In ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, Carmenta (Greek) or Carmentis (Latin)
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.
See also
Primary sources
-
Ovid, Fasti i.461-542
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Servius, In Aeneida viii.51
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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.
External links
