In ancient Roman religion, Ops, (Latin: "Plenty") also spelled Opes or Opis, was a fertility and earth goddess of abundance, prosperity, and agriculture, and the consort of Saturn. As Ops Consiva, she presided over the reserved portion of the harvest alongside Consus, the god of stored grain. She was celebrated during two yearly festivals: Opiconsivia in August and Opalia in December.
Ops was frequently compared to goddesses like Demeter, Cybele, Ceres, and Terra, who were similarly associated with the earth and agriculture. She was conflated with the Greek Rhea, mother of the first generation Olympians and consort of Cronus, the Greek equivalent of Saturn.
Etymology
The Latin word ops means "riches, goods, abundance, gifts, munificence, plenty." The word is also related to opus, which means "work," particularly in the sense of "working the earth, ploughing, sowing." Ops is also related to the Sanskrit word ápnas ("goods, property").
Origins
The origins of Ops as a goddess are unclear. In De Lingua Latina, Varro claims that Ops was a deity of Sabine origin worshipped by Titus Tatius— a stance later repeated by Dionysus of Halicarnassus and Augustine. She may have been associated with the Sabines due to her being an agricultural goddess, and therefore associated with the countryside; the Sabines were similarly associated with non-urban environments by those living in Rome. However, modern scholarship has suggested more convoluted origins, with Ops likely being a combination of Etruscan, Italic, Sabinic, Hellenic, and Roman elements. another agricultural god. He additionally conflated her with Isis and Terra, and compared her functions to those of Ceres. Varro claimed that, as Saturn embodied the sky, Ops embodied the earth, and was therefore referred to as "mother." Similar understandings of Ops' function were attested to by Festus and Verris Flaccus, who identified her as both an agricultural goddess and counterpart of Saturn. Varro additionally connected the name Ops directly with opus: "work," specifically the working of the earth. Macrobius, writing in the 5th century, similarly identified her with the work required to grow crops (again using opus), and claimed that men prayed to the goddess before beginning to work the earth in order honor her as "mother of mortals."
She was additionally a goddess of abundance as the creator of economies linked to farming and agriculture at large, particularly cereals. As the guarantor of abundant harvest and food security, Ops may have been worshipped as a protector of Rome— a claim put forth by Macrobius. Ops Consiva was a goddess associated with the reserved portion (condere) of the harvest, and was associated closely with Consus, god of stored grain and consilium.
After the Roman Republic's conquest of Greece and the influence of Hellenic mythology and culture on Roman culture, Ops became increasingly conflated with the Greek Rhea: wife of Cronus and mother of the first generation Olympians. and in his Cistellaria, Juno is referred to as the daughter of Jupiter and the granddaughter of Ops. In these accounts, Ops' functions outside being the wife of Saturn and the mother of multiple gods are not mentioned.
Festivals
Ops Consiva was celebrated during the Opiconsivia, a festival held in and around the Regia on August 25, possibly marking the end of the harvest. The Opalia, a second festival celebrating the goddess on December 19, was held in the Forum, and occurred immediately after or during Saturnalia.
Temples
Philochorus claimed that Cecrops, king of Attica, was the first to build a temple to Saturn and Ops where they were worshipped as Jupiter and Earth. When crops had been harvested, the head of the household would eat with the slaves who worked the land— paying honor to those responsible for the harvest was considered pleasing to the gods. Macrobius claims that these celebrations were later adapted into the Roman festival of Saturnalia. This story was also covered by Appian. Additionally, Julius Obsequens recorded a supernatural occurrence in 44 BC, when the temple doors shut on their own, and in 17 BC, the Augustan Ludi Saeculares were recorded partially taking place at the temple.