Fortuna governs the circle of the four stages of life, the Wheel of Fortune, in a manuscript of
Carmina Burana
In Roman mythology, Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) goddess of fortune, was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck, but she could be
represented veiled and blind, as modern depictions of Justice are seen, and came to represent
the capriciousness of life. She is also a goddess of fate.
Fortuna had a retinue that included Copia among her blessings. Under the name Annonaria
she protected grain supplies. In the Roman calendar, June 11 was sacred to Fortuna, with a
greater festival to Fors Fortuna on the 24th [1].
Fortuna was propitiated by mothers. Traditionally her cult was said to be introduced to Rome by Servius Tullius. Fortuna had a temple in the
Forum Boarium, a public sanctuary on the Quirinalis, as the tutelary genius of Roma herself, Fortuna Populi
Romani, the "Fortune of the Roman people", and an oracle in Praeneste where the future was chosen by a small boy choosing oak rods with possible futures written on them. The temple is called the temple of Fortuna Muliebris.
All over the Roman world, Fortuna was worshipped at a great number of shrines under various titles that were applied to her
according to the various circumstances of life in which her influence was hoped to have a positive effect. Fortuna was not always
positive: she was doubtful (Fortuna Dubia); she could be "fickle fortune" (Fortuna Brevis), or downright evil luck
(Fortuna Mala).
Her name seems to derive from Vortumna, "she who revolves the year", however the earliest reference to the
Wheel of Fortune, emblematic of the endless changes in life from prosperity to
disaster, occurs in Cicero, In Pisonem, ca. 55 BCE.
Middle Ages
Fortuna did not disappear from the popular imagination with the ascendancy of Christianity by any means (illustration,
left). In the 6th century, the Consolation of Philosophy, by
statesman and philosopher Boethius, written while he faced execution,
reflected the Christian theology of casus, that the apparently random and often ruinous turns of Fortune's Wheel are in
fact both inevitable and providential, that even the most coincidental events are part of God's hidden plan which one should not
resist or try to change. Events, individual decisions, the influence of the stars were all
merely vehicles of Divine Will. Fortune crept back in to popular acceptance. In succeeding generations Consolation was
required reading for scholars and students.
The ubiquitous image of the Wheel of Fortune found throughout the Middle Ages
and beyond was a direct legacy of the second book of Boethius's Consolation. The Wheel appears in many renditions from
tiny miniatures in manuscripts to huge stained glass windows in cathedrals, such
as at Amiens. Lady Fortune is usually represented as larger than life to underscore her
importance. The wheel characteristically has four shelves, or stages of life, with four human figures, usually labeled on the
left regnabo (I shall reign), on the top regno (I reign) and is usually crowned, descending on the right
regnavi (I have reigned) and the lowly figure on the bottom is marked sum sine regno (I have no kingdom). Medieval
representations of Fortune emphasize her duality and instability, such as two faces side by side like Janus; one face smiling the other frowning; half the face white the other black; she may be
blindfolded but without scales, blind to justice. Occasionally her vivid clothing and bold demeanor suggest the prostitute. She was associated with the cornucopia, ship's rudder, the
ball and the wheel.
Fortune would have many influences in cultural works throughout the Middle Ages. In Le
Roman de la Rose, Fortune frustrates the hopes of a lover who has been helped by a personified character "Reason". In
Dante's Inferno, in the seventh canto, Virgil
explains the nature of Fortune. Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium
("The Fortunes of Famous Men"), used by John Lydgate to compose his Fall of Princes, tells of many where the turn of Fortune's wheel brought those most high to disaster.
Fortune makes her appearance in Carmina Burana (see image). Lady Fortune appears
in chapter 25 of Machiavelli's The Prince, in which he says Fortune only rules one
half of men's fate, the other half being of their own will. Machiavelli reminds the reader that Fortune is a woman, that she
favours a strong, or even violent hand, and the she favours the more aggressive and bold young man than a timid elder. Even
Shakespeare was no stranger to Lady Fortune:
- When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes
- I all alone beweep my outcast state ... — Sonnet 29
Aspects of Fortuna
Lady Fortune in a Boccaccio manuscript
- Fortuna Annonaria brought the luck of the harvest
- Fortuna Belli fortune of war
- Fortuna Primigenia directed the fortune of a firstborn child at the moment of birth
- Fortuna Virilis attended a man's career
- Fortuna Redux brought one safely home
- Fortuna Respiciens fortune of the provider
- Fortuna Muliebris the luck of a woman. Typical of Roman attitudes, the fortune of a woman in marriage, however, was
Fortuna Virilis.
- Fortuna Victrix brought victory in battle
- Fortuna Augusta fortune of the emperor
- Fortuna Balnearis fortune of the baths
- Fortuna Conservatrix fortune of the Preserver
- Fortuna Equestris fortune of the Knights
- Fortuna Huiusque fortune of the present day
- Fortuna Obsequens fortune of indulgence
- Fortuna Privata fortune of the private individual
- Fortuna Publica fortune of the people
- Fortuna Romana fortune of Rome
- Fortuna Virgo fortune of the virgin
See also
References
- Howard Rollin Patch (1922), The Tradition of the Goddess Fortuna in Medieval Philosophy and Literature
- Howard Rollin Patch (1923), Fortuna in Old French Literature
- Howard Rollin Patch (1927, repr. 1967), The Goddess Fortuna in Medieval Literature
- Lesley Adkins, Roy A. Adkins (2001) Dictionary of Roman Religion
External links
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