The gate of the year

Figure above:

Marble statue of the goddess Fortuna, Roman copy of the II century A.D. from a Greek original of the V century B.C., now in the National Museums (Staatliche Museen), Berlin, Germany.
Fortuna was a Latin goddess who presided over what of unpredictable there is in human life and personified the uncertainty and the fluctuations of fate which characterize the existence of humankind. It is likely that, originally, the goddess represented fertility and the wealth which derives from the former. Symbol of the goddess’s functions were her iconographic attributes more frequently represented: the rudder and the cornucopia, both derived from her Greek homologue, the goddess Tyche. The rudder represented her role as conductor of human events, while the horn of plenty recalled the significance of abundance and prosperity. The goddess’s head was surmounted by a kalathos, a basket employed to put away the female working instruments, but also fruits and grain, and in which was produce the cheese. Fortuna’s cult was particularly practiced by the less wealthy social classes and mostly by slaves. At Praeneste (actual Palestrina, in Latium) was located an imposing temple dedicated to Fortuna Primigenia. The title was interpreted as “Primordial Fortuna”, but perhaps it had the meaning of “First-born daughter” of Iuppiter (Daremberg-Saglio 1896, vol. 2/2, p. 1270). Here an oracle had its seat, which manifested itself though sticks with written sentences, which a child selected at random and distributed to the questioners.

[Image: http://library.artstor.org/library/]

Figure below:

Temple in the Forum Boarium in Rome, known as Temple of Fortuna Virilis, dating to the II-I century B.C. Originally, the temple was dedicated to Portunus, a god protector of the harbour towns, of the doors and of merchandises, and later probably attributed to the goddess Fortuna. The feast of Fortuna Virilis, notwithstanding its name, was mostly a female ritual, celebrated on the Calends of April, the first day of the month, in association with Venus Verticordia (“Who turns the hearts”). All the women, the prostitutes included, crowned with myrtle, took a bathing in the male baths, performed invocations to the goddess and ritual ablutions with the purpose of obtaining Fortuna’s benevolence, who was expected to hide to men any female physical defect. The statue of the goddess was then subjected itself to a ritual bath (Ovid, Fasti, IV, 133-170).

[Image: http://library.artstor.org/library/]




Female Symbols

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Figure above: Marble statue of the goddess Fortuna, Roman copy of the II century A.D. from a Greek original of the V century B.C., now in the National Museums (Staatliche Museen), Berlin, Germany. Fortuna was a Latin goddess who presided over what of unpredictable there is in human life and personified the uncertainty and the fluctuations of fate which characterize the existence of humankind. It is likely that, originally, the goddess represented fertility and the wealth which derives from the former. Symbol of the goddess’s functions were her iconographic attributes more frequently represented: the rudder and the cornucopia, both derived from her Greek homologue, the goddess Tyche. The rudder represented her role as conductor of human events, while the horn of plenty recalled the significance of abundance and prosperity. The goddess’s head was surmounted by a kalathos, a basket employed to put away the female working instruments, but also fruits and grain, and in which was produce the cheese. Fortuna’s cult was particularly practiced by the less wealthy social classes and mostly by slaves. At Praeneste (actual Palestrina, in Latium) was located an imposing temple dedicated to Fortuna Primigenia. The title was interpreted as “Primordial Fortuna”, but perhaps it had the meaning of “First-born daughter” of Iuppiter (Daremberg-Saglio 1896, vol. 2/2, p. 1270). Here an oracle had its seat, which manifested itself though sticks with written sentences, which a child selected at random and distributed to the questioners. [Image: http://library.artstor.org/library/] Figure below: Temple in the Forum Boarium in Rome, known as Temple of Fortuna Virilis, dating to the II-I century B.C. Originally, the temple was dedicated to Portunus, a god protector of the harbour towns, of the doors and of merchandises, and later probably attributed to the goddess Fortuna. The feast of Fortuna Virilis, notwithstanding its name, was mostly a female ritual, celebrated on the Calends of April, the first day of the month, in association with Venus Verticordia (“Who turns the hearts”). All the women, the prostitutes included, crowned with myrtle, took a bathing in the male baths, performed invocations to the goddess and ritual ablutions with the purpose of obtaining Fortuna’s benevolence, who was expected to hide to men any female physical defect. The statue of the goddess was then subjected itself to a ritual bath (Ovid, Fasti, IV, 133-170). [Image: http://library.artstor.org/library/]