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The gods and goddesses of the pre-Christian Celtic peoples are known from a variety of sources, including written Celtic mythology, ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, cult objects and place or personal names. The ''locus classicus'' for the Celtic gods of Gaul is the passage in Julius Caesar's ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (''The Gallic War'', 52–51 BC) in which he names six of them, together with their functions. He says that Mercury was the most honoured of all the gods and many images of him were to be found. Mercury was regarded as the inventor of all the arts, the patron of travellers and of merchants, and the most powerful god in matters of commerce and gain. After him, the Gauls honoured Apollo, who drove away diseases, Mars, who controlled war, Jupiter, who ruled the heavens, and Minerva, who promoted handicrafts. He adds that the Gauls regarded Dis Pater as their ancestor.〔Julius Caesar, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (6:17-18 )〕 In characteristic Roman fashion, Caesar does not refer to these figures by their native names but by the names of the Roman gods with which he equated them, a procedure that greatly complicates the task of identifying his Gaulish deities with their counterparts in the insular literatures. He also presents a neat schematic equation of god and function that is quite foreign to the vernacular literary testimony. Yet, given its limitations, his brief catalog is a valuable witness. The gods named by Caesar are well-attested in the later epigraphic record of Gaul and Britain. Not infrequently, their names are coupled with native Celtic theonyms and epithets, such as Mercury Visucius, Lenus Mars, Jupiter Poeninus, or Sulis Minerva. Unsyncretised theonyms are also widespread, particularly among goddesses such as Sulevia, Sirona, Rosmerta, and Epona. In all, several hundred names containing a Celtic element are attested in Gaul. The majority occur only once, which has led some scholars to conclude that the Celtic gods and their cults were local and tribal rather than national. Supporters of this view cite Lucan's mention of a god called Teutates, which they interpret as "god of the tribe" (it is thought that ''teuta-'' meant "tribe" in Celtic).〔Paul-Marie Duval, ''Les dieux de la Gaule'', Éditions Payot, Paris, 1993. ISBN 2-228-88621-1〕 The multiplicity of deity names may also be explained otherwise – many, for example, may be simply epithets applied to major deities by widely extended cults. ==General characteristics== Evidence from the Roman period presents a wide array of gods and goddesses who are represented by images or inscribed dedications.〔Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 26〕 Certain deities were venerated widely across the Celtic world, while others were limited only to a single religion or even to a specific locality.〔 Certain local or regional deities might have greater popularity within their spheres than supra-regional deities. For example, in east-central Gaul, the local Burgundian healing goddess Sequana was probably more influential in the minds of her local devotees than the Matres, who were worshipped all over Britain, Gaul and the Rhineland.〔Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 27〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Celtic deities」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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