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Myths about the Roman Goddess Diana
Of all the various characters of this goddess, there is no
one more known than that of her presiding over woods, and
delighting in hunting. The Diana Venatrix, or goddess of the
chase, is frequently represented as
running on, with her vest flying
back with the wind, notwithstanding
its being shortened, and girt about
her for expedition.
She is tall of
stature, and her face, though so very handsome, is something
manly. Her feet are sometimes bare, and sometimes adorned
with a sort of buskin, which was worn by the huntresses of
old. She often has a quiver on her shoulder, and sometimes
holds a javelin, but more usually her bow, in her right
hand. It is thus she makes her appearance in several of her
statues, and it is thus the Roman poets describe her,
particularly in the epithets they give this goddess, in the
use of which they are so happy that they often bring the
idea of whole figures of her into your mind by a single
word. The statues of this Diana were very frequent in woods:
she was represented there in all the different ways they
could think of; sometimes as hunting, sometimes as bathing,
and sometimes as resting herself after her fatigue. The
height of Diana's stature is frequently marked out in the
poets, and that, generally, by comparing her with her
nymphs.
Another great character of Diana is that under which she is
represented as the intelligence which presides over the
planet of the moon; in which she is depicted in her car as
directing that planet. Her figure under this character is
frequently enough to be met with on gems and medals, which
generally exhibit her with a lunar crown, or crescent on her
forehead, and sometimes as drawn by stags, sometimes by
does, but, more commonly than either, by horses. The poets
speak of her chariot and her horses; they agree with the
artists in giving her but two, and show, that the painters
of old generally drew them of a perfect white color.
A third remarkable way of representing Diana was with three
bodies; this is very common among the ancient figures
of the goddess, and it is hence the poets call her the
triple, the three-headed, and the three-bodied Diana. Her
distinguishing name under this triple appearance is Hecate,
or Trivia; a goddess frequently invoked in enchantments, and
fit for such black operations; for this is the infernal
Diana, and as such is represented with the characteristics
of a fury, rather than as one of the twelve great celestial
deities: all her hands hold instruments of terror, and
generally grasp either cords, or swords, or serpents, or
fire-brands.
There are various conjectures concerning the name Hecate,
which is supposed to come from a Greek word signifying an
hundred, either because an hundred victims at a time used to
be offered to her, or else because by her edicts the ghosts
of those who die without burial, wander an hundred years
upon the banks of the Styx. Mythologists say that Hecate is
the order and force of the Fates, who obtained from the
divine power that influence which they have over human
bodies; that the operation of the Fates are hidden, but
descend by the means and interposition of the stars,
wherefore it is necessary that all inferior things submit to
the cares, calamities, and death which the Fates bring upon
them, without any possibility of resisting the divine will.
Hesiod relates of Hecate, to show the extent of her power,
that Jupiter had heaped gifts and honors upon her far above
all the other deities; that she was empress of the earth and
sea, and all things which are comprehended in the compass of
the heavens; that she was a goddess easy to be entreated,
kind, and always ready to do good, bountiful of gold and
riches, which are wholly in her power; that whatever springs
from seed, whether in heaven, or on earth, is subject to
her, and that she governs the fates of all things.
Myths about the Roman Goddess Diana
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