Everything about Faunus totally explained
In
Roman mythology,
Pan's counterpart
Faunus was one of the oldest Roman deities, the
di indigetes, who was a good spirit of the forest, plains, and fields; when he made cattle fertile he was called
Inuus. He was a legendary king of the Latins whose shade was consulted as a god of prophecy, under the name of Fatuus, with oracles in the sacred groves of
Tibur, around the well
Albunea, and on the
Aventine Hill in
ancient Rome itself (Peck 1898). The responses were said to have been given in Saturnian verse (
Varro,
L. L. vii. 36). Faunus revealed the future in dreams and voices that were
communicated to those who came to sleep in his precincts, lying on the fleeces of sacrificed lambs.
W. Warde Fowler suggested that Faunus is identical with
Favonius, one of the Roman wind gods (compare the
Anemoi).
Consorts and Family
A goddess of like attributes, called
Fauna and
Fatua, was associated in his worship. She was regarded sometimes as his wife, sometimes as his sister. As Pan was accompanied by the
Paniskoi, or little Pans, so the existence of many
Fauni was assumed besides the chief Faunus (Peck 1898). In fable Faunus appears as an old king of Latium, son of Picus, and grandson of Saturnus, father of Latinus by the nymph Marica. After his death he's raised to the position of a tutelary deity of the land, for his many services to agriculture and cattle-breeding.
Faunus was known as the father or husband or brother of
Bona Dea (
Fauna, his feminine side) and
Latinus by the
nymph Marica (who was also sometimes Faunus' mother).
Fauns are place-spirits (genii) of untamed woodland. Educated Romans connected their fauns with the Greek
satyrs, who were wild and orgiastic drunken followers of
Dionysus, with a distinct origin.
Festivals
The Christian writer
Justin Martyr identified him as
Lupercus ("he who wards off the wolf"), the protector of cattle, following
Livy, who named his aspect of Inuus as the god who was originally worshipped at the
Lupercalia, celebrated on the anniversary of the founding of his temple,
February 15, when his priests (
Luperci) wore goat-skins and hit onlookers with goat-skin belts.
Two festivals, called
Faunalia, were celebrated in his honour--one on the 13th of February, in the temple of Faunus on the
island in the Tiber, the other on the 5th of December, when the peasants brought him rustic offerings and amused themselves with dancing (Peck 1898).
A
euhemeristic account made Faunus a
Latin king, son of
Picus and
Canens. He was then revered as the god
Fatuus after his death, worshipped in a sacred forest outside what is now
Tivoli, but had been known since Etruscan times as Tibur, the seat of the
Tiburtine Sibyl. His
numinous presence was recognized by wolf skins, with wreaths and goblets.
In
Nonnos'
Dionysiaca, Faunus/Phaunos accompanied Dionysos when the god campaigned in India.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Faunus'.
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