Janus

In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. His most apparent remnant in modern culture is his namesake, the month of January.

Ancient incarnation

Imagery

Though he was usually depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions (Janus Geminus (twin Janus) or Bifrons), in some places he was Janus Quadrifrons (the four-faced).

His two faces (originally, one was always bearded, one clean-shaven; later both bearded) originally represented the sun and the moon, and he was usually shown with a key. The two-faced image of Janus was often depicted on coins of the Roman Republic.

Patronage

Janus was frequently used to symbolize change and transitions such as the progression of past to future, of one condition to another, of one vision to another, the growing up of young people, and of one universe to another. Hence, Janus was worshipped at the beginnings of the harvest and planting times, as well as marriages, births and other beginnings. He was representative of the middle ground between barbarity and civilization, rural country and urban cities, and youth and adulthood.

Myths

Carna

His ability to see both forwards and backwards at the same time aided him in his pursuit of the nymph Carna whom he gave power over door hinges as a reward for her favours.

Other myths

Janus was supposed to have come from Thessaly in Greece and he shared a kingdom with Camese in Latium. They had many children, including Tiberinus. Janus and his later wife, Juturna, were the parents of Fontus. Another wife was named Jana.

As the sole ruler of Latium, Janus heralded the Golden Age, introducing money, laws and agriculture (making him a culture hero).

When Romulus and his men kidnapped the women of the Sabines, Janus caused a hot spring to erupt, causing the would-be attackers to flee. In honor of this, the doors to his temples were kept open during war so that he could easily intervene. The doors and gates were closed during peace.

Origins

The Romans associated Janus with the Etruscan deity Ani. However, he was one of the few Roman gods who had no ready-made Greek counterpart, or analogous mythology. We can find in Greece Janus-like heads of gods related to Hermes, perhaps forming a compound god: Hermathena (a herm of Athena), Hermares, Hermaphroditus, Hermanubis, Hermalcibiades, and so on. In the case of these compounds it is disputed whether they indicated a herm with the head of Athena, or with a Janus-like head of both Hermes and Athena, or a figure compounded from both deities.

One suggested etymology for name of the Italian city of Genoa derives it from Janus.

Janus in popular culture

Janus has appeared in many aspects of popular culture.

In Shakespeare's play Othello, the double-crossing Iago utters the words "By Janus" when lying to Othello, a play on words considering his own two faced nature.

Philosopher and anthropologist of science and technology Bruno Latour uses Janus in his 'bestseller' Science in Action (1987) to explain the difference between "ready made science and technology" and "science and technology in the making".

in 'United Artists' 1995 James Bond film Goldeneye, Janus was used as the name for the villain's terrorist organisation, 'The Janus Syndicate'.

The Irish trad-rock band Bushplant have named their forthcoming album Janus to acknowledge the dual nature of their sound, gaining inspiration by looking backwards to their Irish traditional roots while looking forward to its continual evolution in a rock context.

Janus Films is a U.S. film distribution company founded in 1956 that distributes classic cinema, specializing mostly in foreign films.

rare monster in the final dungeon in the game Shadow Hearts: From the New World.

In the manga Ansatsu, Janus is the eighth Child in a series of bioweapons created for terrorist work.

In Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, Janus is the moniker taken by the novel's villain.

In Alastair Reynolds's Pushing Ice, a group of comet harvesters discover that Janus (moon) is a spacecraft.

In sci-fi television show Stargate Atlantis, Janus was an Ancient who built a time machine.

In the second revival of The Twilight Zone, the name Janus was used for the main character as she puts on her dead husband's glasses to reveal his killer who turns out to be herself all along--implying that she has lived a double life.

Batman villain Two-Face has used the alias Janus. Similarly, Two-Face's ex-wife is also now married to a man named Paul Janus.

Batman: The Animated Series contains two references, both related to Two-Face: When Maxie Zeus is captured and sent to Arkham Asylum, he refers to several known Batman villains as Greek gods, and calls Two-Face "Janus". In a later episode, Two-Face uses the abandoned Janus Theater as a hideout.

Two monsters in Final Fantasy XI have names relating to Janus, such as 'Bifrons' and the Demon 'Count Bifrons'.

In the Incredible Hulk episode "Death Mask" When David is being interrogated his interrogater contrasts himself with Janus saying he could not be two-faced; could not be a good cop - bad cop

Philosopher and anthropologist of science and technology Bruno Latour uses Janus in his 'bestseller' Science in Action (1987) to explain the difference between "ready made science and technology" and "science and technology in the making"

Polish town Ełk was used coat of arms with Janus two-faced head till 1967.

In the HBO/BBC TV series Rome, the character Titus Pullo, who has a penchant for praying directly to whatever god interests him at the moment, prays to Janus to free him from a locked cart in which he has been imprisoned.

In the James Bond movie GoldenEye a two headed Janus figure can be seen in the credits and in the movie the Russian crime ring is called The Janus Syndicate.

It the original Japanese version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, a monster that lights the way in the Catacombs is called Bifrons, which is an alternate name for Janus. This was changed to Lossoth in the European and American release.

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