Lares (pl.) (also called Genii loci or, more archaically, Lases) were Roman deities protecting the house and the family - household gods. See also Genius, Larvae, Di Penates, Manes. Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ... Jupiter et Thétis - by Jean Ingres, 1811. ... Minerva and the Muses, by Hans Rottenhammer (1603). ... Mars was the Roman god of war, the son of Juno and a magical flower (or Jupiter). ... This article treats Mercury in cult practice and in archaic Rome. ... In Roman mythology, Quirinus was a mysterious god. ... Vulcan, in Roman mythology, is the son of Jupiter and Juno, and husband of Maia and Venus. ... Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman mythology, analogous to Hestia in Greek mythology. ... 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. ... In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hêra (IPA pronunciation: ; Greek or ) was the wife and sister of Zeus. ... Statue of Venus in the British Museum. ... 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... 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. ... Bust of a flamen, 3rd century AD, Louvre A flamen was a name given to a priest assigned to a state supported god or goddess in Roman religion. ... Roman mythology was strongly influenced by Greek mythology and Etruscan mythology. ... In Roman mythology, the Di Penates or briefly Penates were originally patron gods (really geniuses) of the storeroom, later becoming household gods guarding the entire household. ... Larvae are the plural of larva, juvenile form of animals with indirect development. ... In Roman mythology, every man had a genius and every woman a juno (Juno was also the name for the queen of the gods). ... In Roman mythology, the Manes were the souls of deceased love ones. ... In Roman religion, the Feast of the Lemures, called the Lemuralia or Lemuria, was a feast during which the ancient Romans performed rites to exorcise the malevolent and fearful ghosts of the dead from their homes. ... In Roman mythology, Terminus was the god of boundaries. ... In Roman mythology a Genius loci was the protective spirit of a place. ... Octavian, widely known as Augustus, founder of the Roman empire The Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government. ... Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... In Roman mythology, every man had a genius and every woman a juno (Juno was also the name for the queen of the gods). ... Larvae are the plural of larva, juvenile form of animals with indirect development. ... In Roman mythology, the Di Penates or briefly Penates were originally patron gods (really geniuses) of the storeroom, later becoming household gods guarding the entire household. ... In Roman mythology, the Manes were the souls of deceased love ones. ...

Lares are presumed sons of Hermes and Lara, and deeply venerated by ancient Romans through small statues, usually put in higher places of the house, far from the floor, or even on the roof (but some statues were also on some crossings of roads). Of the Lares proper, there are only two, and they had inferior power. Over time, their power was extended over houses, country, sea, cities, etc., as the Lares became conflated with other Roman deities and protective spirits. Hermes bearing the infant Dionysus, by Praxiteles Hermes (Greek IPA ), in Greek mythology, is the god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of orators, literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures and invention and commerce in general, of liars, and of... Lara was a Naiad, daughter of the river Almon in Roman mythology. ... Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ...

The Genius loci was presumed taking part in all that happened inside the house, and a statue was also put on the table during the meals.

In the early Roman times, in every house there was at least one little statue. Later, a sort of confusion connected their figure with those of Mani, deities of Hades (and the most virtuous dead persons of the family). Finally the confusion included the Penates too (other minor deities). Mani may refer to: Mani Peninsula in Greece Maní, Yucatán, a small city in Yucatán, Mexico Mani, Evros, a town in the northeastern part of the Evros Prefecture in Greece Mani (prophet), a third-century Persian prophet, the founder of the dualistic Manichaean religion, which borrowed eclectically from... Hades [from Greek Hadēs (), originally Haidēs () or Aïdēs (); of uncertain origin,[1] although it has been ascribed to Greek unseen[2]] refers to both the ancient Greek abode of the dead and the god of that underworld. ... In Roman mythology, the Di Penates or briefly Penates were originally patron gods (really geniuses) of the storeroom, later becoming household gods guarding the entire household. ...

Types of Lares:

1. Lares Compitales - crossroads
2. Lares Domestici - the house
3. Lares Familiares - family
4. Lares Patrii
5. Lares Permarini - the sea
6. Lares Praestitis - the state
7. Lares Privati
8. Lares Rurales - land
9. Lares Viales - travellers

Lares Familiares (Family Guardians in Latin) were mythological spirits of ancient Rome. ...

See also

• The Lasas are in the train of Turan, the Etruscan love goddess

In Etruscan mythology, Turan was the goddess of love and vitality and patroness of Vulci (cur: Volci). ...

House spirits in other cultures

• Brownie (Scotland and England)
• Domovoi (Slavic)
• Tomte (Scandinavia)
• Tonttu (Finland)