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Fornax (mythology)

Summary

In ancient Roman religion, Fornax was the divine personification of the oven (fornāx),[1] the patroness of bakers, and a goddess of baking.[2] She ensured that the heat of ovens did not get hot enough to burn the corn or bread.[3][4] People would pray to Fornax for help whilst baking.[5][6] Her festival, the Fornacalia, was celebrated on February 17 among the thirty curiae, the most ancient divisions of the city made by Romulus from the original three tribes of Rome. The Fornacalia was the second of two festivals involving the curiae, the other being the Fordicidia on April 19.[7] The goddess was probably conceived of to explain the festival, which was instituted for toasting the spelt (Latin far) used to bake sacrificial cakes.[8] Her role was eventually merged with the goddess Vesta.[3]

Ancient sources edit

  • Ovid, Fasti II. 525 ff
  • Festus, De significatu verborum, under Fornacalia, p. 82 in the edition of Lindsay
  • Plutarch, Roman Questions 89

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Trafford, L. J. (2020-12-14). How to Survive in Ancient Rome. Pen and Sword History. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-5267-5789-0.
  2. ^ Kelly, Erin (May 20, 1997). Food and Humanity: The Cultural and Historical Significance of Food for the Ancient Romans to the Italian-American Immigrants (PDF). p. 5.
  3. ^ a b Daly, Kathleen N.; Rengel, Marian (2009). Greek and Roman Mythology, A to Z. Infobase Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-4381-2800-9.
  4. ^ Adkins, Lesley; Adkins, Roy A.; Adkins, Both Professional Archaeologists Roy A. (2014-05-14). Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Infobase Publishing. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-8160-7482-2.
  5. ^ Blonde, Jennie (2022-09-01). Hearth and Home Witchcraft: Rituals and Recipes to Nourish Home and Spirit. Weiser Books. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-63341-257-6.
  6. ^ Newlands, Carole (2021). Performing Foundation: the Gendered Role of Baking in Ovid's Fasti (PDF). University of Colorado Boulder. p. 158.
  7. ^ William Warde Fowler, The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic (London, 1908), pp. 71 and 303; Christopher John Smith, The Roman Clan: The gens from Ancient Ideology to Modern Anthropology (Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 206–207.
  8. ^ Smith, The Roman Clan, p. 206.

External links edit

  • Myth Index - Fornax
  • William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, v. 2, page 180