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Erecura or Aerecura /ɛrɛˈkʊrə/ (also found as Herecura or Eracura)[1] was a goddess worshipped in ancient times, often thought to be Celtic in origin, mostly represented with the attributes of Proserpina and associated with the Roman underworld god Dis Pater, as on an altar from Sulzbach.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] She is believed to be similar to Greek Hecate, while the two goddesses share similar names.[5] She is depicted in a seated posture, wearing a full robe and bearing trays or baskets of fruit, in depictions from Cannstatt[6] and Sulzbach.[2] Miranda Green calls Aericura a "Gaulish Hecuba",[7] while Noémie Beck characterizes her as a "land-goddess" sharing both underworld and fertility aspects with Dis Pater.[8]
Representations of Erecura are most commonly found in the 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.[8] Jona Lendering notes the similarity between her iconography and that of Nehalennia, who was worshipped in Germania Inferior,[4] while Beck sees no significant difference between her attributes and those of the Matres and Matronae.[6] 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.[8]
A male deity called Arecurius or Aericurus is named on an altar-stone in Northumberland, England,[9] although Beck cautions that "this inscription is quite uncertain, and it might be a misreading of Mercurio".[6]
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Beck (2009), p. 136.
- ^ Egger (1962-63), I.84-85; I.276-79; II.24-33.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
lenderingwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ P. Monaghan The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore New York: Facts On File, Inc, 2004. ISBN 0-8160-4524-0, p. 4.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
beck135was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Green (2004), p. 124.
- ^ a b c Beck (2009), p. 137.
- ^ 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 roman-britain.org Archived August 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.