Reve the Sky-Father
Lusitanian · deity · Iron Age to Roman period · Recorded classification
Name leads with the English phrase 'the Sky-Father', reflecting the *deiwo- ('Jupiter-like') interpretation; the rival *Hreu- ('flowing water') etymology is recorded honestly above. Attested votive form Reve/Reo, usually in the dative. The same theonym is treated by some as the god behind 'Reo Bormanicus' at Caldas de Vizela. Reve appears chiefly through votive epigraphy and the Cabeço das Fráguas sacrifice; no narrative myth survives.
Domains
- sky heavens
- thunder storm
- mountains high places
Powers
- receive the sacrifice of bulls
Epithets
- Reve A great god of the heights and waters, often equated with JupiterHispano-Roman votive inscriptions; the Cabeço das Fráguas inscription (primary)
Sources
- Reve (Reo) is the most widely attested theonym of the Lusitanian–Gallaecian west, named in the Cabeço das Fráguas invocation as the recipient of a bull and worshipped across Gallaecia with mountain epithets (Larauco, Marandicui, Anabaraeco).: Cabeço das Fráguas inscription, Benespera (Guarda) (inscription); B. M. Prósper, Lenguas y religiones prerromanas del occidente de la Península Ibérica (Salamanca 2002) (secondary)
- His etymology is disputed: Villar, Prósper and Blázquez derive the name from *Hreu- ('flow, river'), making him an aquatic god, while Witczak derives it from *deiwo-, making him a Lusitanian sky-god cognate with Zeus/Jupiter.: B. M. Prósper (2002); K. T. Witczak (1999), summarised in Olivares Pedreño, e-Keltoi 6 (2005) (secondary)