Levana

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Levana (disambiguation) .

Levana (from Latin levare "to lift") was the patron goddess of newborn babies in Roman mythology .

The name is to be taken literally, because in ancient Rome a newborn baby was placed at his feet when the father was not sure whether the child was really his. If the man picked up the child, he formally recognized paternity. Therefore the goddess Levana was implored by the mothers that her husband would perform the ritual des levare .

swell

• Augustine De civitate dei 4.11
• Marcus Terentius Varro , fragments in Nonius Marcellus 848 L.

literature

• Heike Kunz: Levana. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 7, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01477-0 , Sp. 111.
• Werner Schur: Levana. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, Sp. 2149.