Feronia (mythology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Feronia was a rural goddess in Roman mythology, to whom woods and fountains were sacred. Many versions of her cult have been supposed, and it is not quite clear that she was only one goddess or had only one function in ancient times. It seems certain that Feronia originated as an Etruscan goddess. Some Latins believed her to be a fertility goddess, and revered her in order to secure a good harvest. She was also served as a goddess of travel, fire, and waters. Erilio, the king of Preneste, was her son according to one tradition. According to another tradition her son was the underworld god Herulus.

Feronia had a temple at the base of Mt. Soracte in Capena (Fiano Romano), another important one in Anxur (Terracina, Southern Latium) and one on the Campus Martius in the center of Rome, in what is now Largo di Torre Argentina.

Slaves regarded Feronia as a goddess of freedom, and believed that sitting on a holy stone in one of her sanctuaries would set them free. According to another tradition, in the temple at Terracina the slaves who had just been freed would go to and, with their shaved heads, received the “Pileus” (a hat that symbolized their liberty).

Her festival was on November 15.

The unrelated Feralia on February 21 is a festival of Jupiter "Feretrius," not Feronia.