Flora (mythology)

thumb|upright|Flora on a gold [[aureus of 43–39 BCE]]

Flora () is a Roman goddess of flowers and spring. She was one of the twelve deities of traditional Roman religion who had their own flamen, the Floralis, one of the flamines minores. Her association with spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime, as did her role as goddess of youth. She is one of several fertility goddesses and a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology. Her Greek counterpart is Chloris.

Etymology

The name Flōra descends from Proto-Italic ('goddess of flowers'), itself a derivation from Proto-Italic ('flower'; cf. Latin , 'blossom, flower'). It is cognate with the Oscan goddess of flowers , demonstrating that the cult had spread across the Italic peoples. The name ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European ('bloom, flower'). Compare the name of the goddess Aurora, which shows a similar a-extension.

Festivals and temples

Flora's festival, the Floralia, was held between April 28 and May 3 and was celebrated with drinking, flowers, and entertainments (ludi). The festival was first instituted in 240 BCE, and on the advice of the Sibylline books, she was also given a temple in 238 BCE. At the festival, with the men decked in flowers, and the women wearing normally forbidden gay costumes, five days of farces and mimes were enacted – ithyphallic, and including nudity when called for – followed by a sixth day of the hunting of goats and hares. On May 23 another flower festival was held, the Rosalia. Ennius, a 2nd-century BCE Roman poet, is recorded by Varro to have claimed that the king Numa Pompilius created the office of the . Her cult likely was also greatly respected in ancient Rome; the 1st-century BCE poet Lucretius describes a procession of the seasons wherein Flora occupies an important role pertaining to spring. Ovid, a 1st-century BCE Roman poet, does describe a purported brief lapse in the popularity of her cult, in response to which Flora supposedly decided to withdraw her protection of agriculture from any misfortune.

Flora's Greek equivalent is the nymph Chloris, whose myths were assimilated to Flora in mythological narratives (interpretatio graeca). The Hellenized Flora was married to Favonius, the wind god also known as Zephyr, and her companion was Hercules. According to the legend, Flora ran away from Favonius, but he caught her, married her and gave her dominion over the flowers.

In the classical tradition

Music

Flora is the main character of the 1894 ballet The Awakening of Flora.

In painting

File:Primavera 04.jpg|Detail of Flora from Primavera by Botticelli, c. 1482

File:Flora, por Tiziano.jpg|Flora by Titian, 1515

File:1520 Veneto Idealbildnis einer Kurtisane als Flora anagoria.JPG|Idealized Portrait of a Courtesan as Flora by Bartolomeo Veneto, c. 1520

File:Francesco Melzi 002a.jpg|Flora by Francesco Melzi, c. 1520

File:Jan Brueghel the Elder & Peter Paul Rubens - Flora and Zephyr, 1617.jpg|Flora and Zephyr, by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, 1617

File:Claude Vignon - Flora - WGA25093.jpg|Flora by Claude Vignon, 1650

File:Rembrandt, Flora, circa 1654, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.jpg|Flora by Rembrandt, 1654

File:Flora (Museum of Bordeaux).jpg|Flora or Hebe by Alexander Roslin, 18th century

File:Flora By Valentine Bromley.jpg|Flora by Valentine Walter Bromley, 1874

File:Keller, Ferdinand - Flora - 1883.jpg|Flora by Ferdinand Keller, 1883

File:Mosè Bianchi Flora.jpg|Flora by Mosè Bianchi, 1890

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Sculpture

There are many monuments to Flora, for example in Rome (Italy), Valencia (Spain), and Szczecin (Poland).

File:Flora statue orangerie Kassel.jpg|statue of Flora at Orangerie Kassel, around 1703

File:Flora_Farnese_(Napoli).jpg|Flora Farnese (Naples), mid-18th century AD

File:PosagFloryWSzczecinie.jpg|Statue of Flora in Szczecin, Poland, 1730.

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References

Bibliography

Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

Primary

Ovid, Fasti V.193-212
Macrobius, Saturnalia I.10.11-14
Lactantius, Divinae institutiones I.20.6-10

External links

The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Flora)
The Obscure Goddess Online Directory: Flora