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019 - Third Dynasty Roman Divinities · Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome

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  Speaker 1: Section eighteen of Myths and Legends. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Myths
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  Speaker 1: and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E. M. Barons.
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  Speaker 1: Roman Divinities Janus from the earliest ages, Janus was regarded
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  Speaker 1: by the Romans with the utmost affection and veneration, as
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  Speaker 1: a divinity who ranked only second to Jupiter himself, and
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  Speaker 1: through whom all prayers and petitions were transmitted to the
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  Speaker 1: other gods. He was believed to preside over the beginnings
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  Speaker 1: of all things. Hence, it was he who inaugurated the years,
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  Speaker 1: months and seasons, and in course of time, came to
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  Speaker 1: be considered as specially protecting the beginnings of all human enterprises.
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  Speaker 1: The great importance which the Romans attached to an auspicious
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  Speaker 1: commencement as contributing to the ultimate success of an enterprise
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  Speaker 1: accounts for the high estimation in which Janus was held
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  Speaker 1: as the god of beginnings. This divinity would appear to
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  Speaker 1: have been the ancient sun god of the Italian tribes,
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  Speaker 1: in which capacity he opens and closes the gates of
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  Speaker 1: heaven every morning and evening. Hence, he was regarded as
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  Speaker 1: the doorkeeper of heaven and also as the presiding deity
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  Speaker 1: over all gates, entrances, et cetera on earth. The fact
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  Speaker 1: of his being the god of city gates, which were
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  Speaker 1: called Janai after him, is ascribed, however, to the following myth.
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  Speaker 1: After the abduction of their women by the Romans, the Sabines,
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  Speaker 1: in revenge invaded the Roman state and were already about
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  Speaker 1: to enter the gates of the city, when suddenly a
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  Speaker 1: hot sulfur spring, which was believed to have been sent
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  Speaker 1: by Janus for their special preservation, gushed forth from the
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  Speaker 1: earth and arrested the progress of the enemy see footnote
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  Speaker 1: one seventy nine. In his character as guardian of gates
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  Speaker 1: and doors, he was also regarded as a protecting deity
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  Speaker 1: of the home, for which reason little shrines were erected
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  Speaker 1: to him over the doors of houses, which contained an
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  Speaker 1: image of the god having two faces. Janus possessed no
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  Speaker 1: temples in the ordinary acceptation of the world, but all
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  Speaker 1: the gates of cities were dedicated to him. Close to
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  Speaker 1: the Forum of Rome stood the so called Temple of Janus,
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  Speaker 1: which however, was merely an arched passage closed by massive gates.
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  Speaker 1: This temple was only open in time of war, as
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  Speaker 1: it was supposed that the god had then taken his
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  Speaker 1: departure with the Roman army, over whose welfare he personally presided.
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  Speaker 1: It is worthy of notice as an evidence of the
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  Speaker 1: many wars in which the Romans were engaged that the
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  Speaker 1: gates of this sanctuary were only closed three times during
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  Speaker 1: seven hundred years. As the god who ushers in the
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  Speaker 1: new year, the first month was called after him, and
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  Speaker 1: on the first of January, his most important festival was celebrated,
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  Speaker 1: on which occasion all entrances of public and private buildings
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  Speaker 1: were decorated with laurel branches and garlands of flowers. His sacrifices,
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  Speaker 1: consisting of cakes, wine and barley, were offered to him
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  Speaker 1: at the beginning of every month, and before sacrificing to
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  Speaker 1: the other gods, his name was always evoked and a
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  Speaker 1: libation poured out to him. Janus is usually represented with
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  Speaker 1: two faces. In his special function as doorkeeper of heaven,
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  Speaker 1: he stands erect bearing a key in one hand and
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  Speaker 1: a rod or scepter in the other. It is supposed
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  Speaker 1: that Janus was the most ancient king of Italy, who
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  Speaker 1: during his life governed his subjects with such wisdom and
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  Speaker 1: moderation that, in gratitude for the benefits conferred upon them,
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  Speaker 1: his people deified him after death and placed him in
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  Speaker 1: the foremost rank among their divinities. We have already seen
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  Speaker 1: in the history of Cronus that Saturn, who was identified
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  Speaker 1: with the Greek Cronus, god of time, was the friend
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  Speaker 1: and colleague of Janus. Anxious to prove his gratitude to
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  Speaker 1: his benefactor, Cronus endowed him with the knowledge of past
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  Speaker 1: and future events see footnote one eighty, which enabled him
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  Speaker 1: to adopt the wisest measures for the welfare of his subjects.
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  Speaker 1: And it is on this account that Janus is represented
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  Speaker 1: with two faces looking in opposite directions, the one to
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  Speaker 1: the past, the other to the future. Flora Flora was
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  Speaker 1: the goddess of flowers and was regarded as a beneficent
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  Speaker 1: power who watched over and protected the early blossoms. She
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  Speaker 1: was held in the highest estimation by the Romans, and
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  Speaker 1: a festival called the Flora Leah was celebrated in her
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  Speaker 1: honor from the twenty eighth of April to the first
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  Speaker 1: of May. This festival was a season of universal merriment
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  Speaker 1: in which flowers were used profusely in adorning houses, streets,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera, and were worn by young girls in their hair. Flora,
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  Speaker 1: who typify the season of spring, is generally represented as
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  Speaker 1: a lovely maiden garlanded with flowers. Robigus. In opposition to Flora,
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  Speaker 1: we find an antagonistic divinity called Robigus, a worker of
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  Speaker 1: evil who delighted in the destruction of the tender herbs
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  Speaker 1: by mildew, and whose wrath could only be averted by
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  Speaker 1: prayers and sacrifices when he was invoked under the title
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  Speaker 1: of Avaruncus or the Avertore. The festival of Robigus the
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  Speaker 1: Roebigalia was celebrated on the twenty fifth of April. Pomona.
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  Speaker 1: Pomona was the goddess of orchards and fruit trees, who,
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  Speaker 1: according to Ovid cares not for woods or streams, but
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  Speaker 1: loves her gardens and the boughs that bear the thriving fruit. Pomona,
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  Speaker 1: who typifies autumn, is represented as a lovely maiden laden
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  Speaker 1: with branches of fruit trees see Footnote one eighty one. Vertumnus.
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  Speaker 1: Vertumnus was the god of garden and field produce. He
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  Speaker 1: personifies the change of seasons and that process of transformation
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  Speaker 1: in nature, by means of which the leaf buds become
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  Speaker 1: developed into blossoms and the blossoms into fruit. The change
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  Speaker 1: of seasons is symbolized in a myth which represents Vertumnus
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  Speaker 1: as metamorphosing himself into a variety of different forms in
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  Speaker 1: order to gain the affection of Pomona, who so loved
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  Speaker 1: her vocation that she abjured all thoughts of marriage. He
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  Speaker 1: first appears to her as a plowman typifying spring, then
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  Speaker 1: as a reaper to represent summer, afterwards as a vine
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  Speaker 1: gatherer to indicate autumn, and finally as a gray haired
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  Speaker 1: old woman symbolical of the snows of winter. But it
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  Speaker 1: was not until he assumed his true form, that of
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  Speaker 1: a beautiful youth, that he succeeded in his suit. Vertumnus
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  Speaker 1: is generally represented bound with wheat sheaves and bearing in
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  Speaker 1: his hand a cornucopia pales Pales, a very ancient Italian divinity,
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  Speaker 1: is represented sometimes as a male, sometimes as a female power.
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  Speaker 1: As a male divinity, he is more particularly the god
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  Speaker 1: of shepherds and flocks. As a female deity Pales presides
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  Speaker 1: over husbandry and the fruitfulness of herds. Her festivals, the Polilia,
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  Speaker 1: were celebrated on the twenty first of April, the day
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  Speaker 1: on which the city of Rome was founded. During this festival,
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  Speaker 1: it is customary for shepherds to ignite a mass of straw,
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  Speaker 1: through which they rushed with their flocks, believing that this
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  Speaker 1: ordeal would purify them from sin. The name Palatine, which
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  Speaker 1: originally signified a pastoral colony, is derived from this divinity.
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  Speaker 1: Her offerings were cakes and milk see footnote one eighty two.
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  Speaker 1: Picus Picus, the son of Saturn and father of Faunus,
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  Speaker 1: was a woodland divinity gifted with prophetic powers. An ancient
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  Speaker 1: myth relates that Picus was a beautiful youth united to
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  Speaker 1: a nymph called Canons. The sorceress Circe, infatuated by his beauty,
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  Speaker 1: endeavored to secure his love, but he rejected her advances,
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  Speaker 1: and she, in revenge, changed him to a woodpecker, under
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  Speaker 1: which form he still retained his powers of prophecy. Picus
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  Speaker 1: is represented as a youth with a woodpecker perched upon
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  Speaker 1: his head, which bird became henceforth regarded as possessed of
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  Speaker 1: the power of prophecy Picumnus and Pilumnus. Picumnus and Pylunus
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  Speaker 1: were two household divinities of the Romans, who were the
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  Speaker 1: special presiding deities of new born infants. Sylvanus Sylvanus was
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  Speaker 1: a woodland divinity who, like Faunus, greatly resembled the Greek
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  Speaker 1: pan He was the presiding deity of plantations and forests,
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  Speaker 1: and specially protected the boundaries of fields. Sylvanus is represented
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  Speaker 1: as a hail old man carrying a cypress tree, for
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  Speaker 1: according to Roman mythology, the transformation of the youth Syparasus
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  Speaker 1: into the tree which bears his name was attributed to him.
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  Speaker 1: His sacrifices consisted of milk, meat, wine, grapes, wheat, ears,
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  Speaker 1: and pigs. Terminus Terminus was the god who presided over
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  Speaker 1: all boundaries and landmarks. He was originally represented by a
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  Speaker 1: simple block of stone, which in later times became surmounted
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  Speaker 1: by a head of this divinity see footnote one eighty three.
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  Speaker 1: Numa Pompilius, the great benefactor of his people, anxious to
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  Speaker 1: inculcate respect for the rights of property, specially enjoined the
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  Speaker 1: erection of these blocks of stone as a durable monument
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  Speaker 1: to mark the line dividing one property from another. He
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  Speaker 1: also caused all to be raised the Terminus and instituted
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  Speaker 1: his festival, the Terminalia, which was celebrated on the twenty
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  Speaker 1: third of February. Upon one occasion, when Tarquin wished to
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  Speaker 1: remove the altars of several deities in order to build
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  Speaker 1: a new temple, it is said that Terminus and Juventus
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  Speaker 1: alone objected to being displaced. This obstinate refusal on their
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  Speaker 1: part was interpreted as a good omen, signifying that the
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  Speaker 1: city of Rome would never lose her boundaries and would
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  Speaker 1: remain ever young and vigorous Consius. Consius was the god
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  Speaker 1: of secret council. The Romans believed that when an idea
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  Speaker 1: developed itself spontaneously within the mind of an individual, it
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  Speaker 1: was Consis who had prompted the suggestion. This applied, however,
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  Speaker 1: more particularly to plans which resulted satisfactorily. An altar was
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  Speaker 1: erected to this divinity on this circus Maximus, which was
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  Speaker 1: kept always covered except during his festival, the Consuelia, which
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  Speaker 1: was celebrated on the eighteenth of August. Libertina. Libertina was
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  Speaker 1: the goddess who presided over funerals. This divinity was identified
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  Speaker 1: with Venus, possibly because the ancients considered that the power
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  Speaker 1: of love extended even to the realms of death. Her
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  Speaker 1: temple in Rome, which was erected by Servius Tullius, contained
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  Speaker 1: all the requisites for funerals, and these could either be
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  Speaker 1: bought or hired. There. A register of all deaths which
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  Speaker 1: occurred in the city of Rome was kept in this temple,
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  Speaker 1: and in order to ascertain the rate of mortality, a
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  Speaker 1: piece of money was paid by command of Servius Tullius
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  Speaker 1: on the demise of each person see footnote one eighty four.
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  Speaker 1: Laverna Laverna was the presiding goddess of thieves and of
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  Speaker 1: all artifice and fraud. There was an altar erected to
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  Speaker 1: her near the Porta Lavernalus, which was called after her,
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  Speaker 1: and she possessed a sacred grove on the Via Salivia.
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  Speaker 1: Comus Comus was the presiding genius of banquets, festive scenes, revelry,
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  Speaker 1: and all joyous pleasures and reckless gaiety. He is represented
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  Speaker 1: as a young man crowned with flowers, his face heated
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  Speaker 1: and flushed with wine, leaning against the post in a
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  Speaker 1: half sleepy and drunken attitude with a torch falling from
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  Speaker 1: his hand. The Camenae. The Camenae were prophetic nymphs held
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  Speaker 1: in high veneration by the ancient Italians. They were foreign number,
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  Speaker 1: the best known of whom are Carmenta and Egeria. Carmenta
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  Speaker 1: was celebrated as being the mother of Evander, who led
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  Speaker 1: an Arcadian colony into Italy and founded a town on
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  Speaker 1: the river Tiber, which became afterwards incorporated with the city
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  Speaker 1: of Rome. Evanders said to have been the first who
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  Speaker 1: introduced Greek art and civilization into Italy, and also the
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  Speaker 1: worship of Greek divinities. A temple was erected to Carmenta
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  Speaker 1: on the capitol Lion Hill, and a festival called the
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  Speaker 1: Carmentalia was celebrated in her honour on the eleventh of January.
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  Speaker 1: Egeria is said to have initiated Duma pompilius in the
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  Speaker 1: forms of religious worship which he introduced among his people.
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  Speaker 1: She was regarded as the giver of life and was
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  Speaker 1: therefore invoked by women before the birth of their children
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  Speaker 1: see footnote one eighty five. The Kymane are frequently identified
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  Speaker 1: by Roman writers with the muses Geni, a comforting and
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  Speaker 1: assuring belief existed among the Romans that each individual was
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  Speaker 1: accompanied through life from the hour of his birth to
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  Speaker 1: that of his death by protecting spirit called his genius,
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  Speaker 1: who prompted him to good and noble deeds and acted
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  Speaker 1: towards him as a guardian angel, comforting him in sorrow
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  Speaker 1: in guiding him throughout his earthly career. In the course
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  Speaker 1: of time, a second genius was believed to exist, of
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  Speaker 1: an evil nature, who, as the instigator of all wrongdoing,
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  Speaker 1: was ever at war with the beneficent genius, and on
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  Speaker 1: the issue of the conflict between these antagonistic influences depended
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  Speaker 1: the fate of the individual. The Geni were depicted as
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  Speaker 1: winged beings, greatly resembling our modern representations of guardian angels.
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  Speaker 1: Every state, town, or city, as well as every man,
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  Speaker 1: possessed its special genius. The sacrifices to the geni consisted
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  Speaker 1: of wine, cakes, and incense, which were offered to them
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  Speaker 1: on birthdays. The genius which guided a woman was called
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  Speaker 1: after the queen of heaven Juno. Among the Greeks, beings
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  Speaker 1: called daemons were regarded as exercising similar functions to those
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  Speaker 1: of the Roman geni. They were believed to be the
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  Speaker 1: spirits of the righteous race which existed in the Golden Age,
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  Speaker 1: who watched over mankind, carrying their prayers to the gods
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  Speaker 1: and the gifts of the gods to them. Maines, Lemurs, larvae,
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  Speaker 1: and laris. The mains were the spirits of the departed
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  Speaker 1: and were of two kinds Viza. The lemurs were larvae
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  Speaker 1: and laris see footnote one eighty six. The lemurs were
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  Speaker 1: those manes who haunted their former abodes on earth as
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  Speaker 1: evil spirits, appearing at night under awful forms and hideous shapes,
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  Speaker 1: greatly to the alarm of their friends and relatives. They
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  Speaker 1: were so feared that a festival called the Limeuralia was
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  Speaker 1: celebrated in order to propitiate them. It appears extremely probable
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  Speaker 1: that these superstitions with regard to ghosts, haunted houses, et cetera,
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  Speaker 1: which exist even at the present day, owe their origin
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  Speaker 1: to this very ancient pagan source. The lares familiaries were
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  Speaker 1: a much more pleasing conception. They were the spirits of
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  Speaker 1: the ancestors of each family, who exercised after death a
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  Speaker 1: protecting power over the well being and prosperity of the family,
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  Speaker 1: to which they had in life belonged. The place of
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  Speaker 1: honor beside the hearth was occupied by the statue of
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  Speaker 1: the Lar of the house, who was supposed to have
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  Speaker 1: been the founder of the family. This statue was the
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  Speaker 1: object of profound veneration and was honored on all occasions
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  Speaker 1: by every member of the family. A portion of each
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  Speaker 1: meal was laid before it, and it was believed to
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  Speaker 1: take an active part in all family affairs and domestic events,
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  Speaker 1: whether of a sad or joyful nature. Before starting on
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  Speaker 1: any expedition, the master of the house saluted the statue
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  Speaker 1: of the Lar, and on his return, a solemn thanksgiving
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  Speaker 1: was offered to this the presiding deity of his hearth
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  Speaker 1: and home, in grateful acknowledgment of his protection, whereupon the
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  Speaker 1: statue was crowned with garlands of flowers, these being the
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  Speaker 1: favorite offerings of the laris on all occasions of a
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  Speaker 1: special family rejoicing. The first act of a bride on
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  Speaker 1: entering her new abode was to do homage to the Lar,
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  Speaker 1: in the belief that he would exercise over her a
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  Speaker 1: protecting influence and shield her from evil. In addition to
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  Speaker 1: those above enumerated, there were also public laws who were
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  Speaker 1: guardians of the state, high roads, country, and sea. Their
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  Speaker 1: temples were always open for any pious worshiper to enter,
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  Speaker 1: and on their altars public sacrifices were offered for the
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  Speaker 1: welfare of the state or city. See Footnote one eighty seven. Penates.
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  Speaker 1: The penates were deities selected by each family and frequently
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  Speaker 1: by its individual members, as a special protector. Various causes
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  Speaker 1: led to this selection. If, for instance, a child were
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  Speaker 1: born on the festival of Vesta, it was thought that
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  Speaker 1: that deity would henceforward act as its special guardian. If
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  Speaker 1: a youth possessed great business talents, he adopted Mercury as
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  Speaker 1: his tutelary deity. Should he, on the other hand, develop
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  Speaker 1: a passion for music, Apollo was selected as his patron god,
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  Speaker 1: and so forth these became regarded as the special divinities
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  Speaker 1: of the household. Small images of them adorned the surroundings
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  Speaker 1: of the hearth, and honors similar to those paid to
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  Speaker 1: the lares were accorded to them. Just as there were
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  Speaker 1: public laries, so there were public penates, which were worshiped
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  Speaker 1: by the Roman people under the form of two youthful warriors,
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  Speaker 1: who in later times were regarded as identical with Castor
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  Speaker 1: and Pollux. They are generally represented on horseback, with conical
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  Speaker 1: caps on their heads and bearing long spears in their hands.
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  Speaker 1: See footnote one eighty eight end of section eighteen, recorded
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  Speaker 1: by Anthony Wilson