In the

myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

and religion of ancient Rome, Juturna, or Diuturna, was a goddess of fountains, wells and springs, and the mother of Fontus by Janus.

Mythology

Juturna was an ancient Latin deity of fountains, who in some myths was turned by

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

into a water

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

– a Naiad – and given by him a sacred well in Lavinium,

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

, as well as another one near the temple to Vesta in the Forum Romanum. Her original home was said to be on the mythological river Numicius. Iuturna-fountain-denarius-96bc

The pool next to the second well in the Roman Forum (Rome) was called Lacus Juturnae. A local water nymph or river-god generally presides over a single body of water, but Juturna has broader powers which probably reflect her original importance in Latium, where she had temples in Rome and Lavinium, a cult of healthful waters at Ardea, and the fountain/well next to the lake in the Roman forum. It was here in Roman legend that the deities Castor and Pollux watered their horses after bringing news of the Roman victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus in 496 BC (Valerius Maximus, I.8.1; Plutarch, Life of Aemilius Paulus, 25.2, Life of Coriolanus, 3.4). A temple was erected in her honour after the first Punic war.

In literature

*Virgil makes her a sister of Turnus who supported him against Aeneas by giving him his sword after he dropped it in battle, as well as by taking him away from the battle when it seemed he would be killed. In the end, however, she could not save him from his fate, and retreated into her waters in mourning. Juturna is further hellenized by Juno’s conferral of catasterism (Aen. 12.143, 145), an act that links her with the Dioscuri. These divinities all share a similar function as helpers of mortals and had traditional cultic connections in early Latium. *Ovid relates her affair with Jupiter (Greek Zeus): the secret was betrayed by another nymph, Larunda, whom Jupiter struck with muteness as punishment.

Cult

Holloway has argued that the goddess shown carrying a winged helmet on early Roman coinage is Juturna, but her iconography is largely unknown. A later altar relief from the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum may depict her. A Roman festival was held in her honor on January 11, when she was given sacrifices and honored by the ''fontani'' (the men who maintained the fountains and aqueducts of Rome).F Guirand ed, ''New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology'' (London 1968) p. 210

Honours

Juturna Lake in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after the deity.

References

*Holloway, Robert Ross. "The lady of the denarius," ''Numismatica e antichità classiche: quaderni ticinesi'' 1995 24: 207–215. *Jaakko, Aronen. "Iuturna, Carmenta, e Mater Larum. Un rapporto arcaico tra mito, calendario e topografia." ''Opuscula Instituti Romani Finlandiae'' 4 1989 (Roma Bardi), 65–88. *''Lacus Iuturnae'' in http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/romanforum/lacusjuturnae.html *Manning, Craig. "Nemean X and the Juturna-episode in Aeneid XII", ''Classical World'' 81 (1988) 221–2. *Steinby, Eva Margareta. "Lacus Iuturnae 1982-1983," in ''Roma. Archeologia nel centro I: L’area archeologica centrale''. 1985, 73–92. *Ziolkowski, Adam. "Les temples A et C du Largo Argentina. Quelques considérations," Mélanges de l'Ecole française de Rome 98 1986: 623–641. *Ancient sources include: Varro ''De ling. Lat''. 1, c. 10; Ovid, ''Fasti'', 1, v. 708, l.2 v. 585; Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 12, v. 139 (and Servian notes); Cicero, ''Cluent''. 36; Arnobius of Sicca, ''Adversus gentes'' 3, 29 *Levi, Peter, ''Virgil, His Life and Times'', Duckworth 1998.p. 219.
Juturna, Roman Myth Index

External links