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Flora (mythology)

Flora (Latin: Flōra) is a Roman goddess of flowers and spring.[1] She was one of the twelve deities of traditional Roman religion who had their own flamen, the Floralis, one of the flamines minores. Her association with spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime, as did her role as goddess of youth.[2] She is one of several fertility goddesses and a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology. Her Greek counterpart is Chloris.

Flora
Goddess of flowers and spring
1st-century fresco from the Villa di Arianna in Stabiae, depicting Flora or an allegory of spring
AbodeElysium
Symbolsflower
FestivalsFloralia
Genealogy
ConsortFavonius–Zephyrus
ChildrenCarpus
Equivalents
GreekChloris
OscanFluusa
Flora on a gold aureus of 43–39 BCE

Etymology

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The name Flōra descends from Proto-Italic *flōsā ('goddess of flowers'), itself a derivation from Proto-Italic *flōs ('flower'; cf. Latin flōs, flōris 'blossom, flower').[3] It is cognate with the Oscan goddess of flowers Fluusa, demonstrating that the cult was known more widely among Italic peoples. The name ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃ōs ('blossoming').[3]

Festivals and temples

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Main article: Floralia

Flora's festival, the Floralia, was held between April 28 and May 3 and was celebrated with drinking, flowers, and entertainments (ludi).[4] The festival was first instituted in 240 BCE, and on the advice of the Sibylline books, she was also given a temple in 238 BCE. At the festival, with the men decked in flowers, and the women wearing normally forbidden gay costumes, five days of farces and mimes were enacted – ithyphallic,[5] and including nudity when called for[6] – followed by a sixth day of the hunting of goats and hares.[7] On May 23 another flower festival was held, the Rosalia.[4]

Interpretatio graeca

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Flora's Greek equivalent is the nymph Chloris,[8] whose myths were assimilated to Flora in mythological narratives (interpretatio graeca). The Hellenized Flora was married to Favonius, the wind god also known as Zephyr, and her companion was Hercules. According to the legend, Flora ran away from Favonius, but he caught her, married her and gave her dominion over the flowers.[9]

In the classical tradition

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Music

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Flora is the main character of the 1894 ballet The Awakening of Flora.

In painting

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Sculpture

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There are many monuments to Flora, for example in Rome (Italy), Valencia (Spain), and Szczecin (Poland).

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    statue of Flora at Orangerie Kassel, around 1703
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    Flora Farnese (Naples), mid-18th century AD

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Flora". Myth Index. Archived from the original on 2016-05-03.
  2. ^ H. Nettleship ed., A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1891) p. 238
  3. ^ a b de Vaan 2008, pp. 227–228.
  4. ^ a b Guirand, Felix; Aldington, Richard; Ames, Delano; Graves, Robert (December 16, 1987). New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. Crescent Books. p. 201. ISBN 0517004046.
  5. ^ P/ Green ed., Juvenal: The Sixteen Satires (1982) p. 156
  6. ^ H. J. Rose, A Handbook of Latin Literature (1967) p. 151
  7. ^ H. Nettleship ed., A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1891) p. 238
  8. ^ Smith, s.v. Chloris (3).
  9. ^ Grimal, Pierre (1987). The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Translated by A. R. Maxwell-Hyslop. New York, USA: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 165. ISBN 0-631-13209-0.

Bibliography

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Primary

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  • Ovid, Fasti V.193-212
  • Macrobius, Saturnalia I.10.11-14
  • Lactantius, Divinae institutions I.20.6-10
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