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Carmenta

Roman goddess of childbirth and prophecy

Field	Value
type	Roman
name	Carmenta
deity_of	Goddess of childbirth and prophecy, protector of mothers and children, patron of midwives, inventor of the alphabet
member_of	the Camenae
image	Nycostrata - Les vies des femmes célèbres d'Antoine Dufour.jpg
alt
caption	Nicostrata-Carmenta inventing the Latin alphabet (Antoine Dufour, 1504)
other_names	Nicostrate
cult_center	a shrine near the Porta Carmentalis
offspring	Evander of Pallantium
gender	female
festivals	Carmentalia

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Carmenta (Greek) or Carmentis (Latin) was a goddess of childbirth and prophecy, associated with technological innovation, specifically, the invention or adaptation of the Latin alphabet as well as the protection of mothers and children and a patron of midwives.

Background

The name Carmenta is derived from Latin carmen, meaning a magic spell, oracle or song, and also the root of the English word charm. Her original name was Nicostrate (, "victory-army"), but it was changed later to honor her renown for giving oracles (Latin singular: carmen). She was the mother of Evander of Pallene (fathered by Hermes) and, along with other Greek followers, they founded the town of Pallantium which later was one of the sites of the start of Rome. Gaius Julius Hyginus (Fab. 277) mentions the legend that it was she who altered fifteen letters of the Greek alphabet to become the Latin alphabet which her son Evander introduced into Latium. Carmenta was one of the Camenae and the Cimmerian Sibyl. The leader of her cult was called the flamen carmentalis.

It was forbidden to wear leather or other forms of dead skin in her temple which was next to the Porta Carmentalis, and close to the Theater of Marcellus in Rome. Her festival, called the Carmentalia, was celebrated primarily by women on January 11 and January 15. She is remembered in De Mulieribus Claris, a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in 136162. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.

References

Primary sources

Ovid, Fasti i.461-542
Servius, In Aeneida viii.51
Solinus, Collectanea rerum memorabilium i.10, 13

Secondary sources

The Dictionary of Classical Mythology by Pierre Grimal, page 89 "Carmenta"
The Book of the City of Ladies, by Christine de Pizan, section I.33.2
The Lincoln Beacon, Lincoln, Kansas, United States of America "Carmenta" 16 September 1880.

References

"Samuel Ball Platner, Thomas Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, CARMENTIS".
Archive, History. "Language {{!}} Latin Alphabet".
[[Livy]]. "[[History of Rome (Livy)".
Brandt, J. Rasmus. (2012-08-30). "Greek and Roman Festivals: Content, Meaning, and Practice". OUP Oxford.
Boccaccio, Giovanni. (2003). "Famous Women". Harvard University Press.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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childhood-goddesses creators-of-writing-systems oracular-goddesses roman-goddesses

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