|
In accord with his fundamental character of being the Beginner Janus was considered by Romans the first king of Latium, sometimes along with Camese.[203] He would have received hospitably god Saturn, who, expelled from Heaven by Jupiter, arrived on a ship to the Janiculum. Janus would have also effected the miracle of turning the waters of the spring at the foot of the Viminal from cold to scorching hot in order to fend off the assault of the Sabines of king Titus Tatius, come to avenge the kidnapping of their daughters by the Romans.[204] His temple named Janus Geminus had to stand open in times of war. It was said to have been built by king Numa Pompilius, who kept it always shut during his reign as there were no wars. After him it was closed very few times, one after the end of the first Punic War, three times under Augustus and once by Nero. It is recorded that emperor Gordianus III opened the Janus Geminus.[205] It is a noteworthy curiosity that the opening of the Janus was perhaps the last act connected to the ancient religion in Rome: Procopius writes[206] that in 536 CE, during the Gothic War, while general Belisarius was under siege in Rome, at night somebody opened the Janus Geminus stealthily, which had long stayed closed since 390, year on which Theodosius I's edict banned the ancient cults. Janus was faithful to his liminal role also in the marking of this last act.[207] The uniqueness of Janus in Latium has suggested to L. Adams Holland and J. Gagé the hypothesis of a cult brought from far away by sailors and strictly linked to the amphibious life of the primitive communities living on the banks of the Tiber. In the myth of Janus the ship of Saturn as well as the myth of Carmenta and Evander are remininscent of an ancient Preroman sailing life. The elements that seem to connect Janus to sailing are presented in two articles by J. Gagé summarised here below.[208] 1. The boat of Janus and the beliefs of the primitive sailing techniques. a) The proximity of Janus and Portunus and the functions of the flamen Portunalis. The temple of Janus was dedicated by Gaius Duilius on August 17, day of the Portunalia. The key was the symbol of both gods and was also meant to signify that the boarding boat was a peaceful merchant boat. The flamen Portunalis oiled the arms of Quirinus with an ointment kept in a peculiar container named persillum, term perhaps derived from Etruscan persie.[209] A similar object seems to be represented in a fresco picture of the Calendar of Ostia on which young boys prepare to apply a resin contained in a basin to a boat on a cart, i.e. yet to be launched. b) The Tigillum Sororium would be related to a gentilician cult of wood of the Horatii, as surmised by the episodes of the pons sublicius defended by Horatius Cocles and of the posts of the main entrance of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, on which Marcus Horatius Pulvillus lay his hand during the dedication rite. Gagé thinks the magic power of the Tigillum Sororium should be ascribed to the lively and burgeoning nature of wood. 2. Religious quality of trees as the wild olive and the Greek or Italic lotus (Celtis Australis), analogous to that of corniolum and wild fig, to sailing communities: its wood does not rot in sea water, thence it was used in shipbuilding and in the making of rolls for hauling of ships overland. 3. Janus and the depiction of Boreas as Bifrons: climatological elements. a) The calendar of Numa and the role of Janus. Contradictions of the ancient Roman calendar on the beginning of the new year: originally March was the first month and February the last one. January, the month of Janus, became the first afterwards and through several manipulations. The liminal character of Janus is though present in the association to the Saturnalia of December, reflecting the strict relationship between the two gods Janus and Saturn and the rather blurred distinction of their stories and symbols. The initial role of Janus in the political-religious operations of January: the nuncupatio votorum spanning the year, the imperial symbol of the boat in the opening rite of the sailing season, the vota felicia: Janus and his myths allow for an ancient interpretation of the vota felicia, different from the Isiadic one. b) The idea of the Seasons in the ancient traditions of the Ionian Islands. The crossing of the Hyperborean myths. Cephalonia as a place at the cross of famous winds. Application of the theory of winds for the navigation in the Ionian Sea. The type Boreas Bifrons as probable model of the Roman Janus. This observation was made first by the Roscher Lexicon: "Ianus is he too, doubtlessly, a god of wind" and repeated in the RE Pauly-Wissowa s.v. Boreas by Rapp. P. Grimal has taken up this interpretation connecting it to a vase with red figures representing Boreas pursuing the nymph Oreithyia: Boreas is depicted as a two headed winged demon, the two faces with beards, one black and the other fair, perhaps symbolising the double movement of the winds Boreas and Antiboreas. This proves that the Greeks of the 5th century BC knew the image of Janus. Gagé feels compelled to mention here another parallel with Janus to be found in the figure of Argos with one hundred eyes and in his association with his murderer Hermes. c) Solar, solsticial and cosmological elements. While there is no direct proof of an original solar meaning of Janus, this being the issue of learned speculations of the Roman erudits initiated into the mysteries and of emperors as Domitian, the derivation from a Syrian cosmogonic deity proposed by P. Grimal looks more acceptable. Gagé though sees an ancient, preclassical Greek mythic substratum to which belong Deucalion and Pyrrha and the Hyperborean origins of the Delphic cult of Apollo[210] as well as the Argonauts. The beliefs in the magic power of trees is reflected in the use of the olive wood, as for the rolls of the ship Argos: the myth of the Argonauts has links with Corcyra, remembered by Lucius Ampelius.[211] 4. The sites of the cults of Janus at Rome and his associations in ancient Latium. a) Argiletum. Varro gives either the myth of the killing of Argos as an etymology of the word Argi-letum (death of Argos), which looks to be purely fantastic, or that of place located upon a soil of clay, argilla in Latin. The place so named stood at the foot of the Viminal, the hill of the reeds. It could also be referred to the white willow tree, used to make objects of trelliswork. b) The Janiculum may have been inhabited by people who were not Latin but had close alliances with Rome.[212] The right bank of the Tiber would constitute a typical, convenient, commodious landing place for boats and the cult of Janus would have been double insofar as amphibious. c) Janus's cultic alliances and relations in Latium would show a Prelatin character. Janus has no association in cult (calendar or prayer formulae) with any other entity. Even though he bears the epithet of Pater he is no head of a divine family; however some testimonies lend him a companion, sometimes female, and a son and/or a daughter. They belong to the family of the nymphs or genies of springs. Janus intervenes in the miracle of the hot spring during the battle between Romulus and Tatius: Juturna and the nymphs of the springs are clearly related to Janus as well as Venus, that in Ovid's Metamorphoses cooperates in the miracle and may have been confused with Venilia, or perhaps the two might have been originally one. Janus has a direct link only to Venilia, with whom he fathered Canens.[213] The magic role of the wild olive tree (oleaster) is prominent in the description of the duel between Aeneas and Turnus[214] reflecting its religious significance and powers: it was sacred to sailors, also those who had shipwrecked as a protecting guide to the shore. It was probably venerated by a Prelatin culture in association with Faunus. In the story of Venulus coming back from Apulia too one may see the religious connotation of the wild olive: the king discovers one into which a local shepherd had been turned for failing to respect the nymphs he had come across in a nearby cavern, apparently Venilia, who was the deity associated with the magic virtues of such tree. Gagé finds it remarkable that the characters related to Janus are in the Aeneis on the side of the Rutuli. In the poem Janus would be represented by Tiberinus. Olistene, the daughter of Janus with Camese, may reflect in her name that of the olive or oleaster, or of Oreithyia.[215] Camese may be reflected in Carmenta: Evander's mother is from Arcadia, comes to Latium as an exile migrant and has her two festivals in January: Camese's name at any rate does not look Latin. 5. Sociological remarks. a) The vagueness of Janus's association with the cults of primitive Latium and his indifference towards the social composition of the Roman State suggest that he was a god of an earlier amphibious merchant society in which the role of the guardian god was indispensable. b) Janus bifrons and the Penates. Even though the cult of Janus cannot be confused with that of the Penates, related with Dardanian migrants from Troy, the binary nature of the Penates and of Janus postulates a correspondent ethnic or social organisation. Here the model is thought to be provided by the cult of the Magni Dei or Cabeiri preserved at Samothrace and worshipped particularly among sailing merchants. The aetiological myth is noteworthy too: at the beginning one finds Dardanos and his brother Iasios[216] appearing as auxiliary figures in a Phrygian cult to a Great Mother. In Italy there is a trace of a conflict between worshippers of the Argive Hera (Diomedes and the Diomedians of the south) and of the Penates. The cult of Janus looks to be related to social groups remained at the fringe of the Phrygian ones. They might or might not have been related to the cult of the Dioscuri.[217] Relationship with other gods Janus and Juno The relationship between Janus and Juno is defined by the closeness of the notions of beginning and transition and the functions of conception and delivery, result of youth and vital force. The reader is referred to the above sections Cult epithets and Tigillum Sororium of this article and the corresponding section of article Juno. Janus and Quirinus Quirinus is a god that incarnates the quirites, i.e. the Romans in their civil capacity of producers and fathers. He is surnamed Mars tranquillus peaceful Mars, Mars qui praeest paci Mars who presides on peace. His function of custos guardian is highlighted by the location of his temple inside the pomerium but not far from the gate of Porta Collina or Quirinalis, near the shrines of Sancus and Salus. As a protector of peace he is nevertheless armed, in the same way as the quirites are, as they are potentially milites soldiers: his staue represents him is holding a spear. For this reason Janus, god of gates, is concerned with his function of protector of the civil community. For the same reason the flamen Portunalis oiled the arms of Quirinus, implying that they were to be kept in good order and ready even though they were not to be used immediately.[218] Dumézil and Schilling remark that as a god of the third function Quirinus is peaceful and represents the ideal of the pax romana i. e. a peace resting on victory.[219] Janus and Portunus Portunus may be defined as a sort of duplication inside the scope of the powers and attributes of Janus.[220] His original definition shows he was the god of gates and doors and of harbours. In fact it is debated whether his original function was only that of god of gates and the function of god of harbours was a later addition: Paul the Deacon writes: "... he is depicted holding a key in his hand and was thought to be the god of gates". Varro would have stated that he was the god of harbours and patron of gates.[221] His festival day named Portunalia fell on August 17, and he was venerated on that day in a temple ad pontem Aemilium and ad pontem Sublicium that had been dedicated on that date.[222] Portunus, unlike Janus, had his own flamen, named Portunalis. It is noteworthy that the temple of Janus in the Forum Holitorium had been consecrated on the day of the Portunalia and that the flamen Portunalis was in charge of oiling the arms of the statue of Quirinus.[223][224] Janus and Vesta The relationship between Janus and Vesta touches on the question of the nature and function of the gods of beginning and ending in Indo-European religion.[225] While Janus has the first place Vesta has the last, both in theology and in ritual (Ianus primus, Vesta extrema). The last place implies a direct connexion with the situation of the worshipper, in space and in time. Vesta is thence the goddess of the hearth of homes as well as of the city. Her inextinguishable fire is a means for men (as individuals and as a community) to keep in touch with the realm of gods. Thus there is a reciprocal link between the god of beginnings and unending motion, who bestows life to the beings of this world (Cerus Manus) as well as presiding over its end, and the goddess of the hearth of man, which symbolises through fire the presence of life. Vesta is a virgin goddess but at the same time she is considered the mother of Rome: she is thought to be indispensable to the existence and survival of the community.[226] Janus in Etruria Austrian commemorative gold 100-euro coin depicting a sculpture group in Vienna: Janus, with one youthful and one bearded face, appears on the shield of Providentia It has long been believed that Janus was present among the theonyms on the outer rim of the Piacenza Liver in case 3 under the name of Ani. This fact created a problem as the god of beginnings looked to be located in a situation other than the initial, i.e. the first case. After the new readings proposed by A. Maggiani, in case 3 one should read TINS: the difficulty has thus dissolved.[227] Ani has thence been eliminated from Etruscan theology as this was his only attestation.[228] Maggiani[229] remarks that this earlier identification was in contradiction with the testimony ascribed to Varro by Johannes Lydus that Janus was named caelum among the Etruscans.[230] On the other hand as expected Janus is present in region I of Martianus Capella's division of Heaven and in region XVI, the last one, are to be found the Ianitores terrestres (along with Nocturnus), perhaps to be identified in Forculus, Limentinus and Cardea,[231] deities strictly related to Janus as his auxiliaries (or perhaps even no more than concrete subdivisions of his functions) as the meaning of their names implies: Forculus is the god of the forca, a iugum, low passage, Limentinus the guardian of the limes, boundary, Cardea the goddess of hinges, here of the gates separating Earth and Heaven.[232] The problem posed by the qualifying adjective terrestres earthly, can be addressed in two different ways. One hypothesis is that Martianus's depiction implies a descent from Heaven onto Earth.[233] However Martianus's depiction does not look to be confined to a division Heaven-Earth as it includes the Underworld and other obscure regions or remote recesses of Heaven. Thence one may argue that the articulation Ianus-Ianitores could be interpreted as connected to the theologem of the Gates of Heaven (the Synplegades) which open on the Heaven on one side and on Earth or the Underworld on the other.[234] From other archaeological documents though it has become clear that the Etruscans had another god iconographically corresponding to Janus: Culśanś, of which there is a bronze statuette from Cortona (now at Cortona Museum). While Janus is a bearded adult Culśans may be an unbearded youth, making his identification with Hermes look possible.[235] His name too is connected with the Etruscan word for doors and gates.[236] According to Capdeville he may also be found on the outer rim of the Piacenza Liver on case 14 in the compound form CULALP, i.e., "of Culśanś and of Alpan(u)" on the authority of Pfiffig, but perhaps here it is the female goddess Culśu, the guardian of the door of the Underworld.[237] Although the location is not strictly identical there is some approximation in his situations on the Liver and in Martianus' system. A. Audin connects the figure of Janus to Culśanś and Turms (Etruscan rendering of Hermes, the Greek god mediator between the different worlds, brought by the Etruscan from the Aegean Sea), considering these last two Etruscan deities as one.[238] This interpretation would then identify Janus with Greek god Hermes. Etruscan medals from Volterra too show the double headed god and the Janus Quadrifrons from Falerii may have an Etruscan origin.[239] Association with non-Roman gods The traditional ascription of the "Temple of Janus" at Autun, Burgundy, is disputed. Roman and Greek authors maintained Janus was an exclusively Roman god.[240] This Roman pretence looks to be excessive according to R. Schilling,[241] at least as far as iconography is concerned. The god with two faces appeared repeatedly in Babylonian art.[242] Reproductions of the image of such a god, named Usmu, on cylinders in Sumero-Accadic art is to be found in H. Frankfort's work Cylinder seals (London 1939) especially in plates at p. 106, 123, 132, 133, 137, 165, 245, 247, 254. On plate XXI, c, Usmu is seen while introducing worshippers to a seated god. Janus-like heads of gods related to Hermes have been found in Greece, perhaps suggesting a compound god.[243] William Betham argued that the cult arrived from the Middle East and that Janus corresponds to the Baal-ianus or Belinus of the Chaldeans sharing a common origin with the Oannes of Berosus.[244] P. Grimal considers Janus as a conflation of a Roman god of doorways and an ancient Syro-Hittite uranic cosmogonic god.[245] The Roman statue of the Janus of the Argiletum, traditionally ascribed to Numa, was possibly very ancient, perhaps a sort of xoanon, like the Greek ones of the 8th century BC.[246] In Hinduism the image of double or four faced gods is quite common, as it is a symbolic depiction of the divine power of seeing through space and time. The supreme god Brahma is represented with four faces. Another instance of four faced god is the Slavic god Svetovid. Other analogous or comparable deities of the prima in Indoeuropean religions have been analysed by G. Dumézil.[247] They include the Indian goddess Aditi who is called two faced as she is the one who starts and concludes ceremonies,[248] and Scandinavian god Heimdallr. The theological features of Heimdallr look similar to Janus's: both in space and time he stands at the limits. His abode is at the limits of Earth, at the extremity of the Heaven, he is the protector of the gods; his birth is at the beginning of time, he is the forefather of mankind, the generator of classes and the founder of the social order. Nonetheless he is inferior to sovereign god Oðinn: the Minor Völuspá defines his relationship to Oðinn almost with the same terms as which Varro defines that of Janus, god of the prima to Jupiter, god of the summa: Heimdallr is born as the firstborn (primigenius, var einn borinn í árdaga), Oðinn is born as the greatest (maximus, var einn borinn öllum meiri).[249] Analogous Iranian formulae are to be found in an Avestic gāthā (Gathas).[250] In other towns of ancient Latium the function of presiding on beginnings was probably performed by other deities of feminine sex, notably the Fortuna Primigenia of Praeneste. Legacy In the Middle Ages, Janus was also taken as the symbol of Genoa, whose Medieval Latin name was Ianua, as well as of other European communes.[251] The comune of Selvazzano di Dentro near Padua has a grove and an altar of Janus depicted on its standard, but their existence is unproved. Cats Cats with the congenital disorder Diprosopus, which causes the face to be partly or completely duplicated on the head, are known as Janus cats.[252] In literature In Act I Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Othello, Iago invokes the name of Janus after the failure of his premiere plot to undo the titular character. As the story's primary agent of change, it's fitting that Iago align himself with Janus. His schemes prompt the beginning of each of the main characters' ends: in his absence, Othello and Desdemona would likely have remained married and Cassio would have remained in his respected position of power. Iago guides (if not forces) the story through inception, climax, and finale. Furthermore, Janus' common two-faced depiction is the perfect visual metaphor for Iago's character. Othello's characters believe him to have only the best of intentions, even going as far as to call him "honest Iago," completely unaware that he spends every unwatched second plotting their undoing. He appears selfless and compassionate but, in truth, is power-hungry, amoral, and without regard for the well-being of others.[citation needed] |
About us|Jobs|Help|Disclaimer|Advertising services|Contact us|Sign in|Website map|Search|
GMT+8, 2015-9-11 21:08 , Processed in 0.153124 second(s), 16 queries .
