Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
Goddess name "Alruna-wife" | German | The Alrunes were the lares or penates of the ancient Romans. An Alruna-wife was the household goddess of a German family. An Alruna-maiden is a household maiden goddess. |
God name "Dii Penates" | Roman | household gods. Roman |
Ghost name "Lares" | Roman | Either domestic or public. Domestic lares were the souls of virtuous ancestors exalted to the rank of protectors. Public lares were the protectors of roads and streets. Domestic lares were images, like dogs, set behind the hall door, or in the lararium or shrine. Wicked souls became lemures or ghosts that made night hideous. Penates were the natural powers personified, and their office was to bring wealth and plenty, rather than to protect and avert danger. Roman |
God name "Penates" | Romans | The household gods of the Romans, both in regard to a private family and to the state, as the great family of citizens: hence we shall have to distinguish between private and public Penates. |
Deities name "Penates" | Roman | Hearth deities. These gods are a peculiarly Roman innovation, unknown to the Greeks. The penates, chosen individually by the head of the household, oversaw the domestic affairs of most Roman families. They were considered sufficiently important that, if a move was anticipated, they were taken to and established in the new residence a priori. They are represented in the form of small statues made of anything from clay to gold according to the wealth of the owner, and were provided with regular offerings of scraps of food.... |
"Penetralis" | Greek | A surname or epithet given to the several divinities at Rome, that were worshipped in the Penetrale, or the central part of the house, such as Jupiter, Vesta, the Penates, etc. Greek |
God name "Teraphim" | Hebrew | The household, family, or domestic gods of the Jews, similar to the lares and penates of the ancient Romans. Hebrew |
Goddess name "Vesta" | Roman | Was the goddess of the hearth, and therefore inseparably connected with the Penates, for Aeneas was believed to have brought the eternal fire of Vesta from Troy, along with the images of the Penates. The praetors, consuls, and dictators, before entering upon their official functions, sacrificed not only to the Penates, but also to Vesta at Lavinium. (The Aeneid by Virgil. Book II) |