Fortuna governs the circle of the four stages of life, the Wheel of Fortune, in a manuscript of Carmina Burana

In Roman mythology, Fortuna (Greek equivalent Tyche) was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck, but she could be represented veiled and blind, as modern depictions of Justice are seen, and came to represent the capriciousness of life. Download high resolution version (500x736, 513 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (500x736, 513 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... The name Carmina Burana refers both to a collection of 13th-century songs and poetry, and 20th-century musical settings of texts from it. ... Roman mythology can be considered as two parts. ... Tyche on the reverse of tis coin by Gordian III. In Greek mythology, Tyche (luck) (Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity that governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. ... Allegory of Justice as woman with sword and with book - statue at court building. ...

Fortuna had a retinue that included Copia among her blessings. Under the name Annonaria she protected grain supplies. In the Roman calendar, June 11 was sacred to Fortuna, with a greater festival to Fors Fortuna on the 24th [1]. In Roman mythology, Copia was the goddess of abundance. ... June 11 is the 162nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (163rd in leap years), with 203 days remaining. ...

Fortuna was propitiated by mothers. Traditionally her cult was introduced to Rome by Servius Tullius. Fortuna had a temple in the Forum Boarium, a public sanctuary on the Quirinalis, as the tutelary genius of Roma herself, Fortuna Populi Romani, the "Fortune of the Roman people", and an oracle in Praeneste where the future was chosen by a small boy choosing oak rods with possible futures written on them. The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine Empire. ... Servius Tullius was the sixth legendary king of ancient Rome, and the second king of the Etruscan dynasty. ... The Forum Boarium was the cattle market of ancient Rome. ... An etching of the Hill, crowned by the mass of the Palazzo del Quirinale, from a series I Sette Colli di Roma antica e moderna published in 1827 by Luigi Rossini (1790 - 1857): his view, from the roof of the palazzo near the Trevi Fountain that now houes the Accademia... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000... An Oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ... This article deals with the ancient town, for the composer see: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Palestrina (ancient Praeneste) was and is a very ancient city of Latium (modern Lazio) 23 miles (37 km) east of Rome, and was reached by the Via Praenestina (see below). ... Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus, and some related genera, notably Lithocarpus. ...

All over the Roman world, Fortuna was worshipped at a great number of shrines under various titles that were applied to her according to the various circumstances of life in which her influence was hoped to have a positive effect. Fortuna was not always positive: she was doubtful (Fortuna Dubia); she could be "fickle fortune" (Fortuna Brevis), or downright evil luck (Fortuna Mala).

Her name seems to derive from the Italic goddess Vortumna, "she who revolves the year".

Middle Ages

The traumatic humiliation of Emperor Valerian by king Shapur I of Persia (260) passed into European cultural memory as an instance of the reversals of Fortuna. In Hans Holbein's pen-and-ink drawing (1521), the universal lesson is brought home by its contemporary setting.

Fortuna did not disappear from the popular imagination with the triumph of Christianity by any means (illustration, left). In the 6th century, the Consolation of Philosophy, by statesman and philosopher Boethius, written while he faced execution, reflected the Christian theology of casus, that the apparently random and often ruinous turns of Fortune's Wheel are in fact both inevitable and providential, that even the most coincidental events are part of God's hidden plan which one should not resist or try to change. Events, individual decisions, the influence of the stars were all merely vehicles of Divine Will. However, perhaps because scripture could not explain all of the questions of life, Fortune crept back in to popular acceptance. In succeeding generations Consolation was required reading for scholars and students. Download high resolution version (839x877, 160 KB)The Humiliation of the Emperor Valerian by the Persian King Sapor The Humiliation of Emperor Valerian by ShapurI, pan and ink, Hans Holbein the Younger, c. ... Download high resolution version (839x877, 160 KB)The Humiliation of the Emperor Valerian by the Persian King Sapor The Humiliation of Emperor Valerian by ShapurI, pan and ink, Hans Holbein the Younger, c. ... Valerian on a coin celebrating goddess Fortuna, associated with health and wealth. ... Shapur I, son of Ardashir I, was king of Persia from 241 to 272. ... Events Valerian I captured by the Persian king Shapur I; Gallienus becomes sole Roman emperor. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... Hans Holbein the Younger (c. ... Events January 3 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. ... This early printed book has many hand-painted illustrations depicting Lady Philosophy and scenes of daily life in fifteenth-century Ghent (1485) Consolation of Philosophy (Latin: Consolatio Philosophiae) is a philosophical work by Boethius written in about the year 524 AD. It has been described as the single most important... There are several persons called Bo thius: Philosophers: Anicius Manlius Severinus thius - to many scholars this is the Bo thius, a late-Roman writer best known for his works in philosophy and theology. ... An astrological chart (or horoscope) - Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251), using the tropical zodiac Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is...

Albrecht Dürer's engraving of Fortuna, ca 1502

The ubiquitous image of Wheel of Fortune found throughout the Middle Ages and beyond was a direct legacy of the second book of Boethius's Consolation. The Wheel appears in many renditions from tiny miniatures in manuscripts to huge stained glass windows in cathedrals, such as at Amiens. Lady Fortune is usually represented as larger than life to underscore her importance. The wheel characteristically has four shelves, or stages of life, with four human figures, usually labeled on the left regnabo (I shall reign), on the top regno (I reign) and is usually crowned, decending on the right regnavi (I have reigned) and the lowly figure on the bottom is marked sum sine regno (I have no kingdom). Medieval representations of Fortune emphasize her duality and instability, such as two faces side by side like Janus; one face smiling the other frowning; half the face white the other black; she may be blindfolded but without scales, blind to justice. Occasionally her vivid clothing and bold demeanor suggest the prostitute. She was associated with the cornucopia, ship's rudder, the ball and the wheel. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (732x1053, 129 KB)Albrecht Dürer, Fortuna engraving, ca 1502 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (732x1053, 129 KB)Albrecht Dürer, Fortuna engraving, ca 1502 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Self-Portrait, 1493, Oil on Canvas Albrecht Dürer (May 21, 1471 - April 6, 1528) was a German painter, wood carver, engraver, and mathematician. ... In the strictest definition of illuminated manuscript, only manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, like this miniature of Christ in Majesty from the Aberdeen Bestiary (folio 4v), would be considered illuminated. ... The cathedral in Amiens Location within France Amiens is a city and commune in the north of France, 120 km north of Paris. ... In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... The cornucopia (Latin Cornu Copiae), also known as the Horn of Plenty, is a symbol of food dating back to the 5th century BC. In Greek mythology, Amalthea raised Zeus on the milk of a goat. ...

Fortune would have many influences in cultural works throughout the Middle Ages. In Le Roman de la Rose, Fortune frustrates the hopes of a lover who has been helped by a personified character "Reason". In Dante's Inferno, in the seventh canto, Virgil explains the nature of Fortune. Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium ("The Fortunes of Famous Men"), used by John Lydgate to compose his Fall of Princes, tells of many where the turn of Fortune's wheel brought those most high to disaster. Fortune makes her appearance in Carmina burana (see image). Lady Fortune appears in chapter 25 of Machiavelli's The Prince, in which he says Fortune only rules one half of men's fate, the other half being of their own will. Machiavelli reminds the reader that Fortune is a woman, that she favours a strong, or even violent hand, and the she favours the more aggressive and bold young man than a timid elder. Even Shakespeare was no stranger to Lady Fortune: The Roman de la Rose is a late medieval French work of fiction in allegorical dream form. ... The word inferno has several meanings: An alternate word for hell. ... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC–19 BC), known in English as Virgil or Vergil, is a Latin poet, the author of the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid, the last being an epic poem of twelve books that... John Lydgate (1370?-1451?); Monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, England. ... One of the covers of the book The fame of Niccolò Machiavelli rests mainly on his political treatise Il Principe (The Prince), written around 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after his death. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state... - Sonnet 29

Aspects of Fortuna

• Fortuna Annonaria brought the luck of the harvest
• Fortuna Belli fortune of war
• Fortuna Primigenia directed the fortune of a firstborn child at the moment of birth
• Fortuna Virilis attended a man's career
• Fortuna Redux brought one safely home
• Fortuna Respiciens fortune of the provider
• Fortuna Muliebris the luck of a woman. Typical of Roman attitudes, the fortune of a woman in marriage, however, was Fortuna Virilis.
• Fortuna Victrix brought victory in battle
• Fortuna Augusta fortune of the emperor
• Fortuna Balnearis fortune of the baths
• Fortuna Conservatrix fortune of the Preserver
• Fortuna Equestris fortune of the Knights
• Fortuna Huiusque fortune of the present day
• Fortuna Obsequens fortune of indulgence
• Fortuna Privata fortune of the private individual
• Fortuna Publica fortune of the people
• Fortuna Romana fortune of Rome
• Fortuna Virgo fortune of the virgin

Roman mythology can be considered as two parts. ... Jupiter et Thétis - by Jean Ingres, 1811. ... Mars was Roman god of war, the son of Juno and a magical flower (or Jupiter). ... In Roman mythology, Quirinus was a mysterious god. ... Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman mythology, analogous to Hestia in Greek mythology. ... Juno was a Roman goddess, the equivalent of the Greek Hera, queen of the gods. ... Minerva was a Roman goddess of crafts and wisdom. ... This article treats Mercury in cult practice and in archaic Rome. ... Vulcan, in Roman mythology, is the son of Jupiter and Juno, and husband of Maia and Venus. ... Ceres, in Roman mythology, equivalent to the Greek Demeter (see which for more details), daughter of Saturn and Rhea, wife-sister of Jupiter, mother of Proserpina by Jupiter, sister of Juno, Vesta, Neptune and Pluto, and patron of Sicily. ... Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, broadly, although not completely, equivalent to Greek Aphrodite and Etruscan Turan. ... Lares (pl. ... For the son of Napoleon I of France, styled the King of Rome, see Napoleon II of France. ... Religion in ancient Rome combined several different cult practices and embraced more than a single set of beliefs. ... A flamen was a priest of the Roman religion. ... Roman mythology was strongly influenced by Greek mythology and Etruscan mythology. ... Aius Locutius is a Roman legend. ... In Roman mythology, Angerona or Angeronia was an old Roman goddess, whose name and functions are variously explained. ... In Roman mythology, Concordia was the goddess of agreement, understanding, and marital harmony. ... In Roman mythology, Copia was the goddess of abundance. ... In Roman mythology, the Fides (faith) was the goddess of loyalty. ... In Roman mythology, Spes was the goddess of hope. ...

References

• Howard Rollin Patch (1922), The Tradition of the Goddess Fortuna in Medieval Philosophy and Literature
• Howard Rollin Patch (1923), Fortuna in Old French Literature
• Howard Rollin Patch (1927, repr. 1967), The Goddess Fortuna in Medieval Literature
• Lesley Adkins, Roy A. Adkins (2001) Dictionary of Roman Religion

See also

• Carmina Burana (opening theme: O Fortuna)

The name Carmina Burana refers both to a collection of 13th-century songs and poetry, and 20th-century musical settings of texts from it. ...

External links

• Michael Best, "Medieval tragedy"