This paper is concerned with degenerate Volterra equations Mu(t) + ∫(sub)0(sup)t k(t-s) Lu(s)ds = f(t) in Banach spaces both in the hyperbolic case, and the parabolic one. The key assumption is played by the representation of the underlying space X as a direct sum X = N(T) + R(T), where T is the bounded linear operator T = ML(sup)-1. Hyperbolicity means that the part T of T in R(T) is an abstract potential operator, i.e., -T(sup)-1 generates a C(sub)0-semigroup, and parabolicity means that -T(sup)-1 generates an analytic semigroup. A maximal regularity result is obtained for parabolic equations. We will also investigate the cases where the kernel k($.$) is degenerated or singular at t=0 using the results of Pruss[8] on analytic resolvents. Finally, we consider the case where $lambda$ is a pole for ($lambda$L + M)(sup)-1.