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[German version] ( Prosa Tert. Ad nat. 2,11) was honoured as an aspect of the Roman goddess of childbirth, Carmentis. Varro (Antiquitates fr. 103 Cardauns) explains her name by reference to the forward position of the child at birth. Like P., Porrima and Antevorta are also counterparts to Postverta, but with different interpretations. Schlapbach, Karin (Zürich) …

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(Φλεγέθων; Phlegéthōn). [German version] [1] River near Cumae River near Cumae (Cyme [2]), which, according to Strabo (1,2,18 and 5,4,5), was identifi…

[German version] (Ῥαδάμανθυς; Rhadámanthys). Judge in the Underworld of Greek mythology (together with Minos and Aeacus; occasionally also Triptolemus: …

[German version] (also Orchus, more rarely Horcus). Realm of the dead (Varro Men. 423), later its lord (Plaut. Most. 499) or death personified (Enn. Ann. 564f.). O. is genuinely Roman and much more than Dis Pater, the Roman counterpart of the Greek Pluto, he was a god of the (common) people. However, as early as Enn. Fragmenta varia 78 Vahlen, O. is approximated Pluto. He had no cult or temple of his own. The etymology of his name is disputed; ancient scholars connected O. with …

[German version] (ὁ Τάρταρος/ ho Tártaros, τὰ Τάρταρα/ tà Tártara; Lat. Tartarus). According to Homer and Hesiodus, the T. is the gloomy and fusty prison of the Titans into which they were locked after their defeat against Zeus (Hes. Theog. 729 f.). The T. lies as deeply below Hades as heaven is distant from earth (Hom. Il. 8,16; cf. Hes. Theog. 720). It is surrounded by a bronze wall with iron gates (Hom. Il. 8,15; Hes. Theog. 726; in Verg. Aen. 6,549-551 a triple wall with the waters of th…

(Κυπάρισσος; Kypárissos). [German version] [1] Of Ceos of Ceos, beloved of  Apollo. Pained because he had accidentally killed his own favourite stag, C. begged to be allowed to mourn for ever and was turned into a cypress (Ov. Met. 10,106-142). Even though Ovid provides the earliest documentary evidence, the story itself is believed to be much older [1. 52]. In Servius' version, C. is a son of  Telephus, also hailing from Crete, also beloved of  Zephyrus or  Silvanus, but the stag was killed by Silvanu…

(Κωκυτός; Kōkytós, Lat. Cocytus). [German version] [1] River of the Underworld ‘River of lamentation’ (cf. κωκύειν, ‘to weep, lament’). According to Paus. 1,17,5 from Homer onwards one of the rivers of the Underworld, named after the Thesprotic C. [1. 76]. It is fed from the  Styx and flows with the Pyriphlegeton into the  Acheron [2] (Hom. Od. 10,513f.); in Virgil the Acheron flows into the C. (Verg. Aen. 6,296f.). According to Pl. Phd., the C. flows around in a circle and empties into the  Tartarus (113b…

[German version] was venerated as an aspect of Carmentis, the soothsaying goddess of childbirth. Varro (Antiquitates rerum divinarum 103 Cardauns) explained her name from the reversed position of the child in a breech delivery. According to Ov. Fast. 1,633-636 (cf. Hyg. in Macrob. Sat. 1,7,20), however, the name indicates the goddess' knowledge of the future. P. was the counterpart of Prorsa, Porrima and Antevorta. Schlapbach, Karin (Zürich) Bibliography F. Bömer, P. Ovidius Naso, Die Fasten, 1958, vol. 2, 52  Dumézil, 385  Radke, 259-261.

(Λυγκεύς/ Lynkeús, related to λύγξ, ‘lynx’). [German version] [1] Son of Aphareus Son of Aphareus [1], king of Messene, and of Arene; brother of Idas (L. is always mentioned together with him; the pair of brothers is called Apharetidae). The brothers take part in the journey of the Argonauts (Apoll. Rhod. 1,151) and in the Calydonian hunt (Apollod. 1,67; Ov. Met. 8,304). They are said to have abducted Helene and delivered her to Theseus (Plut. Theseus 31,1). In the battle with the Dioscuri, L. dies at the h…

[German version] ('rain giving'), epithet of the Roman Iuppiter, translation of the Greek Zeús Hyétios. Rare in inscriptions (CIL IX 324), primarily used in verse (in the form pluvius) (Tib. 1,7,26; Stat. Theb. 4,765f.; Anth. Lat. 1,1, no. 391,46). The epithet is virtually absent in the cult of Iuppiter as a rain god (Aquaelicium; Manalis lapis; Nudipedalia). Schlapbach, Karin (Zürich)