Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis
The Diana Nemorensis is an archaeological site below the village of Nemi on Lake Nemi , 27 km south-east of Rome .
Nemi was an important place of worship in ancient times . The legends surrounding this cult formed the impetus for Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough (Eng. "The Golden Branch", 1890–1915), a monumental work on the theory of religion and myths. The name of the place is derived from the Latin name of the sacred grove , nemus Aricinum ; the second part of the name was named for the neighboring town of Ariccia .
The center of the sanctuary was an oak tree consecrated to the goddess Diana (equated with the Greek goddess Artemis ), which was guarded by a priest-king, the rex nemorensis . This was a runaway slave who guarded the tree day and night. He held his office until another runaway succeeded in killing him, breaking a branch from the oak and in turn assuming this dangerous position. This fact was so unusual in antiquity that Frazer suspected that the cult could have come from prehistoric times.
In Roman times the legend was widespread that the grove of Nemi was the home of the nymph Egeria , whose care Diana entrusted her hunted companion Hippolytus, who had been raised from the dead . Hippolytus, a beautiful youth, had awakened the desire of the goddess of love Venus (who in turn corresponded to the Greek goddess Aphrodite ). However, as a disciple of Diana, Hippolytus saw himself obliged to hunt and chastity and remained steadfast against Venus' wooing. The latter sought revenge and enchanted his stepmother Phaedra in such a way that she aflame for Hippolytus. Again Hippolytus rejected his admirer. Phaedra then blackened him on his father (and her husband) Theseus , claiming that Hippolytus tried to rape them, and then committed suicide. Theseus, in turn, disowned his son and instructed Poseidon to kill Hippolytus. The sea god accomplished this by unleashing a sea monster that brought down Hippolytus' chariot.
Diana, in turn, turned to Asklepios , who brought the young man back to life - a sacrilege according to the divine view, and out of annoyance about this, Jupiter, the father of the gods, banished Aesculapus to Hades. Diana hid him with her nymph Egeria so that Hippolytos would not experience the same thing, also gave him a few wrinkles of age so that he would not be too easy to recognize, and also covered him with a cloud. The risen Hippolytus took the name Virbius and fathered a son, Egeria, who was also named. Virbius was therefore one of the deities worshiped in Nemi alongside Diana.
The grove was significant for the Romans, as the branch that their legendary ancestor Aeneas plucked on the instructions of the Sibyl before his descent into Hades is said to have come from the oak in Nemi.
According to Frazer, during excavations of the Temple of Diana, votive offerings were found that indicate a fertility cult - women asked the goddess to have healthy offspring. Apparently there was a regular torchlight procession to the temple for young women; Frazer suspected that vestals also guarded an eternal flame.
The site of the excavations is not open to the public.
literature
- Sculpture from the Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis at Lake Nemi. In: Irene Bald Romano (ed.): Classical sculpture: catalog of the Cypriot, Greek, and Roman stone sculpture in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. University of Pennsylvania 2006, pp. 73-159;
- Giulia D'Angelo - Alberto Martín Esquivel, P. Accoleius - Lariscolus (RRC 486/1) in Annali dell ' Istituto Italiano di Numismatica , 58 (2012), pp. 139-160;