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- Sousse Archaeological Museum. | god_of = God of freshwater, earthquakes, hurricanes, horses and the sea | abode = Sea | symbol = | consort = Salacia | parents = Saturn and Ops | siblings = Jupiter, Pluto, Juno, Ceres and Vesta | children = | mount = | Greek_eq= Poseidon | festivals = the Neptunalia; Lectisternium }} Neptune ((ラテン語:Neptūnus) (:nɛpˈtuːnʊs)) was the god of freshwater and the sea〔J. Toutain, ''Les cultes païens de l'Empire romain'', vol. I (1905:378) securely identified Italic Neptune as a saltwater sources as well as the sea.〕 in Roman religion. He is the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon.〔''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215.〕 In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto; the brothers presided over the realms of Heaven, the earthly world, and the Underworld.〔About the relationship of the lord of our earthly world with water(s) Bloch, p. 342-346, gives the following explanations: 1. Poseidon is originally conceived as a chtonic god, lord and husband of the Earth (for the etymology, epithtes γαιήοχος, he who possesses the Earth, εννοσίδας he who makes the Earth quake) with an equine form. He mates with Demeter under this form in the Arcadian myth from Thelpusa, they beget the racing horse Areion and the unnamed daughter of those mysteries (story in Pausanias VIII 25, 3). 2. Poseidon ''hippios'' (horse) is the god of Earth and as springs come from beneath the earth, this is also a metaphora (or better a figure) of the origin of life on Earth; the horse is universally considered as having a psychopompous character and Poseidon is known as tamer of horses (''damaios'') and father of Pegasus who with its hoof can open up a spring. 3. Poseidon is the god worshipped in the main temple of the Isle of Atlantis in the myth narrated by Plato in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias; there was also a hippodrome nearby. 4. The island was swallowed up by an earthquake caused by Poseidon himself. This factor would connect the power over earth and that over waters. The Greek had a memory of the explosion of the Island of Santorini and of the seaquake it provoked as well as other consequences affecting climate.〕 Salacia was his consort. Depictions of Neptune in Roman mosaics, especially those of North Africa, are influenced by Hellenistic conventions.〔Alain Cadotte, "Neptune Africain", ''Phoenix'' 56.3/4 (Autumn/Winter 2002:330-347) detected syncretic traces of a Libyan/Punic agrarian god of fresh water sources, with the epithet ''Frugifer'', "fruit-bearer"; Cadotte enumerated (p.332) some north African Roman mosaics of the fully characteristic ''Triumph of Neptune'', whether riding in his chariot or mounted directly on albino dolphins.〕 Neptune was likely associated with fresh water springs before the sea.〔Dumézil, ''La religion romaine archaïque (Paris, 1966:381).〕 Like Poseidon, Neptune was worshipped by the Romans also as a god of horses, under the name ''Neptunus Equester'', a patron of horse-racing.〔Compare Epona.〕 ==Etymology== The etymology of ''Neptunus'' is unclear and disputed. The ancient grammarian Varro derived the name from ''nuptus'' i.e. covering (''opertio''), with a more or less explicit allusion to the ''nuptiae'', marriage of Heaven and Earth.〔Varro ''Lingua Latina'' V 72: ''Neptunus, quod mare terras obnubuit ut nubes caelum, ab nuptu, id est opertione, ut antiqui, a quo nuptiae, nuptus dictus.'': "N., because the sea covered the lands as the clouds the sky, from ''nuptus'' i.e. covering, as the ancients (used to say), whence ''nuptiae'' marriage, was named ''nuptus''".〕 Among modern scholars P. Kretschmer proposed a derivation from IE *neptu-, moist substance.〔P. Kretschmer ''Einleitung in der Geschichte der Griechischen Sprache'' Göttingen, 1896, p. 33.〕 Similarly R. Bloch supposed it might be an adjectival form in -no from *nuptu-, meaning "he who is moist".〔R. Bloch "Quelques remarques sur Poseidon, Neptunus et Nethuns" in ''Revue de l' Histoire des Religions'' 1981, p. 347.〕 Dumézil though remarked words deriving root *nep- are not attested in IE languages other than Vedic and Avestan. He proposed an etymology that brings together Neptunus with Vedic and Avestan theonyms ''Apam Napat'', ''Apam Napá'' and Old Irish theonym ''Nechtan'', all meaning descendant of the waters. By using the comparative approach the Indo-Iranian, Avestan and Irish figures would show common features with the Roman historicised legends about Neptune. Dumézil thence proposed to derive the nouns from IE root *nepot-, descendant, sister's son.〔Y. Bonnefoy, W. Doniger ''Roman and Indoeuropean Myhtologies'' Chicago, 1992, s.v. Neptune, citing G. Dumezil ''Myht et Epopée'' vol. III p. 41 and Alfred Ernout- Atoine Meillet ''Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine'' Paris, 1985 4th, s.v. Neptunus.〕〔G. Dumézil ''Fêtes romaines d' étè et d' automne, suivi par dix questions romaines'' Paris 1975, p.25.〕 More recently, in his lectures delivered on various occasions in the late years of the last century, German scholar H. Petersmann proposed an etymology from IE rootstem *nebh- related to clouds and fogs, plus suffix -tu denoting an abstract verbal noun, and adjectival suffix -no which refers to the domain of activity of a person or his prerogatives. IE root *nebh-, having the original meaning of damp, wet, has given Sanskrit ''nábhah'', Hittite ''nepis'', Latin ''nubs'', ''nebula'', German ''nebel'', Slavic ''nebo'' etc. The concept would be close to that expressed in the name of Greek god Όυράνος, derived from IE root *h2wórso-, to water, irrigate and *h2worsó-, the irrigator.〔H. Petersmann below, Göttingen 2002.〕〔M. Peters "Untersuchungen zur Vertratung der indogermanischen Laryngeale in Griechisch" in ''Österreicher Akademie der Wissenschaften, philsophische historische Klasse'' Bd. 372, 1980 p.180.〕 This etymology would be more in accord with Varro's. A different etymology grounded in the legendary history of Latium and Etruria was proposed by Preller and Müller-Deeke: Etruscan Nethunus, Nethuns would be an adjectival form of toponym Nepe(t), Nepete (presently Nepi), town of the ''ager Faliscus'' near Falerii. The district was traditionally connected to the cult of the god: Messapus and Halesus, the eponymous hero of Falerii, were believed to be his own sons. Messapus led the Falisci and others to war in the Aeneid.〔Vergil ''Aeneis'' VII 691: L. Preller ''Römische Mythologie'' II Berlin, 1858; Müller-Deeke ''Etrusker'' II 54 n. 1 b; Deeke ''Falisker'' p. 103, as quoted by William Warde Fowler ''The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic'' London, 1899, p. 185 and n. 3.〕 Nepi and Falerii have been famed since antiquity for the excellent quality of the water of their springs, scattered in meadows. Nepet is considered a hydronymic toponym of preIndoeuropean origin widespread in Europe and from an appellative meaning damp wide valley plain, cognate with preGreek νάπη wooded valley.〔Giuseppe Simonetta "Le stratificazioni linguistiche nell'Agro Falisco".〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Neptune (mythology)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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