Fortuna (, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the

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 ...

of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...

, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at least the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

. The blindfolded depiction of her is still an important figure in many aspects of today's Italian culture, where the dichotomy ''fortuna / sfortuna'' (luck / unluck) plays a prominent role in everyday social life, also represented by the very common refrain "La eafortuna è cieca" (

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 ...

''Fortuna caeca est''; "Luck oddessis blind"). Fortuna is often depicted with a gubernaculum (ship's rudder), a ball or Rota Fortunae (wheel of fortune, first mentioned by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

) and a cornucopia (horn of plenty). She might bring good or bad luck: she could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of Lady Justice, except that Fortuna does not hold a balance. Fortuna came to represent life's capriciousness. She was also a goddess of fate: as ''Atrox Fortuna'', she claimed the young lives of the

princeps ''Princeps'' (plural: ''Principes'') is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, foremost, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first person". As a title, ''Princeps'' originated in the Roman Republic wherein the ...

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

' grandsons Gaius and Lucius, prospective heirs to the Empire. (In antiquity she was also known as ''Automatia''.)

Ancient cult

Fortuna's father was said to be

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 ...

and like him, she could also be bountiful (''Copia''). As ''Annonaria'' she protected grain supplies. June 11 was consecrated to her: on June 24 she was given cult at the festival of ''Fors Fortuna''. Fortuna's name seems to derive from ''Vortumna'' (she who revolves the year). Roman writers disagreed whether her cult was introduced to Rome by Servius Tullius or Ancus Marcius. The two earliest temples mentioned in Roman Calendars were outside the city, on the right bank of the Tiber (in Italian

Trastevere Trastevere () is the 13th of Rome, Italy. It is identified by the initials R. XIII and it is located within Municipio I. Its name comes from Latin (). Its coat of arms depicts a golden head of a lion on a red background, the meaning of which i ...

). The first temple dedicated to Fortuna was attributed to the Etruscan Servius Tullius, while the second is known to have been built in 293 BC as the fulfilment of a Roman promise made during later Etruscan wars. The date of dedication of her temples was 24 June, or Midsummer's Day, when celebrants from Rome annually floated to the temples downstream from the city. After undisclosed rituals they then rowed back, garlanded and inebriated. Also Fortuna had a temple at the

Forum Boarium The Forum Boarium (, ) was the cattle market or '' forum venalium'' of ancient Rome. It was located on a level piece of land near the Tiber between the Capitoline, the Palatine and Aventine hills. As the site of the original docks of Rome () ...

. Here Fortuna was twinned with the cult of Mater Matuta (the goddesses shared a festival on 11 June), and the paired temples have been revealed in the excavation beside the church of Sant'Omobono: the cults are indeed archaic in date. Fortuna Primigenia of Praeneste was adopted by Romans at the end of 3rd century BC in an important cult of ''Fortuna Publica Populi Romani'' (the ''Official Good Luck of the Roman People'') on the Quirinalis outside the Porta Collina. No temple at Rome, however, rivalled the magnificence of the Praenestine sanctuary. Fortuna's identity as personification of chance events was closely tied to '' virtus'' (strength of character). Public officials who lacked virtues invited ill-fortune on themselves and Rome: Sallust uses the infamous Catiline as illustration – "Truly, when in the place of work, idleness, in place of the spirit of measure and equity, caprice and pride invade, fortune is changed just as with morality". An

oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

at the Temple of Fortuna Primigena in Praeneste used a form of divination in which a small boy picked out one of various futures that were written on oak rods. Cults to Fortuna in her many forms are attested throughout the Roman world. Dedications have been found to ''Fortuna Dubia'' (doubtful fortune), ''Fortuna Brevis'' (fickle or wayward fortune) and ''Fortuna Mala'' (bad fortune). Fortuna is found in a variety of domestic and personal contexts. During the early Empire, an amulet from the House of Menander in

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

links her to the Egyptian goddess

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

, as Isis-Fortuna. She is functionally related to the god Bonus Eventus, who is often represented as her counterpart: both appear on

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

s and intaglio

engraved gem An engraved gem, frequently referred to as an intaglio, is a small and usually semi-precious gemstone that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major lux ...

s across the Roman world. In the context of the early

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

account of Coriolanus, in around 488 BC the

Roman senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

dedicated a temple to Fortuna on account of the services of the matrons of Rome in saving the city from destruction. Evidence of Fortuna worship has been found as far north as Castlecary,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and an altar and statue can now be viewed at the Hunterian Museum in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. The earliest reference to the Wheel of Fortune, emblematic of the endless changes in life between prosperity and disaster, is from 55 BC. In Seneca's tragedy ''Agamemnon'', a chorus addresses Fortuna in terms that would remain almost proverbial, and in a high heroic ranting mode that Renaissance writers would emulate:

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's description is typical of Roman representations: in a letter from exile he reflects ruefully on the "goddess who admits by her unsteady wheel her own fickleness; she always has its apex beneath her swaying foot."

Middle Ages and Renaissance

Fortuna did not disappear from the popular imagination with the ascendancy of Christianity.

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

took a stand against her continuing presence, in the '' City of God'': "How, therefore, is she good, who without discernment comes to both the good and to the bad?...It profits one nothing to worship her if she is truly ''fortune''... let the bad worship her...this supposed deity". In the 6th century, the '' Consolation of Philosophy'', by statesman and philosopher

, 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. Fortuna, then, was a servant of God, and events, individual decisions, the influence of the stars were all merely vehicles of Divine Will. In succeeding generations Boethius' ''Consolation'' was required reading for scholars and students. Fortune crept back into popular acceptance, with a new iconographic trait, "two-faced Fortune", ''Fortuna bifrons''; such depictions continue into the 15th century. The ubiquitous image of the 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 Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

. 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. She was associated with the cornucopia, ship's rudder, the ball and the wheel. The cornucopia is where plenty flows from, the Helmsman's rudder steers fate, the globe symbolizes chance (who gets good or bad luck), and the wheel symbolizes that luck, good or bad, never lasts. Allegory of Fortune mg 0010

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'' (vii.67-96),

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

explains the nature of Fortune, both a devil and a ministering angel, subservient to God. Boccaccio's ''De Casibus Virorum Illustrium'' ("The Fortunes of Famous Men"), used by

John Lydgate John Lydgate of Bury () was an English monk and poet, born in Lidgate, near Haverhill, Suffolk, Haverhill, Suffolk, England. Lydgate's poetic output is prodigious, amounting, at a conservative count, to about 145,000 lines. He explored and estab ...

to compose his '' Fall of Princes'', tells of many where the turn of Fortune's wheel brought those most high to disaster, and Boccaccio essay ''De remedii dell'una e dell'altra Fortuna'', depends upon Boethius for the double nature of Fortuna. Fortune makes her appearance in '' Carmina Burana'' (see image). The Christianized Lady Fortune is not autonomous: illustrations for Boccaccio's ''Remedii'' show Fortuna enthroned in a triumphal car with reins that lead to heaven. Fortuna also 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, ambitious hand, and that she favours the more aggressive and bold young man than a timid elder. Monteverdi's opera ''

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Buse ...

'' features Fortuna, contrasted with the goddess Virtue. Even

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

was no stranger to Lady Fortune: Ignatius J. Reilly, the protagonist in the famous John Kennedy Toole novel '' A Confederacy of Dunces'', identifies Fortuna as the agent of change in his life. A verbose, preposterous medievalist, Ignatius is of the mindset that he does not belong in the world and that his numerous failings are the work of some higher power. He continually refers to Fortuna as having spun him downwards on her wheel of luck, as in "Oh, Fortuna, you degenerate wanton!" The Wheel of Fortune also has concerns with occultism and Satanism.

Pars Fortuna in astrology

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

, the term ''Pars Fortuna'' represents a mathematical point in the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

derived by the longitudinal positions of the Sun,

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

and Ascendant (Rising sign) in the birth chart of an individual. It represents an especially beneficial point in the horoscopic chart. In Arabic astrology, this and similar points are called Arabian Parts. Al-Biruni (973–1048), an 11th-century mathematician, astronomer, and scholar, who was the greatest proponent of this system of prediction, listed a total of 97 Arabic Parts, which were widely used for astrological consultations.

Aspects

* Fortuna Annonaria brought the luck of the harvest. * Fortuna Primigenia directed the fortune of a firstborn child at the moment of birth. * Fortuna Virilis ("Luck in person's"), a person's luck in marriage. * Fortuna Redux brought one safely home. * Fortuna Respiciens The fortune of the provider. * Fortuna Muliebris The luck of a person. * Fortuna Balnearis The fortune of the baths. * Fortuna Conservatrix The fortune of the preserver. * Fortuna Equestris The fortune of the knights. * Fortuna Huiusce Diei The fortune of the present day. * Fortuna Obsequens The fortune of indulgence. * Fortuna Privata The fortune of the private individual. * Fortuna Publica The fortune of the people. *Fortuna Romana The fortune of Rome. *Fortuna Virgo The fortune of the virgin. * Fortuna Faitrix The fortune of life. *Fortuna Barbata The fortune of adolescents becoming adults.

References

Notes

David Plant, "Fortune, Spirit and the Lunation Cycle"
*"Homer" (1827) ''Classical Manual; or, a mythological, historical, and geographical commentary on Pope's Homer and Dryden's Æneid of Virgil, with a copious index''. (Longman). *Howard Rollin Patch (1923), ''Fortuna in Old French Literature'' *Lesley Adkins, Roy A. Adkins (2001) ''Dictionary of Roman Religion'' *Howard Rollin Patch (1927, repr. 1967), ''The Goddess Fortuna in Medieval Literature'' *Howard Rollin Patch (1922), ''The Tradition of the Goddess Fortuna in Medieval Philosophy and Literature'' *J. Champeaux, ''Fortuna. Vol. I. Recherches sur le culte de la Fortuna à Rome et dans le monde romaine des origines à la mort de César; Vol. II. Les Transformations de Fortuna sous le République'' (Rome, École Française de Rome, 1982-1987). *Narducci, Emanuele, Sergio Audano and Luca Fezzi (edd.), ''Aspetti della Fortuna dell'Antico nella Cultura Europea: atti della quarta giornata di studi, Sestri Levante, 16 marzo 2007'' (Pisa: ETS, 2008) (Testi e studi di cultura classica, 41). * Michele Chiaruzzi (2016), ''Martin Wight on Fortune and Irony in Politics''

External links

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Michael Best, "Medieval tragedy"
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Darius Andre Arya, "The Goddess Fortuna in Imperial Rome: Cult, Art, Text"
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Fors Fortuna in Ancient Rome
// S. Billington - The Concept of the Goddess, 1996 {{subject bar , commons=y , commons-search=Fortuna Fortune goddesses Personifications in Roman mythology Time and fate goddesses Heraldic charges Roman goddesses