Rhea Silvia

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Mars and Rhea Silvia by Rubens .

Rhea Silvia was a king's daughter from Roman mythology and mother of Romulus and Remus , who are said to have founded the myth after Rome .

Alternative names

Rea Silvia, Rea, Silvia, Illia.

myth

Rhea Silvia by Jacopo della Quercia.

Rhea Silvia was the daughter of Numitor Silvius , the king of Alba Longa . Numitor's brother, her uncle Amulius , deposed the king, killed his sons and made Rhea Silvia a vestal virgin . The consecration in honor of the goddess Vesta was done so that she would remain childless and any descendants could not take revenge.

However, the god Mars seduced Rhea Silvia and she gave birth to twins Romulus and Remus . Dionysius of Halicarnassus shows various representations as it had come to the pregnancy, but says: "But most say from myths, it was a manifestation of the local deity." . Virgil and Ovid join him and leave no doubt as to the paternity of Mars. Marcus Tullius Cicero is already more cautious and after the portrayal of Livius in his Roman History she was raped and gave Mars as the father of her children.

When the uncle found out about this, he gave her the punishment customary at the time for vestals who had lost their innocence. He had her flogged and killed after giving birth. According to another version, Rhea Silvia was left alive at the request of Amulius' daughter, but was imprisoned and only released after the king's death. According to another source, the Vestal Virgin was thrown into the Tiber. However, the river god had mercy on her, took her as his wife and gave her eternal life.

Lore

The legend has its origins in the saga of Troy and the flight of Aeneas to Latium . Even in Aristotle's version of the origins of the Romans and Latins, Trojan women play a major role. Kallias tells that a Trojan woman married Latinus in Italy and gave birth to three sons. From Hellanicus is narrated that Aeneas came to Italy and a city was founded. In the Greek traditions, the two stories are then linked together and supplemented with the paternity of Mars . In the 3rd century BC The story of the Ilia consisted of the following elements:

  • Aeneas had a daughter who was named Ilia .
  • Mars begat with Ilia Romulus and Remus .

A further addition was then based on the motifs of the myth of Tire , according to which Ilia takes on the features of Tire and is impregnated by the river god. As a punishment, she is locked up and later freed from her sons.

Among the Romans, the story is first mentioned by Gnaeus Naevius and Quintus Ennius , where she is still listed as the daughter of Aeneas . Quintus Ennius is the first to reveal references to the kings of Alba .

In the 2nd century BC The story was redesigned again and Ilia received a new father and a new name: Rhea Silvia. The story that follows, which all later historians have adopted, is likely to go back to Valerius Antias .

etymology

All names and parts of the name of Rhea Silvia have their origins in the saga of Aeneas and the descent of Romulus from Aeneas. This is most visible in the case of Ilia , the name v. a. the poets use.

There are different explanations for the name Rhea Silvia. The most likely is the reference to the Idaean "mother of gods" Rhea , the mother of Zeus and at the same time the protective goddess of the Trojans , especially the Aeneades. As soon as the Romans were considered descendants of Aeneas, it was obvious to make Rhea the ancestor of the Romans. With the Latin translation Silvia from the Greek Idea as a middle name, the ancestor of the Romans, Rhea Silvia, was born.

The names all don't seem very old. Sometimes the mother of Romulus and Remus doesn't even have a name and is simply called the "Vestal Virgin".

Aftermath

Palazzo mattei di giove, sarcophagus with Rhea Silvia

The figure of Rhea Silvia did not appear until the 1st century BC. Aroused a broader interest. Of the seven sarcophagi representing Rhea Silvia put together in an investigation, the oldest is from the 2nd century BC. Images of the Roman founding myth appeared for the first time in the early Augustan period and coins depicting Mars and Rhea Silvia only from the 2nd century AD. Mars' love for Rhea Silvia was often depicted as an ornament on weapons, such as the For example helmets or shields.

Rhea Silvia received little attention in the post-antique reception. The modern disinterest corresponds to a certain indifference of the ancient literary tradition. Expression of this is the disagreement in the naming as well as the fact that their further fate does not agree ( Dionysius of Halicarnassus ) or not at all ( Livy ) is passed down.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe mentions the myth in the third Roman elegy :

Rhea Sylvia walks, the princely virgin,
to draw water from the Tyber , and the god takes hold of her.
This is how Mars created two sons! - the twins water
a wolf, and Rome calls herself the princess of the world.

The asteroid (87) Sylvia , discovered in 1866, is named after Rhea Silvia and the two moons of Sylvia were named Romulus and Remus according to the founding myth . In addition, the largest crater on the asteroid Vesta is called Rheasilvia . Its central mountain is around 23 km high and is one of the highest known mountains in the solar system.

literature

Web links

Commons : Rhea Silvia  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur Rosenberg : Rea Silvia . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IA, 1, Stuttgart 1914, Sp. 341-345., P. 341.
  2. ↑ Liv. 1,3.11. Titus Livius Roman History I – III . Translated by Hans Jürgen Hillen , Düsseldorf and Zurich 1987.
  3. ↑ Dion. Hal. ant. 1.77. Dionysius of Halikarnass: prehistory of the Romans . Gottfried Jakob Schaller , Volume 1, Stuttgart 1827.
  4. ↑ Titus Livius Roman History I – III . Translated by Hans Jürgen Hillen, Düsseldorf and Zurich 1987, introduction p. 592.
  5. ↑ Liv. 1,4.2. Titus Livius Roman History I – III . Translated by Hans Jürgen Hillen, Düsseldorf and Zurich 1987.
  6. ↑ Dion. Hal. ant. 1.78-79. Dionysius of Halikarnass: prehistory of the Romans . Gottfried Jakob Schaller, Volume 1, Stuttgart 1827.
  7. ↑ Ovid Fasti 2,597. P. Ovidius Naso. Fastorum libri VI; Fragmenta . Rudolf Ehwald, Friedrich Walter Levy (Lenz), Volume 3.2, Leipzig 1924.
  8. ↑ a b c d Arthur Rosenberg : Rea Silvia . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IA, 1, Stuttgart 1914, Sp. 341-345 ..
  9. ^ Albert Schwegler: Roman history . Roman History in the Age of Kings , Vol. 1, Tübingen 1853, p. 426.
  10. ↑ Arthur Rosenberg : Rea Silvia . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IA, 1, Stuttgart 1914, Col. 341-345. P. 341.
  11. ↑ Rhea Silvia . Lutz Käppel. The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 10, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, Sp. 950; Roman history . Barthold Georg Niebuhr, Volume 1, Berlin 1828, p. 234; The foundations of the Greek ontology . Georg Picht, Stuttgart 1996, p. 248; Etymological – mythological hints . Konrad Schwenck, Elberfeld 1823, p. 198.
  12. ^ Albert Schwegler: Roman history . Roman History in the Age of Kings , Vol. 1, Tübingen 1853, p. 428.
  13. ^ Albert Schwegler: Roman history . Roman History in the Age of Kings , Vol. 1, Tübingen 1853, p. 429.
  14. ^ Albert Schwegler: Roman history . Roman History in the Age of Kings , Vol. 1, Tübingen 1853, p. 429.
  15. ↑ Investigations on the Roman founding myth in Sepulchral Art . Susanne Michaela Lorenz, dissertation, Heidelberg 2001, pp. 192–200.
  16. ↑ Investigations on the Roman founding myth in Sepulchral Art . Susanne Michaela Lorenz, dissertation, Heidelberg 2001, p. 17.
  17. ↑ Investigations on the Roman founding myth in Sepulchral Art . Susanne Michaela Lorenz, dissertation, Heidelberg 2001, p. 93.
  18. ↑ Investigations on the Roman founding myth in Sepulchral Art . Susanne Michaela Lorenz, dissertation, Heidelberg 2001, p. 92.