Juturna

In the myth and religion of ancient Rome, Juturna was a goddess of fountains, wells and springs, and the mother of Fontus by Janus. Jupiter turned her into a water nymph – a Naiad – and gave her a sacred well in Lavinium, Latium, as well as another one near the temple to Vesta in the Forum Romanum. The pool next to the second well was called Lacus Juturnae. A local water nymph or river-god generally presides over a single body of water, but Juturna has broader powers which probably reflect her original importance in Latium, where she had temples in Rome and Lavinium, a cult of healthful waters at Ardea, and the fountain/well next to the lake in the Roman forum. It was here in Roman legend that the deities Castor and Pollux watered their horses after bringing news of the Roman victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus in 496 BC .

Virgil makes her a sister of Turnus who supported him against Aeneas by giving him his sword after he dropped it in battle, as well as taking him away from the battle when it seemed he would be killed. In the end, however, she could not save him from his fate, and retreated into her waters in mourning. Ovid relates her affair with Jupiter : the secret was betrayed by another nymph, Larunda, whom Jupiter struck with muteness as punishment. Juturna is further hellenized by Juno’s conferral of catasterism , an act that links her with the Dioscuri. These divinities all share a similar function as helpers of mortals and had traditional cultic connections in early Latium.

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