Aricia ( grc, Ἀρικία, ''Arikía'') is a name appearing in

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

'' in a context that makes it possible for it to be interpreted as referring to a mythical personage:

Ibat et Hippolyti proles pulcherrima bello,
Virbius, insignem quem mater Aricia misit...

(Rough translation: "To the war also came the most fair offspring of Hippolytus, Virbius, whom, distinguished, mother Aricia sent...") It may appear from the quoted passage that Aricia is the mother of Virbius by Hippolytus. Yet

Virbius upright=1.3, ''The Death of Hippolytus'', by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) In Greek mythology, Hippolytus ( el, Ἱππόλυτος'', Hippolytos'' 'unleasher of horses'; ) is the son of Theseus and either Hippolyta or Antiope. His d ...

is commonly the name by which Hippolytus himself was known after he was brought back to life on the request of

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

. As for Aricia,

Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...

in his commentary on the lines in question explained that Virgil had been referring to the town Aricia, using the epithet "mother" with the town's name in honor of

Octavian Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

whose mother was a native of Aricia. Indeed, Aricia was a location holy to Diana (equated with Artemis) near Rome where Egeria, the spirit of a nearby stream, shared with Diana the guardianship of childbirth, and where Hippolytus (Virbius) was said to have been brought by Artemis after his resurrection. Nevertheless, the passage in the ''Aeneid'' seems to have given rise to a literary tradition concerning Aricia as a consort of Hippolytus.

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was somet ...

in his ''

Genealogia Deorum Gentilium ''Genealogia deorum gentilium'', known in English as ''On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles'', is a mythography or encyclopedic compilation of the tangled family relationships of the classical pantheons of Ancient Greece and Rome, writt ...

'' states that

Theodontius Theodontius was the author of a now lost Latin work on mythology. He was extensively quoted in Giovanni Boccaccio's ''Genealogia Deorum Gentilium'', but is otherwise almost unknown. Boccaccio says that he knew Theodontius's work through the ''Colle ...

was wrong in making Hippolytus celibate and explains that the character was known to have had a love affair with an Athenian noblewoman named "Aritia".Boccaccio, ''Genealogia Deorum'', 10. 50 Aricia (French ''Aricie'') is also a major character in

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

's ''

Phèdre ''Phèdre'' (; originally ''Phèdre et Hippolyte'') is a French dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677 at the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. Composition and premiere With ...

'', where she is made out to be the sole surviving member of the house of

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

References

{{reflist

Sources

*'' Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft'', Band IXA, Halbband 17, Vindelici-Vulca (1961) - s. 179 *

Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (12 February 1845, in Göttingen – 9 March 1923, in Dresden) was a German classical scholar. He specialized in studies of Greek and Roman mythology. He received his education at the Universities of Göttingen and Lei ...

(ed.): ''Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie''. Band 1.1 (A-H), Leipzig, 1886. - s. 546 Aeneid