Maponos


In ancient Celtic religion, Maponos or Maponus is a god of youth known mainly in northern Britain but also in Gaul. In Roman Britain, he was equated with Apollo.
The Welsh mythological figure Mabon ap Modron is apparently derived from Maponos, 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, is probably related to Maponos, as are the Arthurian characters Mabuz and Mabonagrain.

Etymology

In Gaulish, mapos means a young boy or a son. 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. The root is Proto-Indo-European *makʷos..
In Insular Celtic languages, the same root is found in Welsh, Cornish and Breton mab meaning son, derived from Common Brythonic *mapos. In Old Irish, macc also means son; it is found in Ogham inscriptions as the genitive maqui, maqqi, maqui with a geminative expressive doubling *makʷkʷos..
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 mentioned in Gaul at Bourbonne-les-Bains and at Chamalières but is attested chiefly in the north of Britain at Brampton, Corbridge, Ribchester and Chesterholm. Some inscriptions are very simple such as Deo Mapono from Chesterholm. At Corbridge are two dedications Apollini Mapono and one / apo / Apo. The inscription at Brampton by four Germans is to the god Maponos and the numen of the emperor:.
Deo / Mapono / et n Aug / Durio / et Ramio / et Trupo / et Lurio / Germa/ni v s l m
"To the god Maponos and to the Numen of Augustus, the Germani Durio, Ramio, Trupo and Lurio have fulfilled their vow willingly, as is deserved."

: "To Apollo Maponos, Quintus Terentius Firmus, son of Quintus, of the tribus Oufentina, from Saena prefect of the camp, Legio VI Victrix Pia Fidelis, has dedicated this gift"
This inscription by a unit of Sarmatians based at Ribchester shows the association with Apollo and also can be precisely dated to the day and the year.
The preceding inscriptions are all in Latin. The name is also found on the inscription from Chamalières, which is a relatively long magical text written in Gaulish on a rolled lead sheet. The second line calls for the help of Maponos.

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.

Toponymy

Two items of place-name evidence also attest to Maponos in Britain. Both are from the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography. Locus Maponi or "the place of Maponos", is thought to be between Lochmaben and Lockerbie. Maporiton 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 mentions a lo Mabomi, which is often regarded as a stone-cutter's error for locus *Maponi.

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.

Celtic epithets of Apollo

In Britain, dedications to Apollo have been found with the following epithets:
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..

Later tradition

Welsh mythology

Maponos surfaces in the Middle Welsh narrative, the Mabinogion, as Mabon, son of Modron, who is herself the continuation of Gaulish Matrona. The theme of Maponos son of Matrona and the development of names in the Mabinogi from Common Brythonic and Gaulish theonyms has been examined by Hamp, Lambert, and Meid. 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.
His name lives on in Arthurian romance in the guise of Mabon, Mabuz, and Mabonagrain.

Irish mythology

His counterpart in Irish mythology would seem to be Mac ind Ó‘c , an epithet of Angus or Oengus, the eternally youthful spirit to be found in Newgrange called Bruigh na Bóinne, a pre-Celtic Neolithic 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.