EPONA: the Gallo-Roman

Goddess of Horses
The essay
Carey T. Coleman Jr.

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 Carey Coleman

LS. 199 Horses in Art

Margo Miller

9-12-10

Abstract essay on Epona: The Gallo Roman goddess and protectress of horses and riders

Whilst playing a videogame I observed a horse, and reading characters words caught that the

horse’s name was Epona. I thought nothing of the symbolism behind “Epona” the horse, which like

Alexander and Bucephalus, was only tamable by the Hero of Time (Link). That being said with research

on horses in general in ancient history, one notices how horses are majestically portrayed and how both

civilizations worshiped many gods. Epona was popular back in the ancient day, but today she is forever

immortalized by todays artists, and videogame designers. Epona, from the research I found was the only

celtic goddess to be deified in the ancient Roman Empire.

A commercial website, http://www.goddessgift.net/page69.html, says: It “was believed that

Epona had the ability to take human form or horse form and she was frequently seen as a strong,

beautiful woman with a long mane of hair or as a magnificently strong horse, “. Typically, as a horse she

is white; despite the image shift that Nintendo performed in creating their “Epona” as a brown horse

with white hair. Her normal coloring, white, is known to symbolize her purity and goodness (to horses

and riders)—as white archetypally represents.

Epona is a highly nurturing goddess, her naturalistic portrayals hint at her earthy quality and her

concern for the earth and the land that her horses ride on and her riders ride. Gene King portrays her

vision of Epona naked on a white horse. The very naturalistic, pastoral texture contributes to the

contrast between the owls and wolves. The moon in the background is very symbolic of darkness but

light in darkness as well. The water she rides on is very shimmery from the light from the moon. The
picture clearly illustrates her animal side by the way Epona savors the ride on her horse which could

allude to the duality of her character, being portrayed either as a white horse or a fairly attractive

woman with blonde hair.

Her benevolent nature is seen in a 4 th century relief from Roman Macedonia. She is sitting on a

thone-like chair and is surrended by 4 horses, 2 on each side. The symmetry of it could suggest that no

horse is or horses are worth more than another is, so that would go under her mother tendencies, which

for a goddess who also is for fertility, would fit. What is somewhat strange is they are all at the same

level of height. A similar piece of work is a sculpture from the second century AD in Köngen, Germany.

It has Epona with just two horses and in this she is also seated on a chair. The bizarre twist is Epona is

holding a fruit basket, and I usually associate fruit with fertility and abundance…like in the phrase “be

fruitful and multiply”. Epona here, is attired in Celtic robes, which does indefinitely hint at her Celtic

origins.

The point I stress is that Epona was the only Celtic deity that the Romans actually worshiped

throughout their massive empire. The main places one would find artifacts for her would be in stables

and places where army folk stayed, hence her purpose of protecting horses and their riders, also

indirectly I could infer the aloof behavior (sexual desire) of soldiers on leave could account for her

duality as horse protectress and fertility goddess.

The Parthenon, though Greek I am sure they had white horses on their Parthenon frieze. I

would make that claim based on Haynes’s book The Parthenon Frieze and the plates inside it. Most

ancient Roman and Greek portrayals of horses were white in general (unless on a vase).

I would say despite the plethora of content we have today on Epona, she was more used in

ancient times. She was a Celtic goddess who became a roman goddess and was the only Celtic god

revered in such a manner by the Romans.

 WORKS CITED

Epona and her horses, Köngen, Germany, About 200 AD.

Epona from Salonica, Greek Macedonia, 4th century AD.

Gene Avery. Epona, the Horse Goddess. Artist’s Collection.

Haynes, D.E.L. The Parthenon Frieze, London