Help with Sources!

[FoxFreeze]

Alright guys, I'm having some trouble coming up with some good recommendations...so I thought I could turn to you.

I have a research paper on mortuary/funerary archaeology due by the end of the semester. It's about any topic of my choice, as long as it fits into said subject. It's not necessarily limited to the classical world, but as its my forte, I kind of want to stick with it.

So essentially, I have one idea, and that's the study of 'Hero Cults' associated with Britons. I did a research paper on 'romanization' in Roman Britain and briefly
discussed the topic, I thought perhaps I could expand upon it. But I was also curious about burial practices of the eastern hellenes.

Now excuse me if I'm out of place asking here, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask for advice and perhaps spark some academic conversation!

Much thanks!

[Strategos Alexandros]

Take a look at the stickied Bibliography thread. Be warned though - some of the books are very expensive.

[Elmetiacos]

I've read a lot on Celtic mythology over the years and one thing I never encountered was the notion of a hero cult as there seemed to arise sometimes in Greece or Rome. I mean "cult" in the strictest sense here, not in the modern metaphorical sense of "his cartoons have acquired a cult following". Do you know different?

[FoxFreeze]

Thanks for the advice, Strategos!

And actually, Elmetiacos, yes I do. See, there were only a few deities that were worshiped rather widely (Lug and his like), but many were very region specific. Different places had different gods, but one more constant was a god most people lump as Cerunnos. However, that's really not the case. Kind of a Horned God Phenomenon, when you look at certain individual villages (such as ones located near the Hadrian's Wall Garrison in Britain) and compare their depictions with others, you notice varying discrepancies, such as gender and the like. In fact, the one constant are the horns. Some researchers believe that this isn't the same god, but instead the 'horned god' is a local hero deity. Perhaps great warriors, female or male, who died and became legends - the stag horns are often a depiction of warfare, and often fertility and (I'm probably not recalling this right) agriculture. The horned deity though is usually equipped with a spear or bow or the like, hearkening to its dual role as both a hunting and war god.

I could elaborate further, but since it's been a year, I'm foggy on more specific details. But there's also evidence of more...traditional Hero worship amongst the celts, such as finding personal jewelry with tiny mythological creatures or heros carved upon them. These were traditionally thought, by the Romans, to imbue the wearer with a feature of the image present on the jewelry. Great strength, great wit (I believe August supposedly wore a sphinx ring.) It would not seem unlikely that this would have transferred to some of the Britons during Roman occupation.

I found this all out when I was writing about Military Religion along Hadrian's Wall. My main source was named (coincidentally) Military Religion in Roman Britain by Georgia L. Irby-Massie. Good book.

Hope that cleared up some things for you, or at least gave you something to think on! Again, thanks for the help!

[Elmetiacos]

Thanks, I'll be sure to look that book up. Female horned goddesses are rare, and the best known example of horned goddess iconography is of unknown provenance. Hadrian's Wall would be a distorting factor, since Roman troops from all over the empire would potentially be stationed there, most of them not Celts. That would make it one of the least reliable regions from which to draw any conclusions about supposed British hero cults. Which are the sites where these little jewels have been found, and how do we know they depict heroes?

[FoxFreeze]

Actually, Elmetiacos, my study was about the people stationed at Hadrian's wall. However, the evidence I draw from is ABOVE Hadrian's wall, where actually roman interaction was minimal. And yes, I know Hadrian's wall would be a poor selection for pure Celtic religious studies. But I chose it because the paper's topic was on the Romanization or NON-Romanization of the British populace around Hadrian's wall, which had mostly Syrians and Germans stationed on it. Mithras was popular, for instance, and was accepted by some of the native people. You would be surprised, though, how they clung on to their own traditions. Many Celts began to accept themselves as Roman, but it didn't necessarily mean they lost their cultural identity. However, the rings...like I said before, I don't have the book on me so I can't back up my thoughts 100%, but I believe one was found at the site of Bath.

If I could find that paper, that would be helpful too...but oh well. You'll have to forgive me, Elmetiacos, since I can't back myself 100%.

EDIT: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2000/2000-08-05.html <- Here's a good summary of the book. Mind you, it just barely touches the topics, but it's good at giving you an idea about religious life amongst legionnaires in Britain.

[Elmetiacos]

'suggests that the cult of the horned gods is reminiscent of Greek hero cults and may have been the Romano-Celtic soldier's answer to the eastern mystery rites' Interesting... the horned warrior figure seems to me likely to be a sort of otherworldly sacral king, who loses out to the Maponos figure for half of the ritual year and thus is only one aspect of Lugh or his equivalent, his other lacking horns. See Alex Kondratiev's The Apple Branch, which, although a neo-Pagan book, still has a good explanation of this view.

The god-king Lugh/Lleu is slain at a limnal location, betrayed by his wife, while getting out of a river with one foot on a stone, as told in the Mabinogion, which perhaps might equate to one version of the story of Agamemnon for some legionnaries from the Hellenised parts of the Empire.

[cmacq]

If I may, I've another suggestion for mortuary/funerary, archaeology, and British. Try the cluster of Arras culture/Parisii Chariot Burials, from East Riding of Yorkshire.



If you will, these may prove somewhat instructive.
http://www.yorkshirehistory.com/char...ials/index.htm
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekelt.../karl_5_1.html

Perhaps, you could compare and contrast these with the depiction on the Ahenny High Cross, Ireland, the example recently found at Newbridge, Scotland, and those associated with the Marne Chariot Burial cluster, in France.

[FoxFreeze]

Thanks for the excellent suggestion, cmacq!

[Strategos Alexandros]

'suggests that the cult of the horned gods is reminiscent of Greek hero cults and may have been the Romano-Celtic soldier's answer to the eastern mystery rites' Interesting... the horned warrior figure seems to me likely to be a sort of otherworldly sacral king, who loses out to the Maponos figure for half of the ritual year and thus is only one aspect of Lugh or his equivalent, his other lacking horns. See Alex Kondratiev's The Apple Branch, which, although a neo-Pagan book, still has a good explanation of this view.

The god-king Lugh/Lleu is slain at a limnal location, betrayed by his wife, while getting out of a river with one foot on a stone, as told in the Mabinogion, which perhaps might equate to one version of the story of Agamemnon for some legionnaries from the Hellenised parts of the Empire.

Wouldn't the christian monks who translated the Mabinogion have known the Hellenic legends and possibly changed the story though?

[Elmetiacos]

Why?

[Strategos Alexandros]

I said possibly. I don't know, maybe they disagreed with what it said because of their religion?

[Elmetiacos]

They did change things from the pagan original without doubt, such as having the spear which killed Lleu worked on only each Sunday, but I can't see them changing one pagan source to another pagan source, especially since this aspect does fit in with not only Celtic but Indo-European tradition in general... I seem to remember a Hindu friend years ago telling me there's a similar story in India as well, but I can't recall any details now.