Ocrisia

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Ocrisia or Ocresia ( Greek  Ὀκρησία ) is a figure from Roman mythology . She comes from a noble family in Corniculum and is the mother of Servius Tullius , the legendary sixth king of Rome .

In one version of the myth, after the fall of her hometown, she comes into the household of the Roman king Tarquinius Priscus as a slave . One day when she was offering the food offering at the hearth, a phallos stretched out towards her from the dying fire . Startled , she tells Tanaquil , Tarquinius' wife, what happened. The wise lady of the house recognizes an important omen and orders Ocrisia to lock herself up in the room where she is mated by Vulcanus or the lar of the house and gives birth to a boy after nine months.

In Dionysius of Halicarnassus (4.1) and Livius a more rational version is told. Here she is the wife of the King of Corniculum, who is also called Servius Tullius. When she comes into the household of Tarquinius, she is already pregnant by her husband, who was killed while taking the city.

Another version is narrated by Plutarch : She was married to a client of the king in Rome, and Servius Tullius was their child.

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  • Arnobius Adversus nationes 5.18
  • Dionysius of Halicarnassus Antiquitates Romanae 4,1f
  • Livy Ab urbe condita 1,39,5
  • Ovid Fasti 6,627-636
  • Pliny Naturalis historia 36.204
  • Plutarch De fortuna Romanorum 10,323ad

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