Damia (mythology)
In the Roman religion Damia is the name of Bona Dea , the "good goddess", in connection with the secret rites of the festival of Bona Dea on December 4th. Other terms that appear in this context are Damium as the name for the sacrifice and Damiatrix as the title of the sacrificing priestess. The name of Paulus Diaconus is derived from damosios ( δαμόσιος "public"), which should make sense because the sacrifice was secret, but in the public interest ( pro populo Romano ).
The rites practiced at the festival do not seem to have conformed to the pattern of the ancient Roman cult, but rather to the Greek forms, e.g. B. the Lectisternium or the secret, limited only to female participants orgies . The words Damia , Damium and Damiatrix should not be of Latin, but of Greek origin. A connection to the Greek Damia (see Damia and Auxesia ), behind which Demeter can be seen, is also assumed.
It is doubted that Damia is contained or addressed in the spell “hauat hauat hauat ista pista sista damia bodannaustra” reproduced by Cato the Elder .
literature
- Heinrich Wilhelm Stoll: Damia . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, Col. 943-946 ( digitized version ).