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When we speak of totemism we actually confuse two problems. The first
problem is that posed by the frequent identification of human beings with plants
or animals, and which has to do with very general views of the relations between
man and nature, relations which concern art and magic as much as society and
religion. The second problem is that of the designation of groups based on
kinship, which may be done with the aid of animal or vegetable terms but also in
many other ways. The term “totemism” covers only cases in which there is a
coincidence of the two orders. 571
Lévi-Strauss thus indicates that totemism mediates between nature and culture, i.e. he views it
through a structuralist lens. 572 He also suggests that totemism is one way in which man attempts
to define “the organization of the universe” by analyzing nature’s affinity with man. 573 We may
compare scholarly attempts to define and apply totemism to the seeking of a universal
explanation of the significance of myth. In any case, Frazer’s application of his theory of
totemism bears some examination in the case of Picus.
In relation to Picus, Frazer’s categories seem sound given that the ancients certainly
believed that the Picentes had derived their name from the god Picus. Similar instances of an
Italic tribe naming themselves after an animal, such as the Hirpi and Hirpini, do exist. 574 On the
other hand, O. Szemerényi goes to great length to prove that the derivation of the name
“Picentes” from the god Picus is a linguistic impossibility and that the name merely denotes a
group of people who lived in the territory of Picenum. 575 What then should we make of the
ancient testimony? Should we simply dismiss the verbal link as a false folk etymology? I do not
believe that we should sever the link between Picus and the Picentes simply because of linguistic
rules. If the ancients believed that there was a connection between Picus and the Picentines, then
a link had been established.
Frazer’s last two points are clearer. It is not likely that a member of this Italic tribe
would have killed a bird sacred to Mars, whose preeminence in Italy has already been
mentioned, and the tale of the Picentes following a woodpecker, in the practice of a ver sacrum,
to their new home certainly qualifies as the conferral of a past benefit. Thus, as far as Frazer’s
definition is concerned, perhaps we should consider the Picentes as practitioners of totemism.
We may not extend this idea to all of the theriomorphic and therianthropic deities covered in this
571 Lévi-Strauss 1962, 10-1
572 Lévi-Strauss 1962, 16.
573 Lévi-Strauss 1966, 37, 129.
574 See earlier discussion of the Hirpi in Chapter Three, p. 55-6.
575 Szemerényi 1971, 531-44; Salmon 1967, 169.
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