Larunda (also Larunde, Laranda, Lara) was 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 ...

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''. She was famous for both beauty and loquacity (a trait her parents attempted to curb). She was incapable of keeping secrets, and so revealed to Jupiter's wife Juno his affair with Juturna (Larunda's fellow nymph, and the wife of

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 ...

). For betraying his trust, Jupiter cut out Lara's tongue and ordered

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, the psychopomp, to conduct her to Avernus, the gateway to the

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld ...

and realm of

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest k ...

. Mercury, however, fell in love with Lara and prepared to force her as she pleaded with a glance, unable to speak. Lara thereby became mother to two children, referred to as the

Lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lares ...

, invisible household gods. However, she had to stay in a hidden cottage in the woods so that Jupiter would not find her. Larunda is likely identical with Muta "the mute one" and

Tacita ''Tacita'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails ...

"the silent one", nymphs or minor goddesses.

Etymology

Because she said to Juno the affair of Jupiter with Juturna, her name was connected with λαλεῖν, which means talk, speak in Greek.

Cult

Ovid mentions the myth of Lara and Mercury in connection with the

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

Feralia Ferālia was an ancient Roman public festival Dumézil, Georges. ''Archaic Roman Religion''. pg 366. celebrating the Manes (Roman spirits of the dead, particularly the souls of deceased individuals) which fell on 21 February as recorded by O ...

on February 21. Lara/Larunda is also sometimes associated with

Acca Larentia Acca Larentia or Acca Larentina was a mythical woman, later goddess of fertility, in Roman mythology whose festival, the Larentalia, was celebrated on December 23. Myths Foster mother In one mythological tradition (that of ...

,Cf. whose feast day was the Larentalia on December 23.

References

External links

Myth Index - Larunda
Naiads Children of Potamoi Women of Hermes Mythological rape victims Characters in Roman mythology {{AncientRome-myth-stub