon mab Modron est Maponos fils de Matrona. |trans-quote=But the Bryttonic world retains the name [of god Maponos]: Mabon mab Modron is Maponos son of Matrona.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Birley |first=Eric |chapter=The Deities of Roman Britain |title=Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt (ANRW) |trans-title=Rise and Decline of the Roman World |volume=18/1. Teilband Religion (Heidentum: Die religiösen Verhältnisse in den Provinzen) |editor=Wolfgang Haase |pages=3–112 [56] |location=Berlin, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter |date=1986 |doi=10.1515/9783110861464-002 |isbn=978-3-11-086146-4 |quote=... the name and something of the tradition of Maponus survived into the heroic age of Wales: in the Mabinogion Mabon appears as a mighty hunter, and his name is undoubtedly derived from an old Celtic word ''*maqono-s'', meaning a boy or youth.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Irby-Massie |first=Georgia L. |chapter=Celtic Healer and Warrior Maiden |title=Military Religion in Roman Britain |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |publisher=Brill |date=1999 |pages=142–157 [145] |doi=10.1163/9789004351226_006 |isbn=978-90-04-35122-6 |quote=The deity survived in Welsh myth as the heroic hunter Mabon who, in the "Mabinogion," was abducted from his mother at birth and imprisoned until Culwch's companions rescued him.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Myths and legends of the Celts |last=MacKillop |first=James |author-link=James MacKillop (author) |date=2006 |location=London; New York |publisher=Penguin |page=35 |quote=Maponos, most commentators now agree, contributes to the conception of the Welsh divine hero Mabon.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mees |first=Bernard |title=Celtic Curses |publisher=Boydell and Brewer |date=2009 |page=17 |doi=10.1515/9781846157004-005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Maier |first1=Bernhard |last2=Windle |first2=Kevin |chapter=Gallo-Roman Culture |title=The Celts: A History From Earliest Times to the Present |pages=117–134 [124] |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |date=2017 |doi=10.1515/9781474427210-012|isbn=978-1-4744-2721-0 }}</ref> son of [[Modron]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Hutton |first=Ronald |title=Pagan Britain |pages=340–396 [363–364] |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |date=2014 |doi=10.12987/9780300198584-011}}</ref> who is herself the continuation of Gaulish [[Dea Matrona|Matrona]] (“Matronly Spirit”). The theme of Maponos son of Matrona (literally, ''child of mother'') and the development of names in the [[Mabinogion|Mabinogi]] from [[Brythonic languages|Common Brythonic]] and [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] theonyms has been examined by Hamp (1999),  Lambert (1979), and Meid (1991). Mabon apparently features in the tale of a newborn child taken from his mother at the age of three nights, and is explicitly named in the story of ''[[Culhwch ac Olwen]]''.

A similar character in Welsh literature is Mabon son of [[Mellt]], who may in fact be the same as Mabon son of Modron.<ref>{{cite book |first=John T. |last=Koch |chapter=Mabon fab Modron |title=The Celts: history, life, and culture |volume=2: I-Y |editor1=John T. Koch |editor2=Antone Minard |date=2012 |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=146}}</ref>

Scholars [[Proinsias Mac Cana]] and [[Roger Sherman Loomis]] suggested that Maponos survived in [[Arthurian mythology]] as Mabon, Mabuz and Mabonagrain.<ref>{{cite book |first=Roger Sherman |last=Loomis |title= Arthurian Tradition & Chretien De Troyes |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |date=1949 |page=53 |quote=The Welsh Mabon reappears in the romances as Mabon, Mabuz, and Mabonagrain.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Celtic mythology |last=Mac Cana |first=Proinsias |date=1970 |location=Feltham |publisher=Hamlyn |page=33}}</ref>

===Irish mythology===
His counterpart in [[Irish mythology]] would seem to be [[Aengus|Mac(c) ind Ó‘c]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fee |first1=Christopher R. |first2=David A. |last2=Leeming |title=Gods, Heroes, & Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2004 |pages=67–68 |quote=... a sacred youth who became Maponos and later Mabon in Wales, son of the great mother Modron or Matrona. In Ireland, Mabon was Mac ind Og or Aonghus Og (Angus or Oenghus), son of the god known as the Dagda (Daghdha) and the sacred river Boann. |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195174038.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-517403-8 }} Online edn, Oxford Academic, 3 Oct. 2011. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mees |first=Bernard |title=Celtic Curses |publisher=Boydell and Brewer |date=2009 |page=17 |doi=10.1515/9781846157004-005}}</ref> (Hamp 1999) (“Young Son”, “Young Lad”), an epithet of Angus or Oengus,<ref>{{cite book |title=Celtic mythology |last=Mac Cana |first=Proinsias |author-link=Proinsias Mac Cana |date=1970 |location=Feltham |publisher=Hamlyn |page=33 |quote=In Ireland the obvious parallel to Mabon-Maponos is ''Mac ind Óg'', 'The Young Lad', also known as ''Oenghus''.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Myths and legends of the Celts |last=MacKillop |first=James |author-link=James MacKillop (author) |date=2006 |location=London; New York |publisher=Penguin |page=35 |quote=The British divinity [Maponos] is additionally the counterpart of the Irish Angus Óg, god of youth, beauty and (qualifiedly) love, especially when he is referred to by one of the many forms of his patronymic, Mac Óc, Mac-ind-Óc, etc.}}</ref> the eternally youthful spirit to be found in [[Newgrange]] called [[Brú na Bóinne|Bruigh na Bóinne]], a pre-Celtic [[Neolithic]] [[Tumulus|barrow]] or [[chambered tomb]]. [[Irish mythology]] portrays him as the son of [[the Dagda]], a king of the [[:Category:Irish gods|Irish gods]], and of [[Boann]], a personification of the [[River Boyne]]. In [[Irish mythology]], the Macc Óc frequently features as a trickster and a lover.

==See also==
*[[Chamalières tablet]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* ''Année Epigraphique'' (AE), yearly volumes.
* ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (CIL); vol. XIII, Inscriptiones trium Galliarum et Germaniarum
* Collingwood, R. G.; Wright, R. P. ''The Roman Inscriptions of Britain'' (RIB) Vol. 1:  The Inscriptions on Stone.
* Delamarre, X. (2003). ''Dictionnaire de la Langue Gauloise'' (2nd ed.). Paris: Editions Errance. {{ISBN|2-87772-237-6}} 
*[[Peter Berresford Ellis|Ellis, Peter Berresford]] (1994) ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford Paperback Reference), Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-508961-8}}
* Hamp, E. (1999) "Mabinogi and Archaism". ''Celtica'' '''23''', pp.&nbsp;96–110. Available [http://www.celt.dias.ie/publications/celtica/c23/c23-96.pdf online PDF file]
* Jufer, N. and Luginbühl, T. (2001) ''Répertoire des dieux gaulois''. Paris, Editions Errance. {{ISBN|2-87772-200-7}}
* Lambert, Pierre-Yves  (1979) "La tablette gauloise de Chamalières". ''Études Celtiques'' '''XVI''' pp.&nbsp;141–169
* Lambert, Pierre-Yves (ed)(2002) ''[[Recueil des Inscriptions Gauloises]]'' (R.I.G.) Vol. 2.2: inscriptions in the Latin alphabet on instrumentum (ceramic, lead, glass etc.) (items L-18 – L-139)
*MacKillop, James (1998) ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-280120-1}}.
* Meid, W. (1991) ''Aspekte der germanischen und keltischen Religion im Zeugnis der Sprache.'' (Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft, Vorträge und kleinere Schriften, 52.)
* Richmond, I. A. and Crawford, O. G. S. (1949) "The British Section of the Ravenna Cosmography". ''Archaeologia'' '''XCIII''' pp.&nbsp;1–50
* Sims-Williams, Patrick  (2003) ''The Celtic Inscriptions of Britain: phonology and chronology, c. 400-1200'' Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN|1-4051-0903-3}}
*Wood, Juliette, (2002) ''The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art''. Thorsons Publishers. {{ISBN|0-00-764059-5}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Maponos}}
*{{Commonscatinline}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050219062555/http://romanmap.com/htm/nomina/loca/LocusMaponi.htm Locus Maponi]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050218080106/http://romanmap.com/htm/nomina/Maporiton.htm Maporitum]

{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}

[[Category:Celtic gods]]
[[Category:Health gods]]