Carmenta
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| Carmenta | |
|---|---|
Goddess of childbirth and prophecy, protector of mothers and children, patron of midwives, inventor of the alphabet | |
| Member of the Camenae | |
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. Nicostrata-Carmenta inventing the Latin alphabet (Antoine Dufour, 1504) | |
| Other names | Nicostrate |
| Major cult center | a shrine near the Porta Carmentalis |
| Gender | female |
| Festivals | Carmentalia |
| Offspring | Evander of Pallantium |
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Carmenta (Greek) or Carmentis (Latin)[1] was a goddess of childbirth and prophecy, associated with technological innovation, specifically, the invention or adaptation of the Latin alphabet[2] as well as the protection of mothers and children and a patron of midwives.
Background
The name Carmenta is generally derived from the Latin carmen, meaning a spell, oracle, or song, a term that is also the root of the English word “charm.” Her original name was Nicostrate (Template:Langx, "victory-army"), but it was changed later to honor her renown for giving oracles (Latin singular: carmen). She was the mother of Evander of Pallene (fathered by Hermes)[3] and, along with other Greek followers, they founded the town of Pallantium which later was one of the sites of the start of Rome. Gaius Julius Hyginus (Fab. 277) mentions the legend that it was she who altered fifteen letters of the Greek alphabet to become the Latin alphabet which her son Evander introduced into Latium. Carmenta was one of the Camenae and the Cimmerian Sibyl. The leader of her cult was called the flamen carmentalis.
It was forbidden to wear leather or other forms of dead skin in her temple, which was next to the Porta Carmentalis, and close to the Theater of Marcellus in Rome.[4] Her festival, called the Carmentalia, was celebrated primarily by women on January 11 and January 15. She is remembered in De Mulieribus Claris, a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in 1361–62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.[5]
See also
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Samuel Ball Platner, Thomas Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, CARMENTIS". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Archive, History. "Language | Latin Alphabet". History Archive. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Livy. Ab Urbe Condita. Vol. i. p. 7.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Brandt, J. Rasmus; Iddeng, Jon W. (2012-08-30). Greek and Roman Festivals: Content, Meaning, and Practice. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-969609-3.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Boccaccio, Giovanni (2003). Famous Women. I Tatti Renaissance Library. Vol. 1. Translated by Virginia Brown. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. xi. ISBN 0-674-01130-9.
Primary sources
- Ovid, Fasti i.461-542
- Servius, In Aeneida viii.51
- Solinus, Collectanea rerum memorabilium i.10, 13
Secondary sources
- The Dictionary of Classical Mythology by Pierre Grimal, page 89 "Carmenta"
- The Book of the City of Ladies, by Christine de Pizan, section I.33.2
- The Lincoln Beacon, Lincoln, Kansas, United States of America "Carmenta" 16 September 1880.
External links
- Roman Mythology
- List of Minor Roman Gods
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, page 589 (v. 1)
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