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Roman Goddesses - F
Fama
("rumor") The Roman personified goddess of fame, and the personification
of popular rumor. What she heard she repeated first in a whisper to few,
then louder and louder until she communicated it to all heaven and earth.
Mentioned as a daughter of Tellus. Not truly a goddess, she was more a
literary conceit. She had as many eyes, ears, and tongues as she had feathers.
Virgil mentions Fama as a horrible creature with multiple tongues and
tattling mouths. The Greeks called her Pheme.
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Fames
The Roman personification of hunger. Virgil mentioned that Fames lived
in the underworld, next to Poverty. Ovid wrote that she lived in the inhospitable
Scythia.
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Fauna
A Roman earth-mother and fertility goddess, usually called the Bona Dea.
She is thought to be the wife, sister or daughter of Faunus. Fauna is
identified with Terra, Tellus or Ops.
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Faustitas
The goddess who protects the herds.
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Febris
("fever") The goddess who protects against fever. Febris had
three temples in ancient Rome, of which one was located between the Palatine
and Velabrum. A dedication to one of her attendants, Tertiana, was found
at Risingham in Northumberland.
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Felicitas
The Roman personification of success. Her temples were closely associated
with the person of the emperor, there was one on the Forum Romanum.
Ferentina
The goddess of the mountain city of Ferentinum in Latium. She was protector
of the Latin commonwealth.
Feronia
Roman (Latin and Sabine) and Etruscan. She shares attributes with Flora,
and may have evolved from an underworld goddess. She is associated with
the Sabine god Soranus, and is sometimes confused with Cupra, the Etruscan
goddess of fire and fertility.
Fides
("trust") The personification of fidelity and honour.
Filia
Vocis
("Daughter of a Voice") The Latin form of the Hebrew Bat Kol, the
oracular transmitter of truth from Heaven. |
Flora
Flora was the Roman Goddess of flowers and all plants. She symbolized
the flowering of nature and was celebrated during the Floralia, which
started on April 27th and lasted six days, by women honoring their bodies
in their natural state. She was considered the clandestine patron of Rome
since, without her, the city would not grow and thrive. She had a minor
temple on the Quirinalis and was given a sanctuary near the Circus Maximus
in 238 BCE. The festival of the Floralia, celebrated on April 28 -May
1, existed until the 4th century CE. Flora is identified with the Greek
Chloris.
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Fornax
("oven") Fornax is the personified Roman goddess of the baking
of bread.
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Fortuna
The Roman personification of good fortune, originally a goddess of blessing
and fertility and in that capacity she was especially worshipped by mothers.
Her cult is thought to be introduced by Servius Tullius. She had a temple
on the Forum Boarium and a sanctuary, the Fortuna Populi Romani, stood
on the Quirinalis. In Praeneste she had an oracle where a small boy randomly
choose a little oak rod (sors), upon which a fate was inscribed. Some
of Fortuna's names include: Primigenia, Virilis, Respiciens, Muliebris,
and Annonaria. She is portrayed standing, wearing a rich dress. The cornucopia,
rudder, ball, and blindfold are her attributes. Her Greek counterpart
is Tyche.
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Fraus
The Roman goddess of fraud. |
Fulgora
The Roman goddess of lightning.
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Furies
The Roman goddess of vengeance. They are equivalent to the Greek Erinyes.
The Furies, who are usually characterized as three sisters (Alecto, Tisiphone,
and Magaera) are the children of Gaia and Uranus. They resulted from a
drop of Uranus' blood falling onto the earth. They were placed in the
Underworld by Virgil and it is there that they reside, tormenting evildoers
and sinners. However, Greek poets saw them as pursuing sinners on Earth.
The Furies are cruel, but are also renowned for being very fair.
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Furina
The Roman goddess of thieves.
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