*Ø* Blogmanac April 4 - 10 | Festival of Megalesia
Festival of Megalesia
(or Megalensia, Magna Mater, Ludi Megalenses)
of Cybele, (Apr 4 - 10), ancient Rome
Magna Mater (Cybele, 'the All-Begetting Mother, who beats a drum to mark the rhythm of life'), was the great mother and all other Roman goddesses may be seen as aspects of her. Earlier, the Greeks had identified her with the Titan goddess, Rhea.
This week-long festival was to celebrate the arrival in Rome of the idol of Cybele in 204 BCE. From 191 BCE, when Cybele’s temple had been completed, the great festivities began on this day and were celebrated for six days each year.
The prophetic Sybilline Oracles had advised that the stone of Cybele, the Anatolian mother goddess of mountains and fertility, must be brought to Rome to help bring about a victory against Hannibal the Carthaginian in what we now call the Second Punic War. So in 204, Cybele’s sacred black statue, which was a meteorite (to which the Romans later added a likeness of the goddess) from Pessinus in Anatolia (in modern Turkey), was shipped to Ostia. There, Scipio Nasica took custody of it and brought it to the city of Rome. On April 4, 204 BCE the ship bearing the idol ran aground at the mouth of the Tiber River.
By prayer, Claudia Quinta, a vestal virgin, helped to release the grounded ship. Claudia, who had previously been falsely accused of breaking her holy vows, joined the throng that gathered at the ship, and, praying to Cybele, laid her hands on the ropes being employed to tow the foundering vessel. Although the crowd thought her mad, the ship came free of the mud, and Claudia and the goddess were brought to Rome in triumph. In the Middle Ages, Claudia was revered as the paragon of womanly virtue ... (More)
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Festival of Megalesia
(or Megalensia, Magna Mater, Ludi Megalenses)
of Cybele, (Apr 4 - 10), ancient Rome
Magna Mater (Cybele, 'the All-Begetting Mother, who beats a drum to mark the rhythm of life'), was the great mother and all other Roman goddesses may be seen as aspects of her. Earlier, the Greeks had identified her with the Titan goddess, Rhea.
This week-long festival was to celebrate the arrival in Rome of the idol of Cybele in 204 BCE. From 191 BCE, when Cybele’s temple had been completed, the great festivities began on this day and were celebrated for six days each year.
The prophetic Sybilline Oracles had advised that the stone of Cybele, the Anatolian mother goddess of mountains and fertility, must be brought to Rome to help bring about a victory against Hannibal the Carthaginian in what we now call the Second Punic War. So in 204, Cybele’s sacred black statue, which was a meteorite (to which the Romans later added a likeness of the goddess) from Pessinus in Anatolia (in modern Turkey), was shipped to Ostia. There, Scipio Nasica took custody of it and brought it to the city of Rome. On April 4, 204 BCE the ship bearing the idol ran aground at the mouth of the Tiber River.
By prayer, Claudia Quinta, a vestal virgin, helped to release the grounded ship. Claudia, who had previously been falsely accused of breaking her holy vows, joined the throng that gathered at the ship, and, praying to Cybele, laid her hands on the ropes being employed to tow the foundering vessel. Although the crowd thought her mad, the ship came free of the mud, and Claudia and the goddess were brought to Rome in triumph. In the Middle Ages, Claudia was revered as the paragon of womanly virtue ... (More)
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 4:53 PM | Permalink
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