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The subject of Rome’s origins is one where the discourses of comparative mythology and archaeology can interact, but such interaction has never been easy. In approaching the subject here from the mythological point of view, I shall not have space to advance the dialogue explicitly, but hope the discussion will be useful to those who do pursue it.

 

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According to the legend, Ratumena was an Etruscan charioteer who won a race in the city of Veii but, after his victory, was dragged away by his horses, that brought the chariot to Rome, where they stopped in front of the Capitoline temple. This story seems to reflect the same pattern which appears in the Roman ritual of the equus October (horse of October) and the Indian asvamedha (sacrifice of an horse made by a king), i e the competition between different groups for the possession of an horse, whose scope is to provide one of these competitors with sovereignty.

 

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Investigation of a very ancient and widespread type of migratory legend which so far has not been taken into account in the systematic catalogues and international subject-indexes elaborated by specialists of folk-literature and mythology. The plot of these tales –the oldest known version of which seems to be Sumerian– usually concerns a dead king (or another charismatic character) who is buried, sometimes with his treasure, under the bed of a river, whose stream has been diverted and then reinstated so as to hide the place from discovery. The author discusses the origins of this oriental taletype and the successive meanings it assumes, especially when borrowed and recycled in indo-european contexts.

 

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Georges Dumézil has suggested that Ulysses’final struggle with the suitors is the equivalent of the destruction of Troy or the battle of Kurukshetra (Mahabharata). One can readily understand that two opposing forces encounter each other, each organised according to the hierarchy of the three Indo-European functions : 1 Odysseus against Antinous / 2 Telemachus against Eurymachus / 3 Eumaeus and Philoitius against Ctessipus, Polybus and Agelaus. Seen from this point of view, I consider the different adventures of Odysseus as stages in his downfall, the last being his experience with Calypso whose name is the symbol of nothingness, before his recovery (symbolised by the gifts of the Phaeacians) which is essential in view of the catastrophic state of the kingdom of Ithaca, weakened by too great a number of suitors. Symbolically, the Telemachia corresponds to the search for and the gradual reappearance of the god Lleu in Wales, otherwise known as Lugh in Ireland. Structurally speaking, the different parts of Ithaca are the same as the Indo-European provinces of Celtic Ireland.

 

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Le mythe de fondation de Lugdunum, que nous lisons dans le traité du Ps-Plutarque, Sur les fleuves, a été étudié traditionnellement sans tenir compte de son rapport avec l’autre partie du texte sur le fleuve Arar ni avec l’ensemble de l’œuvre. Une étude de G. Charrière et A. Audin nous mène vers les possibilités qu’offre une lecture structurale du récit. Les deux parties du récit étant dominées par l’alose (un poisson) et des corbeaux, des espèces migratoires dans la région de Lyon où elles sont présentes pendant la canicule pour les premières et en hiver pour les seconds. Ceci, relié à d’autres traits anatomiques et éthologiques de ces animaux, permet de soutenir que le mythe s’inspire de certaines des caractéristiques remarquables du calendrier celtique (celui de Coligny a été trouvé à 100 km au nord de Lyon) comme éléments structurants le récit de fondation.

 

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The aim of this study is to show the links between the Celtic god Lugus and landscape organization. We underline the important part of the light from sunrise – which has well known connexions with Lugus – in the process used by the Celts for their spatial orientation. By revealing the setting of a landmark, orientation constitutes a preliminary and essential step before the establishment of a space which will be intended to be inhabited by people. The analysis of Gaulish archaeological facts and Irish medieval tales perfectly highlights the relation of Mercury and Lug to strategic places which were used for the development of a human community: places of assembly, places where cities or provinces were founded, places on hilltop or located on a border, shrines, roads; moreover, some of them are frequently found in a same place, which demonstrates a real cohesion in the process of organizing landscape.