Faunus II, King of Latium

He is variously called son of Picus II by Canens, and of Picus II by Kirkê (Circe).

After his death, he was revered by the Romans as the god Fatuus, counterpart of the Greek god Pan. He was called Lupercus ("he who wards off the wolf") as the protector of cattle. He was associated with wolf skins, wreaths and goblets. He was worshipped in a sacred forest at Tibur, the home of Tiburtine sibyl, outside what is now Tivoli. His festival, the Lupercalia, was celebrated on February 15th. Another festival, the Faunalia, was held on December 5th.

Roman mythology

In later Roman mythology, Latinus is sometimes the son of Faunus and Marica and father of Lavinia with his wife, Amata. In Roman mythology, Latinus, or Lavinius, was a king of the Latins. He hosted Aeneas's army of exiled Trojans and offered them the option of reorganizing their life in Latium. His daughter Lavinia had been promised to Turnus, king of the Rutuli, but Faunus and the gods insisted that he give her instead to Aeneas; Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas after the Fury Allecto was sent to enrage him (at the urging of Juno). The outcome was that Turnus was killed. Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, later founded Alba Longa and was the first in a long series of kings leading to Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

Consorts and Family

A goddess of like attributes, called Fauna and Fatua, was associated in his worship. She was regarded sometimes as his wife, sometimes as his sister. As Pan was accompanied by the Paniskoi, or little Pans, so the existence of many Fauni was assumed besides the chief Faunus (Peck 1898). In fable Faunus appears as an old king of Latium, son of Picus, and grandson of Saturnus, father of Latinus by the nymph Marica. After his death he is raised to the position of a tutelary deity of the land, for his many services to agriculture and cattle-breeding.

Faunus was known as the father or husband or brother of Bona Dea (Fauna, his feminine side) and Latinus by the nymph Marica (who was also sometimes Faunus' mother). Fauns are place-spirits (genii) of untamed woodland. Educated Romans connected their fauns with the Greek satyrs, who were wild and orgiastic drunken followers of Dionysus, with a distinct origin.

[edit] Festivals

The Christian writer Justin Martyr identified him as Lupercus ("he who wards off the wolf"), the protector of cattle, following Livy, who named his aspect of Inuus as the god who was originally worshiped at the Lupercalia, celebrated on the anniversary of the founding of his temple, February 15, when his priests (Luperci) wore goat-skins and hit onlookers with goat-skin belts.

Two festivals, called Faunalia, were celebrated in his honour--one on the 13th of February, in the temple of Faunus on the island in the Tiber, the other on the 5th of December, when the peasants brought him rustic offerings and amused themselves with dancing (Peck 1898).

A euhemeristic account made Faunus a Latin king, son of Picus and Canens. He was then revered as the god Fatuus after his death, worshipped in a sacred forest outside what is now Tivoli, but had been known since Etruscan times as Tibur, the seat of the Tiburtine Sibyl. His numinous presence was recognized by wolf skins, with wreaths and goblets.

In Nonnos' Dionysiaca, Faunus/Phaunos accompanied Dionysos when the god campaigned in India.

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

Faunus, as a deity, originated in Italy itself. As such Faunus was one of the di indigetes, or native deities. According to Virgil, in his Aeneid, Faunus had initially been a human king of the Latins, who, after death, was deified as an oracular god who could be contacted at the sacred groves of the Tibur.

[edit] Equation with Pan

When the Roman Republic invaded Greece, the Romans tried to equate each of their own deities with one of the Greeks'. Faunus was equated with the god Pan, who was a pastoral god of shepherds who was said to reside in Arcadia. Pan had always been depicted with horns and as such many depictions of Faunus also began to display this trait. However, the two deities were also considered separate by many, for instance, the epic poet Virgil, in his Aeneid, made mention of both Faunus and Pan independently.

[edit] Later worship

Faunus was worshipped across the Roman Empire for many centuries. An example of this was a set of thirty two 4th century spoons found near Thetford in England in 1979. They had been engraved with the name "Faunus", and each also had a different epithet after the god's name. The spoons also bore Christian symbols, and it has been suggested that these were initially Christian but later taken and devoted to Faunus by pagans. The 4th century was a time of largescale Christianisation, and it provides us with evidence that even at the decline of Roman paganism, the god Faunus was still worshipped.[4][5]

[edit]

In later Roman mythology, Latinus is sometimes the son of Faunus and Marica and father of Lavinia with his wife, Amata. In Roman mythology, Latinus, or Lavinius, was a king of the Latins. He hosted Aeneas's army of exiled Trojans and offered them the option of reorganizing their life in Latium. His daughter Lavinia had been promised to Turnus, king of the Rutuli, but Faunus and the gods insisted that he give her instead to Aeneas; Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas after the Fury Allecto was sent to enrage him (at the urging of Juno). The outcome was that Turnus was killed. Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, later founded Alba Longa and was the first in a long series of kings leading to Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

Consorts and Family

A goddess of like attributes, called Fauna and Fatua, was associated in his worship. She was regarded sometimes as his wife, sometimes as his sister. As Pan was accompanied by the Paniskoi, or little Pans, so the existence of many Fauni was assumed besides the chief Faunus (Peck 1898). In fable Faunus appears as an old king of Latium, son of Picus, and grandson of Saturnus, father of Latinus by the nymph Marica. After his death he is raised to the position of a tutelary deity of the land, for his many services to agriculture and cattle-breeding.

Faunus was known as the father or husband or brother of Bona Dea (Fauna, his feminine side) and Latinus by the nymph Marica (who was also sometimes Faunus' mother). Fauns are place-spirits (genii) of untamed woodland. Educated Romans connected their fauns with the Greek satyrs, who were wild and orgiastic drunken followers of Dionysus, with a distinct origin.

[edit] Festivals

The Christian writer Justin Martyr identified him as Lupercus ("he who wards off the wolf"), the protector of cattle, following Livy, who named his aspect of Inuus as the god who was originally worshiped at the Lupercalia, celebrated on the anniversary of the founding of his temple, February 15, when his priests (Luperci) wore goat-skins and hit onlookers with goat-skin belts.

Two festivals, called Faunalia, were celebrated in his honour--one on the 13th of February, in the temple of Faunus on the island in the Tiber, the other on the 5th of December, when the peasants brought him rustic offerings and amused themselves with dancing (Peck 1898).

A euhemeristic account made Faunus a Latin king, son of Picus and Canens. He was then revered as the god Fatuus after his death, worshipped in a sacred forest outside what is now Tivoli, but had been known since Etruscan times as Tibur, the seat of the Tiburtine Sibyl. His numinous presence was recognized by wolf skins, with wreaths and goblets.

In Nonnos' Dionysiaca, Faunus/Phaunos accompanied Dionysos when the god campaigned in India.

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

Faunus, as a deity, originated in Italy itself. As such Faunus was one of the di indigetes, or native deities. According to Virgil, in his Aeneid, Faunus had initially been a human king of the Latins, who, after death, was deified as an oracular god who could be contacted at the sacred groves of the Tibur.

[edit] Equation with Pan

When the Roman Republic invaded Greece, the Romans tried to equate each of their own deities with one of the Greeks'. Faunus was equated with the god Pan, who was a pastoral god of shepherds who was said to reside in Arcadia. Pan had always been depicted with horns and as such many depictions of Faunus also began to display this trait. However, the two deities were also considered separate by many, for instance, the epic poet Virgil, in his Aeneid, made mention of both Faunus and Pan independently.

[edit] Later worship

Faunus was worshipped across the Roman Empire for many centuries. An example of this was a set of thirty two 4th century spoons found near Thetford in England in 1979. They had been engraved with the name "Faunus", and each also had a different epithet after the god's name. The spoons also bore Christian symbols, and it has been suggested that these were initially Christian but later taken and devoted to Faunus by pagans. The 4th century was a time of largescale Christianisation, and it provides us with evidence that even at the decline of Roman paganism, the god Faunus was still worshipped.[4][5]

[edit]

In later Roman mythology, Latinus is sometimes the son of Faunus and Marica and father of Lavinia with his wife, Amata. In Roman mythology, Latinus, or Lavinius, was a king of the Latins. He hosted Aeneas's army of exiled Trojans and offered them the option of reorganizing their life in Latium. His daughter Lavinia had been promised to Turnus, king of the Rutuli, but Faunus and the gods insisted that he give her instead to Aeneas; Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas after the Fury Allecto was sent to enrage him (at the urging of Juno). The outcome was that Turnus was killed. Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, later founded Alba Longa and was the first in a long series of kings leading to Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

Consorts and Family

A goddess of like attributes, called Fauna and Fatua, was associated in his worship. She was regarded sometimes as his wife, sometimes as his sister. As Pan was accompanied by the Paniskoi, or little Pans, so the existence of many Fauni was assumed besides the chief Faunus (Peck 1898). In fable Faunus appears as an old king of Latium, son of Picus, and grandson of Saturnus, father of Latinus by the nymph Marica. After his death he is raised to the position of a tutelary deity of the land, for his many services to agriculture and cattle-breeding.

Faunus was known as the father or husband or brother of Bona Dea (Fauna, his feminine side) and Latinus by the nymph Marica (who was also sometimes Faunus' mother). Fauns are place-spirits (genii) of untamed woodland. Educated Romans connected their fauns with the Greek satyrs, who were wild and orgiastic drunken followers of Dionysus, with a distinct origin.

[edit] Festivals

The Christian writer Justin Martyr identified him as Lupercus ("he who wards off the wolf"), the protector of cattle, following Livy, who named his aspect of Inuus as the god who was originally worshiped at the Lupercalia, celebrated on the anniversary of the founding of his temple, February 15, when his priests (Luperci) wore goat-skins and hit onlookers with goat-skin belts.

Two festivals, called Faunalia, were celebrated in his honour--one on the 13th of February, in the temple of Faunus on the island in the Tiber, the other on the 5th of December, when the peasants brought him rustic offerings and amused themselves with dancing (Peck 1898).

A euhemeristic account made Faunus a Latin king, son of Picus and Canens. He was then revered as the god Fatuus after his death, worshipped in a sacred forest outside what is now Tivoli, but had been known since Etruscan times as Tibur, the seat of the Tiburtine Sibyl. His numinous presence was recognized by wolf skins, with wreaths and goblets.

In Nonnos' Dionysiaca, Faunus/Phaunos accompanied Dionysos when the god campaigned in India.

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

Faunus, as a deity, originated in Italy itself. As such Faunus was one of the di indigetes, or native deities. According to Virgil, in his Aeneid, Faunus had initially been a human king of the Latins, who, after death, was deified as an oracular god who could be contacted at the sacred groves of the Tibur.

[edit] Equation with Pan

When the Roman Republic invaded Greece, the Romans tried to equate each of their own deities with one of the Greeks'. Faunus was equated with the god Pan, who was a pastoral god of shepherds who was said to reside in Arcadia. Pan had always been depicted with horns and as such many depictions of Faunus also began to display this trait. However, the two deities were also considered separate by many, for instance, the epic poet Virgil, in his Aeneid, made mention of both Faunus and Pan independently.

[edit] Later worship

Faunus was worshipped across the Roman Empire for many centuries. An example of this was a set of thirty two 4th century spoons found near Thetford in England in 1979. They had been engraved with the name "Faunus", and each also had a different epithet after the god's name. The spoons also bore Christian symbols, and it has been suggested that these were initially Christian but later taken and devoted to Faunus by pagans. The 4th century was a time of largescale Christianisation, and it provides us with evidence that even at the decline of Roman paganism, the god Faunus was still worshipped.[4][5]

[edit]