Devoir de Philosophie

Diana

Publié le 22/02/2012

Extrait du document

A Roman GODDESS. Diana seems to have been a goddess of the woods and perhaps of the moon and its light. She was early identifi ed with the Greek goddess ARTEMIS. In this capacity the Romans thought of her as a hunter, a midwife, and a goddess of the crossroads. The most important festival of Diana took place on the Ides of August (August 13). During this festival women would wash their hair and carry torches from Rome to Diana's most important shrine, a grove at Aricia. The festival was also especially important to slaves. Diana had an ancient temple in Rome. Her grove at Aricia was on the shores of Lake Nemi. In ancient times this lake was known as "the mirror of Diana." Offerings at Aricia attest to Diana's connections with childbirth: They include models of human sexual organs. Stories about the priests of Diana at Nemi provided the title and structure to an infl uential study of religion published in the early 20th century, The Golden Bough by James George FRAZER.

Liens utiles