Acca Larentia: Encyclopedia - Acca Larentia

Acca Larentia

In Roman mythology, Acca Larentia was Hercules' mistress after he won her in a game of dice (Macrobius i. 10; Plutarch, Romulus, 4, 5, Quaest. Rom. 35; Aulus Genius vi. 7). Hercules advised her to marry the first man she met in the street, who proved to be a wealthy Etruscan named Tarutius. She inherited all his property and bequeathed it to the Roman people, who out of gratitude instituted in her honour a yearly festival called Larentalia (23 December). According to some, Acca Larentia was the mother of the Lares, and, like Ceres, Teilus, Flora and others, symbolized the fertility of the earth--in particular the city lands and their crops.

In another Roman legend, she was the wife of the shepherd Faustulus, who saved the lives of the twins Romulus and Remus after they had been thrown into the Tiber. She had twelve sons, and on the death of one of them Romulus took his place, and with the remaining eleven founded the college of the Arval brothers (Fratres Arvales). She is therefore identified with the Dea Dia of that collegium. The flamen Quirinalis acted in the role of Romulus (deified as Quirinus) to perform funerary rites for his foster mother. The tradition that Romulus and Remus were suckled by a wolf has been explained by the suggestion that Larentia was called lupa (courtesan, literally she-wolf) on account of her immoral character (Livy i. 4; Ovid, Fasti, iii. 55).

Acca Larentia, or Larentina, is also identified with Larunda, Mana Genita, and Muta. She is the Roman goddess of cornfields.

Categories: Roman mythology | Roman goddesses | Agricultural goddesses

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