Celtine
The princess Celtine or Celto is the protagonist of a Celtic ancestral myth that was recorded by several Graeco-Roman authors.
Mythology
The Graeco-Roman author Diodorus of Sicily recorded one version of the Celtic genealogical myth. Diodurus's account connects the hero to the foundation of Alesia:The Greek author Parthenius of Nicaea recorded another version of this Celtic genealogical myth:
A third version of the Celtic genealogical myth was recorded in the Etymologicum Magnum|:
The combination of the three versions provides a common narrative:
Other accounts
In a similar account, sourced to author Timagenes, Hercules fights against "tyrants" Geryon and Tauriscus and releases Gaul. In return, he mates with a local high-born woman and begets numerous children. Also, it is during his Tenth Labor that Hercules journeys through the Gallic coast.Another narrative, by poet Silius Italicus, tells of Hercules guiding the cattle of Geryon and meeting king Bebruces. The Greek hero also lies with his daughter Pyrene and she gives birth to a snake. Ashamed, she takes refuge in the caves, and is eventually killed by wild animals. Hercules finds her mutilated body and cries over his lost love.
Comparative mythology
The foundational myth
This legend was very similar to the Scythians genealogical myth, with common elements including Heracles driving the cattle of Geryon from Iberia to Greece, and then meeting with a local woman who abducted his horses, having sexual intercourse with the woman, and the birth from this union of a son who founded a nation and became king by pulling his father's bow.The acquisition of the golden objects by the youngest son of Heracles in the first version of the Scythian genealogical myth, especially, has an exact parallel in the inheritance of the bow of Heracles by Galates/Celtus in the Celtic genealogical myth, with the latter corresponding to the Celtic inheritance law whereby, when heritage was partitioned between brothers, the youngest would receive the estate, all buildings, 8 acres of land, an axe, a cauldron, and a coulter.
There were nevertheless also some differences between the Scythian and Celtic genealogical myths:
- the consort of Heracles was the Snake-Legged Goddess in the Scythian myth, while she was a beautiful princess in the Celtic myth;
- the horses of the chariot of Heracles were stolen in the Scythian myth, while the cattle of Geryon that Heracles was driving were stolen in the Celtic myth;
- three sons were born from the union of Heracles and the local woman in the Scythian myth, while only one son was born in the Celtic myth.