Faunus

Faunus, i, m. [faveo],

• a mythic son of Picus, grandson of Saturn, and father of Latinus, king of Latium; he instituted tillage and grazing, and after death was the protecting deity of agriculture and of shepherds, and also a giver of oracles; after the introduction of the worship of Pan into Italy, he was identified with Pan, and accordingly represented, like the latter, with horns and goats’ feet, Lact. 1, 24; Cic. N. D. 3, 6, 15; Verg. A. 7, 48; 81; Ov. F. 2, 193; 3, 312 sq.; Prop. 4 (5), 2, 34; id. H. 5, 138; Hor. C. 1, 4, 11; 1, 17, 2; 3, 18, 1 et saep. On account of the assimilation of Faunus to Pan, the appellation Fauni was also used for Panes, sylvan deities, Lucr. 4, 581; Ov. M. 6, 392; 1, 193; Hor. Ep. 1, 19, 4; id. A. P. 244; Enn. ap. Cic. Brut. 19, 76 (Ann. v. 222 ed. Vahl.); Cic. N. D. 2, 2, 6; id. Div. 1, 45, 101.—
• II Derivv.
• • A Faunĭus, a, um, adj., pertaining to Faunus: versus, Victorinn. p. 2586 P.—
  • B ‡ Faunālĭa, ium, n., the festival celebrated on the nones of December, in honor of Faunus, acc. to Porphyr. and Acro, Hor. C. 3, 18, 1 and 10.

Faunus, ī, m. (faveo), ein uralter König in Latium, Sohn des Pikus, Enkel des Saturnus u. Vater des Latinus, Verg. Aen. 7, 48, der seine Untertanen den Ackerbau und Gesittung lehrte, nach seinem Tode als weissagender Feld- u. Waldgott verehrt, in dessen Hain (s. Albunea) Orakel durch Inkubation erteilt wurden, Lact. 1, 22, 9. Verg. Aen. 7, 81. Ov. fast. 4, 653. Calp. ecl. 1, 13. – Später wurde er mit dem arkadischen Pan ( Lupercus) vermengt, sowie die mit der Fauna od. Fatua erzeugten Feldgötter, Fauni, mit den griech. Panen und Panisken identifiziert wurden, Hor. carm. 1, 17, 2. Prop. 4, 2, 34. Ov. fast. 2, 424; u. die Fauni, Ov. met. 1, 193; 6, 392. Vgl. Preller, Röm. Mythol.³ 1, 380 f. – Dav.: A) Faunālia, ium, n., das dem Faunus zu Ehren an den Nonen des Dezember gefeierte Fest, nach Acro u. Porphyr. Hor. carm. 3, 18, 10. – B) Faunius, a, um, faunisch, versus (= Saturnius versus), Mar. Victorin. art. gr. 3, 18, 1. p. 139, 1 K.: u. so modi, Placid. gloss. V, 22, 8.

1 Faunus [CL] , rural deity resembling satyr, woodwose. ~i ‥ silvicolae ‥ a capite usque ad umbilicum hominis speciem habent, caput autem curvata naribus cornua dissimulant et inferior pars duorum pedum et femorum in caprarum forma depingitur Lib. Monstr. I 5; satiri vel ~i vel †sehni vel ~i ficarii, unfœle men, wudewasan, unfœle wihtu Ælf. Gl. 108; ~os, wudewasan GlP 408; unus ‥ eorum, quos ~os, dicunt et incubos, ad luxum proclives ac sepe mulieribus insolentes T. Mon. Will. II 7 p. 80; Bart. Angl. XVIII 50 (v. 1 ficarius 2b); Higd. II 21 (v. fatuari); †Cauni [l. ~i], A. fayryes WW.

2 Faunus v. Favonius

Faunus, (11) ī, m. , Faunus [dieu de la fécondité des troupeaux et des champs, confondu avec Pan] : Cic. Nat. 3, 15 ; Virg. En. 7, 48 ; Ov. F. 2, 193 || v. Fauni || -nālĭa, ĭum ou ĭōrum, n. , fêtes en lʼhonneur de Faunus : Pomp. Porphyr. Hor. O. 3, 18, 1.

Faunus

the son of Picus and father of Latinus, was the third in the series of the kings of the Laurentes. In his reign Faunus, like his two predecessors, Picus and Saturn, had promoted agriculture and the breeding of cattle among his subjects, and also distinguished himself as a hunter. (Plin. Nat. 9.6; Propert. 4.2. 34.) In his reign likewise the Arcadian Evander and Heracles were believed to have arrived in Latium. (Plut. Parall. Gr. et Rom. 38.) Faunus acts a very prominent part in the mythical history of Latium, for, independent of what he did for agriculture, he was regarded as one of the great founders of the religion of the country; hence Lactantius (1.24.9) places him on an equality with Numa. He was therefore in later times worshipped in two distinct capacities: first, as the god of fields and shepherds, and secondly, as an oracular and prophetic divinity. The festival of the Faumalia, which was celebrated on the 5th of December, by the country people, with great feasting and merriment, had reference to him as the god of agriculture and cattle. (Hor. Carm. 3.18.) As a prophetic god, he was believed to reveal the future to man, partly in dreams, and partly by voices of unknown origin. (Verg. A. 7.81, &c.; Cic. de Nut. Deor. 2.2, 3.6, de Divin. 1.45.) What he was in this respect to the male sex, his wife Fauna or Faula was to the female, whence they bore the surnames Fatuus, Fatua, or Fatuellus, Fatuella, derived from fari, fatum. (Justin, 43.1; Lactant. 1.22.) They are said to have given their oracles in Saturnian verse, whence we may perhaps infer that there existed in Latium collections of oracles in this metre. (Varro, de L. L. 7.36.) The places where such oracles were given were sacred groves, one near Tibur, around the well Albunea, and another on the Aventine, near Rome. (Virg. l.c.; Ov. Fast. 4.649, &c.) The rites observed in the former place are minutely described by Virgil : a priest offered up a sheep and other sacrifices; and the person who consulted the oracle had to sleep one night on the skin of the victim, during which the god gave an answer to his questions either in a dream or in supernatural voices. Similar rites are described by Ovid as having taken place on the Aventine. (Comp. Isidor. 8.11, 87.) There is a tradition that Numa, by a stratagem, compelled Picus and his son Faunus to reveal to him the secret of calling down lightning from heaven [Elicius], and of purifying things struck by lightning. (Arnob. 5.1; Plut. Num. 15; Ov. Fast. 3.291, &c.) At Rome there was a round temple of Faunus, surrounded with columns, on Mount Caelius and another was built to him, in B. C. 196, on the island in the Tiber, where sacrifices were offered to him on the ides of February, the day on which the Fabii had perished on the Cremera. (Liv. 33.42, 34.53; P. Vict. Reg. Urb. 2; Vitr. 3.1; Ov. Fast. 2.193.) In consequence of the mauner in which be gave his oracles, he was looked upon as the author of spectral appearances and terrifying sounds (Dionys. A. R. 5.16); and he is therefore described as a wanton and voluptuous god, dwelling in woods, and fond of nymphs. (Horat. l.c.) The way in which the god manifested himself seems to have given rise to the idea of a plurality of fauns (Fauni), who are described as monsters, half goat, and with horns. (Ov. Fast. 5.99, Heroid. 4.49.) Faunus thus gradually came to be identified with the Arcadian Pan, and the Fauni as identical with the Greek satyrs, whence Ovid (Ov. Met. 6.392) uses the expression Fauni et Satyri fratres. As Faunus, and afterwards the Fauni, were believed to be particularly fond of frightening persons in various ways, it is not an improbable conjecture that Faunus may be a euphemistic name, and connected with faveo. (Hartung, Die Relig. d. Röm. vol. ii. p. 183, &c.) [L.S]

Faunus ī, m

• FAV-, a mythical king of Latium, worshipped as the Italian Pan, C., H., O.— Plur, the Fauns, gods of the groves, C., H., O.

Faunus

or Fatuus. “The well-wisher” (from favere), or perhaps “the speaker” (from fari). (On the etymology of the word see Nettleship, Lectures and Essays, pp. 50-54). One of the oldest and most popular Roman deities, who was identified with the Greek Pan on account of the similarity of their attributes. (See Pan.) As a good spirit of the forest, plains, and fields, he gave fruitfulness to the cattle, and was hence called Inuus. With all this he was also a god of prophecy, called by the name of Fatuus, with oracles in the sacred groves of Tibur, around the well Albunea, and on the Aventine. The responses were said to have been given in Saturnian verse. (Cf. Varro, L. L. vii. 36.) Faunus revealed the future in dreams and strange voices, communicated to his votaries while sleeping in his precincts upon the fleeces of sacrificed lambs. A goddess of like attributes, called Fauna and Fatua, was associated in his worship. She was regarded sometimes as his wife, sometimes as his sister. (See Bona Dea.) Just as Pan was accompanied by the Πανίσκοι, or little Pans, so the existence of many Fauni was assumed besides the chief Faunus. They were imagined as merry, capricious beings, and in particular as mischievous goblins who caused nightmares. In fable Faunus appears as an old king of Latium, son of Picus, and grandson of Saturnus, father of Latinus by the nymph Marica. After his death he is raised to the position of a tutelary deity of the land, for his many services to agriculture and cattle-breeding. Two festivals, called Faunalia, were celebrated in his honour—one on the 13th of February, in the temple on the island in the Tiber, the other on the 5th of December, when the peasants brought him rustic offerings and amused themselves with dancing.