Agenoria is a

Roman goddess Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to the ...

of activity ''(actus)''. Her name is presumably derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

verb ''agō,'' "to do, drive, go";

present participle In linguistics, a participle (; abbr. ) is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from a verb and used as an adject ...

''agēns''. She is named only by

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

, who places her among the deities who are concerned with childhood. She is thus one of the goddesses who endows the child with a developmental capacity, such as walking, singing, reasoning, and learning to count. W.H. Roscher includes Agenoria among the ''

indigitamenta In ancient Roman religion, the ''indigitamenta'' were lists of deities kept by the College of Pontiffs to assure that the correct divine names were invoked for public prayers. These lists or books probably described the nature of the various deit ...

'', the list of deities maintained by Roman priests to assure that the correct divinity was invoked for rituals.

Renaissance allegory

Despite her obscurity, Agenoria is the title character of the first of four Latin

apologue An apologue or apolog (from the Greek ἀπόλογος, a "statement" or "account") is a brief fable or allegorical story with pointed or exaggerated details, meant to serve as a pleasant vehicle for a moral doctrine or to convey a useful lesson ...

s written in 1497 by the Italian humanist

Pandolfo Collenuccio Pandolfo Collenuccio (7 January 1444 – 11 June 1504) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, Civil Servant and writer. Biography Pandolfo Collenuccio was born in Pesaro on 7 January 1444. He studied at Padua under Bartolomeo Cipolla and Marcus ...

in honor of

Ercole II d'Este Ercole II d'Este (4 April 1508 – 3 October 1559) was Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio from 1534 to 1559. He was the eldest son of Alfonso I d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia. Biography Through his mother, Ercole was a grandson of Pope Alexand ...

duke of Ferrara This is a list of rulers of the estates owned by the House of Este, Este family, which main line of Marquesses (''Marchesi d'Este'') rose in 1039 with Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan. The name "Este" is related to the city where the family came ...

. The allegorical fiction ''Agenoria'', influenced by

Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...

, begins with the

betrothal An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

of Inertia (Inactivity) to Labor, whose wedding gifts such as farm animals and sweat result in a breakup. Labor then weds Agenoria (Activity). Their wedding is attended by a number of other

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

s, including Ubertas (Abundance) and

Voluptas In Roman mythology, Voluptas or Volupta is the daughter born from the union of Cupid and Psyche, according to Apuleius. The Latin word ''voluptas'' means 'pleasure' or 'delight'; Voluptas is known as the goddess of "sensual pleasures". She is ofte ...

(Pleasure), whose presence arouses the violence of Inertia and her followers. The defeat of the virtuous company of Agenoria and Labor is prevented only by the ''

deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( ; ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; 'God from the machine') is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is general ...

'' intervention of

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 ...

. One of the wedding guests, Politia (Civilization) then praises the contributions to human society made by Labor, Agenoria, and the other attendant virtues. Jupiter asserts that Agenoria is under his divine protection.David Marsh, ''Lucian and the Latins: Humor and Humanism in the Early Renaissance'' (University of Michigan Press, 1998), pp. 144–146.

References

{{Roman religion Roman goddesses Childhood goddesses Personifications in Roman mythology

Renaissance allegory

See also

References