Camenae: Difference between revisions
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==List of Camenae== |
==List of Camenae== |
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Some mythological figures identified with the Camenae include: |
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There were four Camenae: |
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*[[Carmenta]], or Carmentis |
*[[Carmenta]], or Carmentis |
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*[[Egeria (mythology)|Egeria]], or Ægeria, or Aegeria |
*[[Egeria (mythology)|Egeria]], or Ægeria, or Aegeria |
Revision as of 23:03, 24 April 2024
In Roman mythology, the Camenae (also Casmenae, Camoenae) were originally goddesses of childbirth, wells and fountains, and also prophetic deities.[1]
List of Camenae
Some mythological figures identified with the Camenae include:
- Carmenta, or Carmentis
- Egeria, or Ægeria, or Aegeria
- Antevorta, or Porrima, or Prorsa
- Postverta, or Postvorta
The last two were sometimes specifically referred to as the Carmentae and in ancient times might have been two aspects of Carmenta rather than separate figures; in later times, however, they are distinct beings believed to protect women in labor.
Carmenta was chief among the nymphs. Her festival day, the Carmentalia, featured water ritually drawn by Vestal Virgins from the spring outside the Porta Capena.
The Camenae were later identified with the Greek Muses; in his translation of Homer's Odyssey, Livius Andronicus rendered the Greek word Mousa as Camena and Horace refers to poetic inspiration as the "soft breath of the Greek Camena" (spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae) in Odes II.16. Horace also refers to the nine Muses as novem Camenae (nine Camenae) in the Carmen Saeculare.
See also
References
- ^ Hardie, Alex (April 2016). "The Camenae in Cult, History, and Song". University of California Press. doi:10.1525/ca.2016.35.1.45. Archived from the original on 2022-11-04. Retrieved 2022-11-04.