Ogmios

Ogmios (sometimes Ogmius; Ancient Greek: Ὄγμιος) is the name given to a Celtic god of eloquence described in Heracles, a c. 175 CE work of the Syrian satirist Lucian.

Lucian's Heracles is a short text, intended to be read aloud before a longer public performance. It describes Lucian's viewing of a strange image of Ogmios in Gaul. In this image, the god is depicted as a dark-skinned, aged version of the Greek hero Heracles, with a group of happy devotees tied by bejewelled chains to the god's tongue. A Celt approaches Lucian and explains these features, telling him that they reflect a native association of Ogmios with eloquence (which, the Celt explains, reaches its highest level in old age). Lucian uses this anecdote to prove to his audience that, in old age, he is still competent to deliver public performances.

The evidence outside of Lucian's text for the god Ogmios is quite limited. No image has been found which comes close to the one Lucian describes. The only mostly-accepted attestations of the god in archaeology are on two curse tablets from Brigantium (in Austria). Most scholars accept the existence of the god Ogmios, but a minority have expressed scepticism.

In medieval Irish mythology, the god Ogma was fabled as the inventor of the early Irish alphabet Ogham. Ogmios has frequently been connected with Ogma, but the nature of this connection has proven difficult to define. An etymology linking Ogmios, Ogma, and Ogham poses unresolved chronological and phonological problems.

Lucian's text was much read in the Renaissance and "Gallic Hercules" (as Ogmios was known) inspired a number of artistic works, including drawings by Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbein the Younger.