Ataecina the Underworld Queen
Lusitanian · deity · Iron Age to Roman period · Recorded classification
Name leads with the English title 'the Underworld Queen'; attested Latin votive form Ataecina/Ataegina. The native etymon is debated, frequently linked to a root *atte-genā ('the reborn one') or to a goat-word; her interpretatio as Proserpina is explicit in the Mérida curse tablet. The famous goat association rests on votive figurines rather than a narrative.
Domains
- underworld chthonic
- fertility vegetation
- seasonal renewal
Powers
- avenge stolen goods through binding curse
Epithets
- Ataecina The chthonic goddess of the underworld, renewal, and fertility, equated with ProserpinaHispano-Roman votive and curse inscriptions (defixiones) (primary)
Sources
- Ataecina, regularly titled Turibrigensis after the (unlocated) town Turobriga, was a chthonic goddess of the underworld and fertility venerated by Lusitanians and Celtici across Extremadura and southern Portugal, with a concentration at Emerita Augusta (Mérida).: J. C. Olivares Pedreño, 'Celtic Gods of the Iberian Peninsula', e-Keltoi 6 (2005) (secondary); CIL II 462 (Mérida defixio) and the corpus of ~50 dedications (inscription)
- The Romans identified her with Proserpina, naming her 'Dea Sancta Ataecina Turibrigensis Proserpina'.: Defixio of Mérida; CIL II 462 (inscription)