Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University

that it may be Greek. 433 Gordon states that the serpent did not play an important role in Roman
religion and mythology, except in relation to the cult of the Genius, 434 but the importance of this
cult and its connection to fertility have already been stressed in Chapter III. There is no reason
to assume that the rite is Greek in origin, and scholars previous to Gordon have argued for its
Italic nature. 435 We may also not want to limit this serpent strictly to agrarian fertility as Gordon
does. 436 An Etruscan mirror cover demonstrates that Juno Sospita is related to more than just
crops.
The visage of Juno Sospita appears on an Etruscan bronze mirror cover from Tarquinia
(Fig. IV.6). Richardson interprets the scene on this mirror as the reunion of Odysseus and
Penelope. 437 Building upon this interpretation, De Grummond suggests that the appearance of
the goddess relates to an oracle regarding Penelope’s fidelity thereby linking Juno Sospita to the
realms of womanly affairs and marriage. 438 This mirror is also significant for determining the
character of the goddess as a whole, for it demonstrates that this Juno was a goddess of womanly
affairs. Even when depicted as a warrior or civic goddess, Juno no doubt retained her status as a
fertility figure and mother goddess; I see no reason to assume that these two aspects of the
goddess are mutually exclusive.
Shields suggests that connection with the serpent need not imply that Juno Sospita is
chthonic, 439 yet the addition of a serpent to Juno’s attributes makes excellent sense if she is
associated with fertility. Chiarucci takes the connection to the earth one step further and asserts
that this chthonic form of Juno is not only the protectress of Lanuvium and its soldiers, a symbol
of earthly and feminine fertility, but also a funerary goddess. 440 We must not forget that the
celestial goddesses of Greece and Italy find their roots in earlier mother goddesses, and thus they
433 Gordon 1938, 39.
434 Gordon 1938, 39.
435 Douglas (1913, 62, 71) seems indecisive as to the relationship between serpent and goddess when she makes the
following two statements, “This cave and snake have been connected with Iuno Sospita, and although no ancient
writer actually says this, the occurrence of a snake on the coins of Iuno Sospita seems fair proof of it…” and “The
two rites remained distinct and incongruous, that of Iuno as Sospita in her temple on the arx, and the terrible rite of
the serpent in the dark grotto on the hillside.” For support of the link see Frazer 1912, 18; Galietti 1916, 16;
Tomassetti 1910; 280. Galietti remains the strongest supporter of the Italic, prehistoric nature of the serpent cult.
436 Gordon 1938, 41.
437 Richardson 1982, 32
438 De Grummond 2000b, 53-4.
439 Shields 1926, 68.
440 Chiarucci 1983, 75.
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