View source for Portunus (mythology)

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{{short description|Ancient Roman god of keys and ports}}
{{Ancient Roman religion}}
'''Portunus''' was the [[ancient Roman religion | ancient Roman god]] of keys, doors, livestock and ports. He may have originally protected the warehouses where grain was stored, but later became associated with ports, perhaps because of folk associations between ''porta'' "gate, door" and ''portus'' "harbor", the "gateway" to the sea, or because of an expansion in the meaning of ''portus''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fowler|first1=W. Warde|title=Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic|date=1899|publisher=Kennikat Press|location=Port Washington, NY|pages=202–204}}</ref> Portunus later became conflated with the Greek [[Melicertes|Palaemon]].<ref>"Portunus gives to the sailor perfect safety in traversing the seas; but why has the raging sea cast up so many cruelly-shattered wrecks?" the Christian apologist [[Arnobius]] asks, c. 300 CE (''Seven Books against the Heathen'' III.23 ([http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1008/__P3.HTM on-line text] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930035454/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1008/__P3.HTM |date=2007-09-30 }}).</ref>
Portunus' festival, celebrated on August 17, the sixteenth day before the [[Kalends]] of September, was the '''Portunalia''', a minor occasion in the Roman year. On this day, keys were thrown into a fire for good luck in a very solemn and lugubrious manner. His attribute was a key and his main temple in the city of [[Rome]], the [[Temple of Portunus]], was to be found in the [[Forum Boarium]] near the city's oldest riverine port, the {{lang|la|Portus Tiberinus}}, and the oldest stone bridge over the river, the [[Pons Aemilius]].
[[File:Temple of Portunus.jpg|thumb|left|[[Temple of Portunus]] in the [[Forum Boarium]]]]
Portunus appears to be closely related to the god [[Janus]], with whom he shares many characters, functions and the symbol of the key.<ref>Paul. p. 161 L2</ref> He too was represented as a two headed being, with each head facing opposite directions, on coins and as figurehead of ships. He was considered to be ''deus portuum portarumque praeses''<ref>[[Scholium]] Veron. on ''Aeneid'' V.241</ref> (lit. God presiding over ports and gates). The relationship between the two gods is underlined by the fact that the date chosen for the dedication of the rebuilt temple of Janus in the [[Forum Holitorium]] by emperor [[Tiberius]] is the day of the [[Portunalia]], August 17.<ref>Georges Dumézil ''La religion romaine archaïque'' Paris, 1974, part I,  chap.4</ref>
Linguist Giuliano Bonfante has speculated, on the grounds of his cult and of the meaning of his name, that Portunus should be a very archaic deity and might date back to an era when Latins lived in dwellings built on pilings.<ref>G. Bonfante "Tracce di terminologia palafitticola nel vocabolario latino?" ''Atti dell'Istituto Veneto di scienze, lettere e arti'' '''97''' (1937:53-70).</ref> He argues that in Latin the words  ''porta'' (door, gate) and ''portus'' (harbour, port) share their etymology from the same Indo-European root meaning ''ford'', ''wading point''.
Portunus' [[flamen]], the [[flamen Portunalis]], was one of the [[flamines minores]] and performed the ritual of oiling the spear (''hasta'') on the statue of god [[Quirinus]], with an ointment especially prepared for this purpose and stored in a small vase (''persillum'').<ref>Fest. p. 321 L2</ref>
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Roman key humanoid face 1st century CE Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg|''Roman key human face 1st century CE''
File:Roman key with Pan face 1st century CE Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg|''Roman key Pan face 1st century CE''
File:Italy, Roman, 1st Century - Key - 1952.586 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|''Roman key with Janus-style handle 1st century CE''
</gallery>
==References and sources==
===References===
{{reflist}}
===Sources===
*[[Marcus Terentius Varro]], ''De Lingua Latina'' vi.19.
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Portunus}}
==External links==
*[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Portumnalia.html William Smith, 1875. ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' (John Murray, London): "Portumnalia"]
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[[Category:Roman gods]]
[[Category:Sea and river gods]]
[[Category:Liminal gods]]
[[Category:Agricultural gods]]