On This Day In Roman History, February 20
The nine-day festival of Parentalia ends on the night of February 21, leading into the celebration of Feralia. This festival celebrated the Roman spirits of the dead which can be best translated into the Latin "Manes". On February 14th I discussed this interesting word and how we can come to understand what use it had in the previous celebrations of Parentalia. This Feralia, however, is a bit darker in its nature and plays into the dark rites/beliefs aimed at the "gods below" (di inferi). No classical text survives in any detail accounting for what public rites must have taken place except for a curious description from Ovid. He states a Greco-Roman magic ritual takes place with the ring leader being a drunken old woman. She begins by place incense around an area to where an unknown mouse is buried in the floor. She chews 7 black beans in her mouth to a paste, smears this paste onto a head of a fish, and then roasts this fish head with a bronze needle stabbed through it in her home oven. The only clue we are given to what this may have represented comes from some knowledge of the significance of the items used, which I will mention below, and the quote from her that Ovid writes saying "I have gagged spiteful tongues and muzzled unfriendly mouths".
Did you know?
The color black is very important to this story because it most likely shows the ties to the chthonic deities. Historians can see the other important uses of the color black in practices like animal sacrifices. An example of this is black bulls being sacrificed to the chthonic deities at the beginning of Parentalia. The black beans most likely point to this and help us to better understand what these bizarre rituals and magic rites may have been used for.
Pictured: Triple-formed representation of Hecate. Marble, Roman copy after an original of the Hellenistic period. Photo by Wikipedia user Jastrow, via Wikimedia Commons.
I chose this image today due to the fact this deity is on the list of the mentioned "Di inferi", or gods of below. Hecate, also sometimes known as Trivia, can be translated to "three paths". She was part of the triple goddess along with Luna and Proserpina, which although having its roots in Greek culture, were later adapted in Roman.
Ovid writes later about the use of the black beans, which were most likely used to lure malicious spirits from the home, saying "And after washing his hands clean in spring water, he turns, and first he receives black beans and throws them away with face averted; but while he throws them, he says: 'These I cast; with these beans I redeem me and mine.' This he says nine times, without looking back: the shade is thought to gather the beans, and to follow unseen behind. Again he touches water, and clashes Temesan bronze, and asks the shade to go out of his house. When he has said nine times, 'Ghosts of my fathers, go forth!' he looks back, and thinks that he has duly performed the sacred rites."
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! Another sort of spooky holiday to write about! It is important to remember just how little we know about these ancient rites. Traditions like these were already being lost to time and understanding during the period where we can gather the most information on them. However, the clues we can see from other Roman festivals and other Greco-cultural holidays allows us to deduct some pretty specific meanings alongside with writings like that of Ovid. An interesting note from this festival comes from Ovid once again. He wrote that one time the Romans forgot to practice and sacrifice on Feralia during an important war-time. This in turn prompted spirits of fallen Romans to ascend from their graves, walking the streets moaning and wailing. This is some serious Roman "night of the living dead" material!
Sources
Bonnefoy, Y. (1992). Roman and European mythologies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dumézil, G. (1996). Archaic Roman religion: with an appendix on the religion of the Etruscans. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
O., Boyle, A. J., & Woodard, R. D. (2004). Fasti. London: Penguin Books.
Rüpke, J. (2011). A companion to Roman religion. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Further Reading:
Special Thanks: Michael Houghan
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