User:JayW/Forculus ref

Forculus (spirit of the door) and friends from ancient texts.

De idolorum vanitate, by Cyprian (c. 200 AD)

Please note that De Idolorum Vanitate is biased against Roman gods. It was probably authored by Cyprian, a North African convert to Christianity, though it may have been written by Antipope Novatian. (See euhemerus.)

"8. The following passage, accepted in some editions, is of doubtful authenticity; "To such an extent, indeed, were feigned the names of gods among the Romans, that there is even among them a god, Viduus, who widows the body from the soul-who, as being sap and funereal, is not kept within the walls, but placed outside; but who nevertheless, in that he is excluded, is rather condemned by the Roman religion than worshipped. There is also Scansus, so-called from ascents, and Forculus from doors, and Limentinus Crom thresholds, and Cardea from hinges, and Orbona from bereavement."[1] [2] -Ante-Nicene Fathers footnote

The footnote is referring to the following paragraph:

"But why do you think that the gods can avail on behalf of the Romans, when you see that they can do nothing for their own worshipers in opposition to the Roman arms? For we know that the gods of the Romans are indigenous. Romulus was made a god by the perjury of Proculus, and Picus, and Tiberinus, and Pilumnus, and Consus, whom as a god of treachery Romulus would have to be worshipped, just as if he had been a god of counsels, when his perfidy resulted in the rape of the Sabines. Tatius also both invented and worshipped the goddess Cloacina; Hostilius, Fear and Paleness. By and by, I know not by whom, Fever was dedicated, and Acca and Flora the harlots.8 These are the Roman gods. But Mars is a Thracian, and Jupiter a Cretan, and Juno either Argive or Samian or Carthaginian, and Diana of Taurus, and the mother of the gods of Ida; and there are Egyptian monsters, not deities, who assuredly, if they had had any power, would have preserved their own and their people's kingdoms. Certainly there are also among the Romans the conquered Penates whom the fugitive Aeneas introduced thither. There is also Venus the bald,-far more dishonoured by the fact of her baldness in Rome than by her having been wounded in Homer."[3] - Treatise VI, On the Vanity of Idols

The untraslated text, as seen to the right, reads:

"[In tantum vero deorum vocabula apud Romanos fingutur, ut sit apud illos Viduus deus, qui anima corpus viduet, qui quasi feralis et funebris intra muros non habetur, sed foris collocatur, et nihilominus, quia extorris factus, damnatur potius Romana religione quam colitur. Est et Scansus ab ascendibus dictus, et Forculus a foribus, et a liminibus Limentinus, et Cardea a cardinibus, et ab orbitatibus Orbona.]"

De idolatria, by Tertullian (c. 200 AD)

Please note that this work is also by an important Christian. (Tertullian.) The English translation reads:

For we should be certain of the fact, although it escapes some in consequence of their ignorance of pagan literature, that the Romans, too, have gods of doors: Carna, called after the cardines, Forculus, after the fores, Limentinus, after the limen, and Janus himself, after the ianua; and, of course, we know that, although these are empty and fictitious names, nevertheless, when they are used for superstition, they draw to themselves the demons and every impure spirit by means of the bond brought about by consecration.:[4]

..while the original Latin text is:

Certi enim esse debemus, si quos latet per ignorantiam litteraturae saecularis, etiam ostioram deos apud Romanos, Cardeam a cardinibus appellatam et Forculum a foribus et Limentinum a limine et ipsum Ianum a ianua: et utique scimus, licet nomina inania atque conficta sint, cum tamen in superstitionem deducuntur, rapere ad se daemonia et omnem spiritum inmundum per consecrationis obligamentum.: -[5] Chapter XV

De civitate dei ("The City of God"), by Augustine of Hippo (419 AD)

This text is also authored by a ridiculing Christian, Augustine of Hippo.

"Every one sets a porter at the door of his house, and because he is a man, he is quite sufficient; but these people have set three gods, Forculus to the doors, Cardea to the hinge, Limentinus to the threshold. [Forculum foribus, Cardeam cardini, Limentinum limini.] Thus Forculus could not at the same time take care also of the hinge and the threshold."[6] -The City of God, Book IV, chapter 9 (translation)

(Note that multiple sources attribute the original Latin version to chapter 8.) An earlier French translation: (1877)

On se contente d'un portier pour garder l'entrèe de chaque maison: ce portier suffit, c'est un homme. On y a mis trois dieux: Forculus, à la porte; Cadea, aux gonds; Limentinus, au seuil. Forculus eût été incapable de garder à la fois la porte, les gonds et le seuil.

..and the original Latin - reprinted on page 126 of Sharpley's Essential Latin, and available online[7] [8] , is as follows:

"Unum quisque domui suae ponit ostiarium, et quia homo est, omnino sufficit: tres deos isti posuerunt, Forculum foribus, Cardeam cardini, Limentinum limini. Ita non poterat Forculus simul et cardinem limenque seruare."

Mythologie et la fable expliqués par l'histoire, by Banier (c. 1700)

Please note that this, too, was written by Christian. (Antoine Banier was a French abbé.) Its Old English translation is titled The Mythology and Fables of the Ancients, Explain'd from History. "ſ" was then used to represent a long s. The relevant passage reads:

"Arculus, Forculus, Limentina, and Cardea. The God Arculus was ſet over Citadels and Fortifications, as Forculus and Limentina were over the Gates of Houſes, and Cardea over the Hinges of the ſame Gates. Ovid informs us (3) that this laſt Goddeſs was called Crana, and that Janus having offered Violence to her, would needs have her afterwards to take Care of the Gates."-The Mythology and Fables of the Ancients, Explain'd from History, p.195

Banier cites Augustine twice, so his (unstated) sources for this information may not be reliable.

Fasti, by Ovid (c. 10 AD)

The referenced footnote at the bottom of the above page reads (3) Faſt. 1.6. I suppose it thus points to Publius Ovidius Naso's (extremely long) poem Fasti. The complete Latin text of this poem is available at Project Gutenberg.[9] It's too long, and I have no clue what "1.6" means. The only part that immediantly appears to be at all relevant is from Liber VI, 100:

Prima dies tibi, Carna, datur. Dea cardinis haec est;

Numine clausa aperit, claudit aperta suo.

Unde datas habeat vires, obscurior aevo

Fama; sed e nostro carmine certus eris.

...and so on... Before realizing someone already had, I (poorly) translated this to:

First day for you, Cardea, to give. This is the goddess of the door-hinge;

Her divine ability allows her to open what is closed, and close what is opened.

Was this gift once in the possession of eternal darkness?

Speak; but our poem will not be doubted.

An accurate translation of the relevant portion, available online,[10] reads:

Carna, the first day’s yours. Goddess of the hinge:

She opens the closed, by her power, closes the open.

The story of how she gained the powers she has is obscured

By time, but you’ll still learn of it from my verse.

There’s an ancient grove of Alernus near the Tiber:

And the priests still make sacrifices there.

A nymph was born there (men of old called her Cranaë)

Who was often sought in vain by many suitors.

She used to hunt the land, chasing wild beasts with spears,

Stretching her woven nets in the hollow valleys.

She’d no quiver, yet considered herself Apollo’s

Sister: nor need you, Apollo, have been ashamed of her.

If any youth spoke words of love to her,

She gave him this answer right away:

‘There’s too much light here, it’s too shameful

In the light: if you’ll lead to a darker cave, I’ll follow.’

While he went in front, credulously, she no sooner reached

The bushes than she hid: and was nowhere to be found.

Janus saw her, and the sight raised his passion.

He used soft words to the hard-hearted nymph.

She told him to find a more private cave,

Followed him closely: then deserted her leader.

Foolish child! Janus can see what happens behind him:

You gain nothing: he looks back at your hiding place.

Nothing gained, as I said, you see! He caught you, hidden

Behind a rock, clasped you, worked his will, then said:

‘In return for our union, the hinges belong to you:

Have them as recompense for your maidenhead.’

So saying he gave her a thorn (it was white-thorn)

With which to drive away evil from the threshold. -Book VI: June 1: Kalends ("This work may be freely reproduced, stored, and transmitted, electronically or otherwise, for any non-commercial purpose.")

Keightly's footnote for this section elucidates on this:

101-182. On the Kalends of June was the festival of an ancient Roman deity, named by our poet and Macrobius, Carna or Carnea; by Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine, Carda or Cardea. _Non-nulli putaverunt, Junium mensem a Junio Bruto, qui primus Romae consul factus est, nominatum, quod hoc mense id est Kal. Jun. pulso Tarquinio sacrum Carnae deae in Coelio monte voti reus fecerit. Hanc deam vitalibus humanis praeesse credunt, ab ea denique petitur ut jecinora et corda, quaeque sunt intrinsecus viscera conservet. Et quia, cordis beneficio, cujus dissimulatione Brutus habebatur, idoneus emendationi publici status exstitit, hanc deam, quae vitalibus praeest, templo sacravit. Cui pulte fabacia, et larido sacrificatur, quod his maxime rebus vires corporis roborentur; nam et Calendae Juniae fabariae vulgo vocantur, quod hoc mense adultae fabae divinis rebus adhibentur. Macrob. Sat. I. 12. The name is here evidently derived _a carne_. The Fathers of the Church, on the other hand, as they join their Cardea or Carda with deities, named Forculus and Limininus, (from _fores_ and _limen_) deduced her name from _Cardo_, to which origin Ovid also plainly alludes.

I believe "Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine" refers to De Idolorum Vanitate (credited to Tertullian and Cyprian) and De Civitate Dei (by Augustine), which I have already found. Fortunately, he seems to quote Macrobius, which brings us to...

Saturnalia, by Macrobius (c. 350)

Macrobius mentioned only Cardea, (Carnae) the goddess of doorhinges:

"Nonnulli putaverunt Iunium mensem a Iunio Bruto qui primus Romae consul factus est nominatum, quod hoc mense, id est Kalendis Iuniis, pulso Tarquinio sacrum Carnae deae in Caelio monte voti reus fecerit. Hanc deam vitalibus humanis praeesse credunt. Ab ea denique petitur ut iecinora et corda quaeque sunt intrinsecus viscera salva conservet: et quia cordis beneficio, cuius dissimulatione brutus habebatur, idoneus emendationi publici status extitit, hanc deam quae vitalibus praeest templo sacravit. Cui pulte fabacia et larido sacrificatur, quod his maxime rebus vires corporis roborentur. Nam et Kalendae Iuniae fabariae vulgo vocantur, quia hoc mense adultae fabae divinis rebus adhibentur."[11] -Saturnalia, Liber I, XII, p.106

Varro cited by Augustine

Excuse me for butting in here. My understanding is that Augustine's text concerning several of these obscure deities itself cites a lost work by Marcus Terentius Varro. The tribe of minor deities is cited at least twice in De Ciuitate Dei (lib 6, c. 7; lib. 4, c. 9), and Varro is invoked generally, though not specifically, as an authority passim in those texts. Augustine is presumably citing one or another of the lost works of Varro. - Smerdis of Tlön 13:43, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. :) JayW 01:54, 8 September 2006 (UTC)