In
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representa ...
, Mens, also known as Mens Bona (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "Good Mind"), was the
personification of thought, consciousness and the mind, and also of "right-thinking". Her festival was celebrated on June 8. A temple on the
Capitoline Hill
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. ...
in Rome was vowed to Mens in 217 BC on advice from the
Sibylline Books, after the defeat of
Lake Trasimene, and was dedicated in 215 BC.
In Latin poetry
*
Propertius celebrated his escape from erotic bondage to his Cynthia by dedicating himself to the shrine of Mens Bona.
*
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
depicted Cupid as leading Good Sense (Mens Bona) as a captive in his triumphal parade.
[A D Melville trans., ''Ovid: The Love Poems'' (OUP 2008) p. 5 and p. 176 (Amores I.2.32-3)]
Later developments
The Latin word ''mens'' expresses the idea of "mind" and is the origin of English words like ''mental'' and ''dementia''. The gifted-only organization
Mensa International
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. Mensa formally compr ...
was originally to be named ''mens'' in the sense of "mind", but took instead the name ''Mensa'' (Latin: "table") to avoid ambiguity with "men's" in English and "mens" in other languages.
See also
*
Bona Dea
Bona Dea (; 'Good Goddess') was a goddess in ancient Roman religion. She was associated with chastity and fertility in Roman women, healing, and the protection of the state and people of Rome. According to Roman literary sources, she was brought ...
*
Empedocles
Empedocles (; grc-gre, Ἐμπεδοκλῆς; , 444–443 BC) was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a native citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best known for originating the cosmogonic theory of the ...
*
Pudicitia
Pudicitia ("modesty" or "sexual virtue") was a central concept in ancient Roman sexual ethics. The word is derived from the more general ''pudor'', the sense of shame that regulated an individual's behavior as socially acceptable. ''Pudicitia' ...
References
Further reading
* Richardson, L. (1992). ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' (pp. 251). Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. .
* Scullard, H.H. (1981). ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'' (p. 148). London: Thames and Hudson. .
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Health goddesses
Roman goddesses
Personifications in Roman mythology
