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Roman Goddesses - T, U & V
Telesto
A sea nymph, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. The tenth of Jupiter's moons
is named after her.
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Tellus
Mater
(Terra Mater) Tellus was the Roman Earth Mother who represented the fertility
of the earth and all beings. She was closely associated with Ceres, the
Grain Goddess. It was Tellus Mater who watched over a seed from the time
it was planted until it was fully grown. When couples married, Tellus
Mater was invoked during the ceremony to ensure reproduction. Oaths were
sworn to her as 'the earth that sees all'.
She was equated with the Greek goddess Gaia (Terra Mater) and also with
the fertility goddess Ceres. Telles ("earth") had a temple on
the Forum Pacis, built in 268 BCE. On her festival, the Fordicidia (held
on April 15), pregnant cows were sacrificed. The Sementivae were held
in honor of Tellus and Ceres from January 24 - 26, and during these days
they were called upon for protection of the seed and the sower. Fama was
thought to be her daughter.
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Tempestes,
the
The Roman goddesses of storms (tempests).
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Terra
("earth") The personified Roman goddess of the earth. She is
also a fertility goddess, known as Bona Dea.
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Trivia
Trivia is the personified deity of crossroads, derived from the Latin
trivium ("meeting of three roads"). She was represented with
three faces, and sometimes identified with the Greek Hecate.
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Vacuna
A Sabine goddess of agriculture. She was worshipped in a sacred forest
near Reate (the current Reati).
Venus
The Roman Goddess of Love and beauty was also Goddess of the Oceans. This
famous image, Venus rising from the seafoam, comes from wall frescos at
Pompeii, the Italian coastal city where she was particularly venerated.
As Goddess of Sexual Love, her famous renaissance depiction, birthed from
sea-foam, belies her earlier association with Artemis as a Lady of the
Hunt. Her horned consort was Adonis, and her worship by the Romans included
temple instruction in sacred sexual techniques for achieving heightened
spiritual consciousness.
The metal associated with Aphrodite is copper, which is abundant on the
Isle of Cyprus, an early place of worship. She was originally a vegetation
goddess and patroness of gardens and vineyards. Later, under Greek influence,
she was equated with Aphrodite and assumed many of her aspects.
Her cult originated from Ardea and Lavinium in Latium. The oldest temple
known of Venus dates back to 293 BCE, and was inaugurated on August 18.
Later, on this date the Vinalia Rustica was observed. A second festival,
that of the Veneralia, was celebrated on April 1 in honor of Venus Verticordia,
who later became the protector against vice. Her temple was built in 114
BCE. After the Roman defeat near Lake Trasum in 215 BCE, a temple was
built on the Capitol for Venus Erycina. This temple was officially opened
on April 23, and a festival, the Vinalia Priora, was instituted to celebrate
the occasion.
Venus is the daughter of Jupiter, and some of her lovers include Mars
and Vulcan, modeled on the affairs of Aphrodite. Venus' importance rose,
and that of her cult, through the influence of several Roman political
leaders. The dictator Sulla made her his patroness, and both Julius Caesar
and the emperor Augustus named her the ancestor of their (Julian) family:
the 'gens Julia' was Aeneas, son of Venus and the mortal Anchises. Ceasar
introduced the cult of Venus Genetrix, the goddess of motherhood and marriage,
and built a temple for her in 46 BCE. She was also honored in the temple
of Mars Ultor. The last great temple of Venus was built by the emperor
Hadrianus near the Colusseum in 135 CE. Roman statues and portraits of
Venus are usually identical to the Greek representations of Aphrodite.
Veritas
("truth") The Roman goddess of truth. She is a daughter of Saturn.
Vesta
Roman Goddess of Household Harmony, Hearth and Home. The name of her Greek
counterpart, Hestia, means "hearth".
Her six Vestal Virgins (virgin in the sense that they belonged to no man
- they were "one within") tended her sacred fire in a round
temple in Rome and the Romans offered a prayer to her every day at their
own hearths. On March 1st, every year, her priestesses extinguished the
fire and relit it. Her worship was connected with fertility and to let
her light go out would mean that civilization would also end. On June
9th, the Vestalia was held when her priestesses baked salt cakes and sacrificed
them on Vesta's fire for 8 days, after which the temple was closed, cleaned
out and then reopened the next day.
There is not much known of her origin, except that she was at first only
worshipped in Roman homes, a personal cult. Her cult eventually evolved
to a state cult. The ass is Vesta's sacred animal, whose braying supposedly
kept the lascivious Priapus away. Vesta is portrayed as a stern woman,
wearing a long dress and with her head covered. Her right hand rests against
her side and in her left hand she holds a scepter.
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Vica
Pota
An ancient Roman goddess of victory. She had a temple located at the base
of the Velia.
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Victoria
The Roman personification of Victory, worshipped as a goddess, especially
by triumphant generals returning from battle. She was held in higher regard
by the Romans than was her counterpart Nike by the Greeks; in 382 CE when
her statue was removed by the emperor Gratianus there was much resistance
in the 'heathen' reactionary circles.
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Viriplaca
The Roman goddess to whom spouses made offering when they had domestic
problems.
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Volumna
The Roman protective goddess of the nursery.
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