NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Fortuna (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek goddess 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. She is also a goddess of fate. 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. ... Carmina Burana (IPA: ; note that the stress is on the first syllable of Carmina, not the second) also known as the Burana Codex is a manuscript collection, now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, of over 1000 poems and songs written in the early 13th century. ... Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ... Tyche on the reverse of this coin by Gordian III. In Greek mythology, Tyche (Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity that governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. ... A four leaf clover is often considered to bestow good luck This article is about fortune. ... J.L. Urban, statue of Lady Justice at court building in Olomouc, Czech Republic Justice is the ideal, morally correct state of things and persons. ... Destiny or fate refers to the inevitable course of events. ...

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]. COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts is a cultural museum and education center dedicated to the discovery, understanding, and celebration of wine, food and the arts in American culture. ... 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 name given to both the imperial domain developed by the city-state of Rome and also the corresponding phase of that civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government. ... 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... Nickname: The Eternal City Motto: SPQR: Senatus PopulusQue Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Mayor Walter Veltroni Area - City 1,500 kmÂ² (580 sq mi... Consulting the Oracle by John William Waterhouse 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 Cyclobalanopsis and 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).

Middle Ages

Fortuna did not disappear from the popular imagination with the ascendancy 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. ... A coin of Shapur I 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. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... A 1543 portrait miniature of Hans Holbein the Younger by Lucas Horenbout Holbeins 1533 painting The Ambassadors 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... Boethius teaching his students (initial from a 1385 Italian manuscript of the Consolation of Philosophy) Boethius redirects here. ... Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut. ...

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, descending 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 DÃ¼rer, 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 DÃ¼rer, 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 (1500) by Albrecht DÃ¼rer, oil on canvas, Alte Pinakothek, Munich Albrecht DÃ¼rer (Ã¤lbrekht dÃ¼rur) (May 21, 1471 â€“ April 6, 1528) [1] was a German painter, printmaker, mathematician, and, with Rembrandt and Goya, the greatest creator of old master prints. ... 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. ... It has been suggested that Janus in popular culture be merged into this article or section. ... 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, and similar words, have several meanings. ... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. For other uses, see Virgil (disambiguation). ... Giovanni Boccaccio (June 16, 1313 - December 21, 1375) was a Florentine author and poet, the greatest of Petrarchs disciples, an important Renaissance humanist in his own right and author of a number of notable works including On Famous Women, the Decameron and his poems in the vernacular. ... John Lydgate (1370?-1451?); Monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, England. ... Carmina Burana (IPA: ; note that the stress is on the first syllable of Carmina, not the second) also known as the Burana Codex is a manuscript collection, now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, of over 1000 poems and songs written in the early 13th century. ... Il Principe (The Prince) is a political treatise by the Florentine public servant and political theorist NiccolÃ² Machiavelli. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Aspects of Fortuna

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (914x1291, 324 KB) Summary From: http://special. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (914x1291, 324 KB) Summary From: http://special. ...

References

See also

The cover of the score to Carmina Burana showing the Wheel of Fortuna Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff between 1935 and 1936. ... Fortune favours the bold or fortune favours the brave is a phrase derived from the Latin saying fortes fortuna adjuvat. The phrase means that luck is likely to be granted by the goddess Fortuna to the side of someone who is willing to take risks. ...

External links

Categories: Fortune goddesses | Roman goddesses Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ... Lycian Apollo, early Imperial Roman copy of a fourth century Greek original (Louvre Museum) In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (Ancient Greek , ApÃ³llÅn; or á¼ˆÏ€ÎÎ»Î»Ï‰Î½, ApellÅn), the ideal of the kouros, was the archer-god of medicine and healing, light, truth, archery and also a bringer of death... 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. ... Classical Roman statue of Diana. ... IVNO REGINA (Queen Juno) on a coin celebrating Julia Soaemias. ... Jupiter et ThÃ©tis - by Jean Ingres, 1811. ... Image of Mars/Ares from the Villa Hadriana. ... This article treats Mercury in cult practice and in archaic Rome. ... Minerva and the Muses, by Hans Rottenhammer (1603). ... Marble Venus of the Capitoline Venus type, Roman (British Museum) Venus was a major Roman goddess principally associated with love and beauty, the rough equivalent of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. ... The Forge of Vulcan, by Diego VelÃ¡zquez. ... Augustus (Latin: IMPâ€¢CAESARâ€¢DIVIâ€¢Fâ€¢AVGVSTVS;[1] September 23, 63 BCâ€“August 19, AD 14), known as Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (English Octavian; Latin: Câ€¢IVLIVSâ€¢Câ€¢Fâ€¢CAESARâ€¢OCTAVIANVS) for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, was the first and among the most important of... GÄius JÅ«lius Caesar (IPA: ;[1]), July 12 or July 13, 100 BC â€“ March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader and one of the most influential men in world history. ... Lares (pl. ... Pluto, lord of the underworld. ... In Roman mythology, Quirinus was a mysterious god. ... Coin of Emperor Probus, circa 280, with Sol Invictus riding a quadriga, with legend SOLI INVICTO, to the undefeated Sun. Note how the Emperor (on the left) wears a radiated solar crown, worn also by the god (to the right). ... Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman mythology, analogous to Hestia in Greek 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. ... COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts is a cultural museum and education center dedicated to the discovery, understanding, and celebration of wine, food and the arts in American culture. ... In Roman mythology, the Fides (faith) was the goddess of loyalty. ... In Roman mythology, Spes was the goddess of hope. ...

Contents

Middle Ages GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Aspects of Fortuna

References

See also

External links

Middle Ages