Dea Dia
Goddess of fertility and growth
FestivalsAmbarvalia
Equivalents
Greek equivalentDemeter
Bust of Lucius Verus wearing the headdress of an "Arval brother," who honoured Dea Dia at Ambarvalia.

Dea Dia (Latin: "Goddess of Daylight", or "Bright Goddess") was a goddess of fertility and growth in ancient Roman religion. She was sometimes identified with Ceres, and sometimes with her Greek equivalent Demeter.[1]

She was worshiped during Ambarvalia, a festival to Ceres.[2] Every May, her priests, the Fratres Arvales, held a three-day festival in her honor.[3][4]

Name

The name Dea Dīa (Classical Latin: [ˈd̪e.a ˈd̪iː.a]) means 'Goddess of Daylight' or 'Bright Goddess'.[5][6] The first element stems from the Latin dea ('goddess'), while the second is related to diēs ('day'), probably in reference to the ritual prescription to announce in January the May ceremonies sub divo culmine ('under the celestial vault').[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Michael Lipka (2009). Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach. BRILL. pp. 64–. ISBN 978-90-04-17503-7.
  2. ↑ Hildegard Temporini (1 December 1985). Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 1949–. ISBN 978-3-11-008289-0.
  3. ↑ Notes on Strabo's account, 5.3
  4. ↑ Angelo Pellegrini (1865). Gli edifici del collegio dei Fratelli Arvali nel lugo della dea dia e i di loro avanzi: opuscolo corredato con pianta delineata dal medesimo. tipografia Chassi. pp. 6–.
  5. 1 2 Schilling 1992, pp. 113–114.
  6. ↑ Jenkyns 2013, p. 96.

Bibliography

  • Jenkyns, Richard (2013). God, Space, and City in the Roman Imagination. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-967552-4.
  • Schilling, Robert (1992). "The Arval Brethren". In Bonnefoy, Yves (ed.). Roman and European Mythologies. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-06455-0.

Further reading

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