A gubernaculum in classical references describes a ship's

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

or steering oar. The English word

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

is related to the word. The Old English word governail and the Scots word gouernaill are both derived from it.

Classical history

The ancient rudder's different parts were distinguished by the following names: ansa, the handle; clavus, the shaft; pinna, the blade. The famous ship ''

Tessarakonteres ''Tessarakonteres'' ( el, τεσσαρακοντήρης, "forty-rowed"), or simply "forty" was a very large catamaran galley reportedly built in the Hellenistic period by Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt. It was described by a number of ancient ...

'' or "Forty" is said to have had four rudders. In the Bible, Paul's ship, which was shipwrecked on Malta, had its rudders (plural) cut loose.

Classical depiction

Various gods such as Tritons and Venus have been shown with a gubernaculum. It is most associated with

Fortuna Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at ...

since, along with the

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

, it is an item that she is often depicted as holding. The corresponding Greek god

Tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Aphrodite ...

is also regularly shown with a gubernaculum. There are abundant depictions of Fortuna holding the gubernaculum on coins, in paintings, on altars and statues or statuettes. Fortuna is depicted on around 1000 different Roman coins usually holding a gubernaculum. A sandstone statuette of Fortuna, the Roman god of luck, fate, fortune was found at

Castlecary Castlecary () is a small historic village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, directly adjacent to the border with Falkirk. It has long been associated with infrastructure, being adjacent to a bridged river, a Roman fort and roads, a nationwide can ...

and can now be found at the

Hunterian Museum The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. File:Rudder of a Roman Boat (RG Museum Koeln, Germany).JPG, Rudder of a Roman Boat (

Romano-Germanic Museum The Roman-Germanic Museum (RGM, in German: ''Römisch-Germanisches Museum'') is an archaeological museum in Cologne, Germany. It has a large collection of Roman artifacts from the Roman settlement of ''Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium'', on ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) File:Dupondius-Didius Julianus-RIC 0012.png,

Dupondius The ''dupondius'' (Latin ''two-pounder'') was a brass coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire valued at 2 asses (4/5 of a sestertius or 1/5 of a denarius during the Republic and 1/2 of a sestertius or 1/8 of a denarius during the tim ...

Fortuna with gubernaculum File:S03 06 01 020 image 2557.jpg,

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

statue of

steering with her gubernaculum File:Titulihunteriani00macdrich raw 0143.png, Statuette of the Roman goddess

, with gubernaculum (ship's rudder),

Rota Fortunae In medieval and ancient philosophy the Wheel of Fortune, or ''Rota Fortunae'', is a symbol of the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna (Greek equivalent Tyche) who spins it at random, changing the positions of ...

(wheel of fortune) and

(horn of plenty) found near the altar at Castlecary in 1771.

Symbolism and meaning

In mythology the rudder, which the goddess can steer, represents control of the changeable fortunes of life. Plato used the metaphor of turning the

Ship of State The Ship of State is an ancient and oft-cited metaphor, famously expounded by Plato in the ''Republic'' (Book 6, 488a–489d), which likens the governance of a city-state to the command of a vessel. Plato expands the established metaphor and ult ...

with a rudder. In the Biblical book of James, the author compares the tongue with a ship's rudder which, though physically small, makes great boasts.

References

{{Reflist Greek mythology Roman mythology

Classical history

Classical depiction

Symbolism and meaning

See also

References