Fortuna,
Goddess of Luck
By Darkgolem
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Description:
Fortuna is the roman
goddess of luck, known as Tyche or Tykhe by greek mythology. She
is the personification of not only luck, but also fate. She
appears as holding a horn of plenty, and sometimes as holding a rudder
(of a ship) in the other. She may be described as having
wings. Sometimes she is depicted holding a small wheel, the Rota
Fortuna implying control of the ups and downs of fortun. Often
her face was stamped upon coins. Additionally, she can be shown
(in her Greek aspect as Tykhe) holding the infant Plutus.
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The ball she is described holding
often implies the fickleness of fate.. it can roll one way one time,
and another the next. Her animal, the horse, is a reference to
one of her titles, Fortuna Equestris, as patron of roman horseman and
soldiers.
Fortuna is the daughter of Jupiter
and was considered somewhat irresponsible (the ball she is depicted
with sometimes was juggled). She had a assistant (Plutus) in some
myths, whos origin is said to be the child of the goddess Demeter and
a hero Iasion, and was the one who brought the horn of plenty from
Heracles to her. Plutus was often considered a god of wealth, and
both served Fortuna and the goddess of peace.
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href="http://tth.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?full=1&set_albumName=album152&id=GNHFountainGladiator&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php">![]()
alt="Gladiator Fountain"
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album152/GNHFountainGladiator.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 179px;" align="right">Aspects:
Fortuna has many
aspects, and was called different names depending upon what aspect of
luck and fate was being asked for (or avoided). She can be
called, for example, Fortuna Plebis, for the common or plebian class,
or Fortuna Virginalis, for young women who wished fortune in childbirth
and raising children, and so on. She can also be Fortuna Mala,
for the purpose of asking bad luck to avoid oneself. Fortuna
Augusti was the basis of a rulers right to rule. This aspect
govered the rulers fate, and this aspect was invoked for the good
fortune of the leaders of Rome.
Other aspects of Fortuna were
Fortuna Muliebris (goddess of unmarried women), Fortuna Scribunda
(she who writes fate), Fortuna Victrix (bringer of victory in battle),
Fortuna Virilis (bringer of luck for married women).
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Worship:
Fortuna was
worshipped under another name (Vortumna, she who rules the year) by the
Etruscans, and in turn by the Greeks (as Tykhe). In Rome, some
kings (before the republic) such as Servius Tullius felt she was their
particular patron, and two temples existed in Rome for her, one by the
forums, and the other on the opposite side of the Tiber river.
Servius Tulius is said to have introduced her worship as a whole to the
Roman people (around 550 bc). Romans said that when she entered
their city, she threw away her ball and her wings, claiming she was
home and would stay there forever. Before she inherited the
aspect of fortune (overall) from the greeks, she was originally called
Fors Fortuna, and was the bringer of fertility.
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Offerings to Fortuna are
varied. Obviously one could give items one received in lucky circumstances to
her, but also, for example, one could give actions as a sort of
immaterial offering. Giving kindness to the miserable, if this
action is accepted by the goddess, can lead one to be treated less
cruelly when she turns bad fortune upon you. But remember that
Fortuna is the goddess of fortune, and will be unpredictable and
capricious. Fortunas holy day is June 11, and a festival was
given to her on the 24th of the same month.
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Fortuna is not always beloved.
Those who have a vested interest in stability worry about her bestowing
good luck upon their enemies. Some claimed she was an enemy of
the brave, for she might give luck to the undeserving and cowardly,
letting them be victorious over them. Regardless of the will of
humankind, if Fortuna turns against a mortal, they are lost.
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However, opposite views toward the
goddess of luck are found in the latin proverb Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat
or fortune favours the strong, or the brave. Needless to say it
means the goddess of luck is more likely to help those that take risks
or prepare for the trials they need luck in facing.
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In Gods and
Heroes
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href="http://tth.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?full=1&set_albumName=album113&id=arena_from_stands_png_jpgcopy&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php">
alt="Gladiator, hoping for fortuna's blessing"
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album113/arena_from_stands_png_jpgcopy.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 155px;" align="right">A
gladiator in Gods and Heroes can be expected to have a love/hate
relation with his or her forbearer. Regarding the goddess of
luck, no one more than a scion of this goddess would realize how fickle
their predecessor could be toward them. Certainly, such a warrior
could expect success in battle, and luck when such a battle was in
question.. but by the same token, they could certainly expect (oddly,
when one least expected it, heh) to have fate turn against them.
After all, Fortuna would just be doing her job by making sure that no
one, upon no one, could count on good luck all the time. On the
other hand, such a warrior could make sure to be ready all the time,
and knowing that nothing is certain battle, perhaps be more prepared
than those uninformed about the vagaries of the attentions of the
goddess Fortuna.
It could be expected that the god
granted abilities found in Gods and Heroes probably would be along the
lines of massive gains in ability or massive decreases in the chance of
being affected by spells, being hit in combat, for short periods of
time.. power ups, as it were.
Talk about what god your
going to choose in the Ten Ton Hammer Forums
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=268">here!
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