Camenae
{{Short description|Goddesses in Roman mythology}}
File:Aegeria.png by Guillaume Rouille]]
In Roman mythology, the Camenae (also Casmenae, Camoenae) were originally goddesses of childbirth, wells and fountains, and also prophetic deities.{{Cite journal |last=Hardie |first=Alex |date=April 2016 |title=The Camenae in Cult, History, and Song |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/ca/article/35/1/45/25602/The-Camenae-in-Cult-History-and-Song |access-date=2022-11-04 |journal=Classical Antiquity |volume=35 |pages=45–85 |doi=10.1525/ca.2016.35.1.45 |archive-date=2022-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104200322/https://online.ucpress.edu/ca/article/35/1/45/25602/The-Camenae-in-Cult-History-and-Song |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}
Mythology
Some mythological figures associated with the Camenae include:Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D19%3Aentry%3Dcamenae-bio-1 "Camenae"].
- Carmenta, or Carmentis
- Egeria, or Ægeria, or Aegeria
- Antevorta, or Porrima, or Prorsa
- Postverta, or Postvorta
The last two were sometimes specifically referred to as the Carmentae and in ancient times might have been two aspects of Carmenta rather than separate figures; in later times, however, they are distinct beings believed to protect women in labor.Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D19%3Aentry%3Dantevorta-bio-1 "Antevorta"].
It is not clear whether these were in fact Camenae themselves, or just closely connected to them.{{cite journal|jstor=310497 |title=Some Phases of the Cult of the Nymphs |last1=Ballentine |first1=Floyd G. |journal=Harvard Studies in Classical Philology |date=1904 |volume=15 |pages=77–119 |doi=10.2307/310497 }}
=Relationship with the Muses=
The Camenae were later identified with the Greek Muses. The first instance of this is in Livius Andronicus' translation of Homer's Odyssey, rendering the Greek word Mousa (Μοῦσα) as Camena.{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/293799|jstor=293799 |title=Horatius Callidus |last1=McDermott |first1=Emily A. |journal=The American Journal of Philology |date=1977 |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=363–380 }}
Horace refers to poetic inspiration as the "soft breath of the Greek Camena" (spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae) in Odes II.16. He also mentions the "nine Camenae" ({{lang|la|novem Camenae}}) in the Carmen Saeculare, which denotes the Muses.
In Latin literature
Latin authors used the Camenae as a Latinized version of the Greek Muses. This began with Livius Andronicus and continued with Gnaeus Naevius' epitaph. However, their use waned afterwards until a resurgence around the time of Horace.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101112200647/http://www.mythindex.com/roman-mythology/C/Camenae.html Myth Index - Camenae]
{{Roman religion}}