So much for the etymological argument; on which we need only remark, (1)
that while it may be perfectly possible in itself, it does not impugn
the possibility of the older derivation; (2) that it introduces an idea
‘bright,’ hardly less vague and unsubstantial than that conveyed by ‘the
thin and unmeaning name’ _she who brings or carries away_. When, indeed,
the Professor goes on, by means of this etymology, to trace Fortuna to a
concrete thing, viz. the dawn, he is really making a jump which the
etymology does not specifically justify. All he can say is that it would
be ‘a most natural name for the brightest of all goddesses, the dawn,
the morning, the day.’
He looks, however, for further justification of the etymology to the
cult and mythology of Fortuna. From among her many cult-names he selects
two or three which seem suitable. The first of these is Fortuna _huiusce
diei_. This Fortuna was, he tells us, like the Ushas of the Veda, ‘the
bright light of each day, very much like what we might call “Good
morning.”’ But as a matter of fact all we know of this Fortuna is that
Aemilius Paullus, the victor of Pydna, vowed a temple to her in which he
dedicated certain statues[675]; that Catulus, the hero of Vercellae, may
have repaired or rebuilt it, and that on July 30, the day of the latter
battle, there was a sacrifice at this temple[676]. Whatever therefore
was the origin of this cult (and it may date no further back than Pydna)
it seems to have been specially concerned, as its name implies, with the
events of particular famous days. It is pure guesswork to imagine that
its connexion with such days may have arisen from an older meaning, viz.
the _bright light of each day_. Nothing is more natural than the
_huiusce diei_, if we believe that this Fortuna simply represented
chance, that inexplicable power which appealed so strongly to the later
sceptical and Graecized Roman, and which we see in the majority of
cult-names by which Fortuna was known in the later Republic. The
advocate of the dawn-theory, on the other hand, has to account for the
total loss in the popular belief of the nature-meaning of the epithet
and cult—a loss which is indeed quite possible, but one which must
necessarily make the theory less obvious and acceptable than the
ordinary one.
Secondly, the Professor points out, that on June 11, the day of the
Matralia, Fortuna was worshipped coincidently with Mater Matuta—the
latter being, as he assumes beyond doubt, a dawn-goddess. But we have
already seen that this assumption is not a very certain one[677]; and we
may now add that the coincident worship must simply mean that two
temples had the same dedication-day, which may be merely
accidental[678].
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account