In the

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

and religion of ancient Rome, Juturna, or Diuturna, was a

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

of fountains,

wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

and springs, and the mother of

Fontus Fontus or Fons (plural ''Fontes'', "Font" or "Source") was a god of wells and springs in ancient Roman religion. A religious festival called the Fontinalia was held on October 13 in his honor. Throughout the city, fountains and wellheads were ado ...

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...

Mythology

Juturna was an ancient Latin deity of fountains, who in some myths was turned by

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

into a water

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...

– a

Naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who ...

– and given by him a sacred well in

Lavinium Lavinium was a port city of Latium, to the south of Rome, midway between the Tiber river at Ostia and Antium. The coastline then, as now, was a long strip of beach. Lavinium was on a hill at the southernmost edge of the ''Silva Laurentina'', a ...

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whi ...

, as well as another one near the temple to Vesta in the

Forum Romanum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...

. The pool next to the second well was called

Lacus Juturnae The ''Lacus Iuturnae'', or ''Lacus Juturnae'' or Spring of Juturna, is the name of a formal pool built by the Romans near a spring or well in the Roman Forum. The pool was part of a shrine dedicated to the water nymph Juturna, and the name ''Lacus ...

. A local water nymph or river-god generally presides over a single body of water, but Juturna has broader powers which probably reflect her original importance in Latium, where she had temples in Rome and Lavinium, a cult of healthful waters at Ardea, and the fountain/well next to the lake in the Roman forum. It was here in Roman legend that the deities

Castor and Pollux Castor; grc, Κάστωρ, Kástōr, beaver. and Pollux. (or Polydeukes). are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri.; grc, Διόσκουροι, Dióskouroi, sons of Zeus, links=no, from ''Dîos'' ('Z ...

watered their horses after bringing news of the Roman victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus in 496 BC (Valerius Maximus, I.8.1; Plutarch, Life of Aemilius Paulus, 25.2, Life of Coriolanus, 3.4).

In literature

*Vergil makes her a sister of

Turnus Turnus ( grc, Τυρρηνός, Tyrrhênós) was the legendary King of the Rutuli in Roman history, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas in Virgil's ''Aeneid''. According to the ''Aeneid'', Turnus is the son of Daunus and the nymph Veni ...

who supported him against

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...

by giving him his sword after he dropped it in battle, as well as by taking him away from the battle when it seemed he would be killed. In the end, however, she could not save him from his fate, and retreated into her waters in mourning. Juturna is further hellenized by Juno’s conferral of

catasterism The ''Catasterismi'' or ''Catasterisms'' (Greek language, Greek Καταστερισμοί ''Katasterismoi'', "Constellations" or "Placings Among the Stars"), is a lost work attributed to Eratosthenes of Cyrene, Libya, Cyrene. It was a comprehen ...

(Aen. 12.143, 145), an act that links her with the Dioscuri. These divinities all share a similar function as helpers of mortals and had traditional cultic connections in early Latium. *Ovid relates her affair with Jupiter (Greek Zeus): the secret was betrayed by another nymph,

Larunda Larunda (also Larunde, Laranda, Lara) was a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo in Ovid's ''Fasti''.Ovid, '' Fasti 2''V. 599 Mythology The only known mythography attached to Lara is little, late and poetic, coming to us from Ovid's ''Fasti ...

, whom Jupiter struck with muteness as punishment.

Cult

Holloway has argued that the goddess shown carrying a winged helmet on early Roman coinage is Juturna, but her iconography is largely unknown. A later altar relief from the

Temple of Castor and Pollux The Temple of Castor and Pollux ( it, Tempio dei Dioscuri) is an ancient temple in the Roman Forum, Rome, central Italy. It was originally built in gratitude for victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus (495 BC). Castor and Pollux (Greek Polydeuces ...

in the Roman Forum may depict her. A Roman festival was held in her honor on January 11, when she was given sacrifices and honored by the ''fontani'' (the men who maintained the fountains and aqueducts of Rome).F Guirand ed, ''New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology'' (London 1968) p. 210

Honours

Juturna Lake In the myth and religion of ancient Rome, Juturna, or Diuturna, was a goddess of fountains, wells and springs, and the mother of Fontus by Janus. Mythology Juturna was an ancient Latin deity of fountains, who in some myths was turned by Jupi ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

is named after the deity.

References

External links