Portunus (mythology): Difference between revisions
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[[Image:TempleOfPortunus-ForumBoarium.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Temple of Portunus in the [[Forum Boarium]]]] |
[[Image:TempleOfPortunus-ForumBoarium.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Temple of Portunus in the [[Forum Boarium]]]] |
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His festival, on [[August 17]], was the '''Portunalia'''. On this day, keys were thrown into a fire for good luck in a very solemn and lugubrious manner. His attribute was a key. |
His festival, on [[August 17]], was the '''Portunalia'''. On this day, keys were thrown into a fire for good luck in a very solemn and lugubrious manner. His attribute was a key and [[Temple of Portunus|his main temple]] in the city of [[Rome]] was to be found in the [[Forum Boarium]]. |
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The [[Ionic order|Ionic]] [[temple]] dedicated to Portunus in [[Rome]] (''photo and reconstruction drawing, left'') is still more familiar by its erroneous designation, the '''Temple of Fortuna Virilis''' ("manly fortune") given it by [[antiquary|antiquaries]]. Located in the ancient [[Forum Boarium]] by the [[Tiber]], during [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]] the site overlooked the Port Tiberinus at a sharp bend in the river; from here, Portunus watched over cattle-barges as they entered the city from [[Ostia]]. |
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The temple was built ''ca'' 100 BCE and restored in the first century BCE. The rectangular building consists of a [[tetrastyle]] [[portico]] and [[cella]], raised on high [[podium]] reached by a flight of steps, which it retains. Like the [[Maison Carrée]] in [[Nîmes]], it has a ''[[pronaos]]'' [[portico]] of four [[Ionic column]]s across and two columns deep. The columns of the portico are free-standing, while the six columns on the long sides and the four columns at the rear are [[Engaged column|engaged]] along the walls of the cella. This form is sometimes called ''pseudoperipteral'', as distinct from a true [[peripteral]] temple like the [[Parthenon]] entirely surrounded by free-standing columns. It is built of [[tufa]] and [[travertine]] with a [[stucco]] surface. |
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[[Image:PalladioWare1738FortunaVirilis.jpg|200px|thumb|left|"The Temple of Fortuna Virilis" in [[Isaac Ware]], ''The Four Books of Andrea Palladio's Architecture'', London, 1738]] |
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The temple owes its state of preservation from its being converted to use as a church in [[872]] and rededicated to ''Santa Maria Egyziaca'' (Saint [[Mary of Egypt]]). Its [[Ionic order]] has been much admired, drawn and engraved and copied since the 16th century (''illustration, left''). The original coating of [[stucco]] over its [[tufa]] and [[travertine]] construction has been lost. |
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The circular [[Temple of Hercules Victor]] is located behind the [[Temple of Portunus]] in the Forum Boarium. |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www2.siba.fi/%7Ekkoskim/rooma/pages/PORTUNUS.HTM Temple of Portune] |
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*[http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/romanvirilis/virilis.html Mary Ann Sullivan, "Temple of Fortuna Virilis (Temple of Portunus)"] |
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*[http://wings.buffalo.edu/AandL/Maecenas/rome/t_fortuna_vir/section_contents.html Images of Temple of Fortuna Virilis (or Portunus] |
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[[Category:1st century BC architecture]] |
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[[Category:Roman gods]] |
[[Category:Roman gods]] |
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[[Category:Ancient Roman architecture]] |
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[[Category:Temples in Rome]] |
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[[de:Portunus]] |
[[de:Portunus]] |
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Revision as of 17:17, 9 December 2006
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In Roman mythology, Portunes (alternatively spelled Portumnes or Portunus) was a god of keys and doors and livestock. He protected the warehouses where grain was stored. Probably because of folk associations between porta "gate, door" and portus "harbor", the "gateway" to the sea, Portunus later became conflated with Palaemon and evolved into a god primarily of ports and harbors. In the Latin adjective importunus his name was applied to untimely waves and weather and contrary winds, and the Latin echoes in English opportune and its old-fashioned antonym importune, meaning "well-timed' and "badly-timed". Hence Portunus is behind both an opportunity and importunate or badly-timed solicitations (OED).
His festival, on August 17, was the Portunalia. On this day, keys were thrown into a fire for good luck in a very solemn and lugubrious manner. His attribute was a key and his main temple in the city of Rome was to be found in the Forum Boarium.