Dea Tacita

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Roman mythology, Dea Tacita ("the silent goddess") was a goddess of the dead. In later times, she was equated with the earth goddess Larunda. In this guise, Dea Tacita was worshipped at a festival called Larentalia on December 23. Goddesses Mutae Tacitae were invoked to destroy a hated person: in this inscription (Année epigr. 1958, 38, 150) someone asks "ut mutus sit Quartus" and "erret fugiens ut mus". These silent goddesses are the personification of terror of obscurity.

[edit] References

• Ovid, Fastus 2, v. 572
• Plutarch, Parallel Lives (Numa Pompilius), v. 8.6

[edit] External links

• Tacita Muta: Women's Studies Group in the Ancient World