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The trinitarian god of Gaul has been preserved in several monu-ments,
of which perhaps the oldest is the altar of Beaune, wherehe sits between
two other gods of whom the one is horned while theother, a plain human
figure, is assumed to be the Gallic Apollo.Another monument to the old
trinitarian deity is a short pillar foundat Rheims representing him with
three faces looking in three dififer- THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT GAUL AND
CAESAR WORSHIP. 729 ent directions. The least archaic form of this same
deity has been foundat Autun which minimizes the two heads. It seems to
be a concessionto the more artistic and cultured taste that spread after
the Romanconquest, for it shows one face in front which is normal,
while theother faces on either side are not made prominent, which
arrange-ment takes away the ugliness of a three-faced monstrosity. An
interesting account of the Gallic Hercules so called, is pre-served by
Lucian who under this name describes a Celtic divinityof eloquence. He
says:
ALTAR
OF BEAUNE. TRICEPHALUS AT RHEIMS. The Gauls call Hercules in their own
language Ogmios, butthey picture him quite different than the Greeks and
indeed strangeenough. I have seen his portraiture once where he is
represented asan old bald-headed man, his hair gray as much as there is
left of it,his face full of wrinkles and of as swarthy a complexion as
that ofold sailors. One might have taken him for Charon or lapetus
orsome other inhabitant of Tartarus, indeed for anything but for
Her-cules. But his dress was quite Herculian, for he carried the lion
730 THE OPEN COURT. skin on his back, a club in his right hand, a bow in
his left and aquiver over his shoulder. In this respect he was a true
Hercules.My first thought was that this burlesque figure had been drawn
forthe purpose of ridiculing the Greek gods, perhaps in revenge for
therobberies which Hercules had committed in Gaul, when he wassearching
for the oxen of Geryon. The most peculiar feature of this picture I have
not yet t
