(M12)

Fortuna

Other names: Aurea, Barbata, Bona, Brevis, Caeca, Conservatrix, Equestris, Felix, Fors Fortuna, Fortis Fortuna, Mala, Mammosa, Mascula, Muliebris, Manens, Obsequius, Parva, Praenestina, Primigenia, Privata, Propria, Redux, Regia, Respiciens, Stata, Vertens, Virgo, Viscata, Viscosa

Biographical

Goddess of chance, good luck

Fortuna was worshipped both in Greece and Italy, and more particularly at Rome, where she was considered as the steady goddess of good luck, success, and every kind of prosperity. The great confidence which the Romans placed in her is expressed in the story related by Plutarch that on entering Rome she put off her wings and shoes, and threw away the globe, as she intended to take up her permanent abode among the Romans. The poet Pindar makes Fortuna one of the Parcae or Destinies, and daughter of Jupiter; but according to Homer she was the daughter of Oceanus. The Romans had a male as well as a female Fortune, for the objects of their adoration: the Fortuna Virilis, honoured by the men, and the Fortuna Muliebris (said to have originated at the time when Coriolanus was prevented by the entreaties of the women from destroying Rome), honoured by the women.

Fortuna, it is probable, was invoked from the earliest times, since the scripture speaks of Gad invoked by Leah, and this Gad St Augustine takes to have been Fortune. The Greeks erected many temples to her, She had one at Corinth, and a chapel at Aegina, with a statue, having beside it a winged Cupid, probably to signify, that in love Fortune has a greater influence than beauty. In that of Elis, she had in her hand the cornucopia; but the most suitable symbol was that which the Boetians gave her, by representing her as holding Plutus in her arms under the form of an infant; and this, says Pausanias, is designed to place the god of riches in the hands of fortune, as if she had been his mother and nurse. Her worship is traced to the reign of Ancus Marcius, king of the Romans, who was the first who built, at Rome, a temple to this deity, under the title of Fortuna Virilis, or Manly Fortune, because courage, no less than good luck, is requisite to the acquisition of victory. Servius Tullius built two temples to her, the one in the Forum Boarium, and the other on the banks of the Tiber, and Domitian consecrated to her a chapel. She was also particularly worshipped at Antium, but her principal temple was at Praeneste, whence she was called Praenestina. In art, she is represented in a female habit, with a bandage before her eyes, to show that she acts without discernment, standing on a wheel, to express her instability. The Romans assign to her a cornucopia, and the helm of a ship, to show that she distributes riches, and directs the affairs of the world. Sometimes she is seen pointing at a globe before her feet, with a sceptre in one hand, and the cornucopia in the other. She is likewise figured as soaring on expansive wings, sounding a trumpet, and her flying robe wrought over with eyes, ears, and tongues, to denote the surprise, attention, and discourse she excites. 'I can recollect but one passage in the Roman poets', said Joseph Spence, the author of Polymetis, 'that speaks of Fortune as standing upon a wheel, and never saw her so represented in any work of the ancient artists: indeed they sometimes represent her with wings, and a wheel by her, to show her inconstancy, and sometimes without wings, and a wheel by her, to show that she presided over the expeditions of their emperors into other countries, and their happy return to their own; for where you see her thus on medals she is generally called Fortuna Redux'.

Fortuna's most usual attributes are her cornucopia, as the giver of all riches, and the rudder in her hand, which is often rested on a globe, to show that she is the directress of all worldly affairs. The incoherence in this goddess's character obliged the Romans to make several distinctions; they had a good and a bad fortune, a constant and an inconstant one. It should seem, from a passage in Horace, that the Bona Fortuna was dressed in a rich habit, and the Mala Fortuna in a mean one. The Constant Fortune, or Fortuna Manens, is without wings, and sitting in a steady posture; she has a horse by her, as an animal noted for swiftness, which she holds still by the bridle. The Inconstant Fortune is winged, as ready to take her flight. It was common among the old Romans to talk of the statues of the deities they worshipped as turning their faces toward them, if they assented to their prayers, and from them if they dissented. From this turning of the head, Fortune had one of her titles among the Romans; she was called Fortuna Respiciens. Livy speaks of a Fortuna Vertens, or Averse Fortune, whose figure turned its head from you. Juvenal alludes to a statue of Fortune which represented her under a very good character, as the patroness of the poor infants that were exposed by their parents in the streets. This Fortune was represented holding a naked child tenderly in her arms, and looking kindly upon it. The Fortune worshipped at Antium was probably of the most exalted character of any among the Romans. Horace seems to allude to one of the great solemn processions that were made to her. In this procession to the honour of Fortuna Antiensis, the statue of Necessity seems to have been carried before the goddess herself, and after her the statues of Hope and Fidelity. This shows that she was a Fortune of a higher character than ordinary. Every thing she decrees is as fixed as fate, and she has two of the most considerable virtues as attendants upon her train. Praeneste was another place where Fortune was highly worshipped. Statius speaks of several Fortunes there, and calls them the Prenestinae Sorores. Three Fortunes are also mentioned by Vitruvius. Fortuna Virginensis was worshipped by newly-married women, who dedicated their maiden garments and girdle in her temple. Ovid tells us that Fortuna Virilis was worshipped by women, who prayed to her that she might preserve their charms, and thus enable them to please their husbands. Her surnames, in general, express either particular kinds of good luck or the persons or classes of persons to whom she granted it.

Daughter of Jupiter (Roman) or Oceanus (Greek).

© 2024 The Universal Compendium