Source Verification: Fortuna
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Is there a goddess of fortune?
Yes. The Romans worshipped Fortuna as goddess of luck and chance, with temples across Rome. Plutarch says the city's shrines to Fortune were splendid and ancient, while it had none for Wisdom or Prudence (On the Fortune of the Romans 318e-f). Pliny says Fortune alone is invoked in all places and at all hours (Natural History 2.22). She was not one goddess with one cult. Plutarch lists many titles, such as Private Fortune, Virgin Fortune and Men's Fortune (On the Fortune of the Romans 322f-323a).
Source: Plutarch, On the Fortune of the Romans 318
What does Fortuna mean?
Fortuna is the Latin word for luck or chance, and also the name of the goddess who was thought to bring it. Pliny shows both senses. He says Fortune alone is invoked everywhere, as the one to praise or blame for everything that happens (Natural History 2.22). Ovid's festival of Fors Fortuna uses the paired name (Fasti 6.771-784). Plutarch, writing in Greek, explains her Latin titles in Greek terms (On the Fortune of the Romans 322f-323a). Ancient etymologies of the word were not checked for this page.
Source: Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.22
Is Fortuna considered good or bad luck?
Both. Fortuna gave and took, and Roman writers stress the turn. Horace says she can raise a mortal from the lowest step or turn proud triumphs into funerals (Odes 1.35.1-4). In his poem, Hope and Faith stay with her, but false friends leave when she departs (Odes 1.35.21-28). Pliny says she is praised and blamed at once, and thought blind, fickle and uncertain (Natural History 2.22). Boethius writes that her nature is change (Consolation of Philosophy 2, prose 1).
Source: Horace, Odes 1.35.1-4
What is the myth of Fortuna?
Fortuna has no full myth. Her main story is Ovid's tale of her love for King Servius Tullius. She was ashamed to love a mortal, so she entered his house by a small window (Fasti 6.569-584). Ovid also explains why his statue in her temple was veiled, and gives a second and third reason (Fasti 6.585-636). Plutarch tells of the same window (On the Fortune of the Romans 322f-323a). Apart from this, she is known through cults and titles, not adventures.
Source: Ovid, Fasti 6.569-584
What is the history of Lady Fortuna?
Her cult is old, and Roman writers date it to the kings. Plutarch says Ancus Marcius built the first temple to Fortune (On the Fortune of the Romans 318e-f) and that Servius Tullius founded most of her later shrines (On the Fortune of the Romans 322f-323a). Livy dates the Women's Fortune temple to the story of Coriolanus (Ab Urbe Condita 2.40.12). Horace and Pliny show how central she remained in their Rome (Odes 1.35; Natural History 2.22). The Boethian wheel and the Machiavellian river came later.
Source: Plutarch, On the Fortune of the Romans 318
Why is goddess Fortuna blindfolded?
The ancient sources say she is blind, not blindfolded. Cicero says Fortune is blind herself and makes blind those she embraces (De Amicitia 54). Pliny says most people think her blind and a friend to the unworthy (Natural History 2.22). Boethius calls her the blind goddess (Consolation of Philosophy 2, prose 1). The blindfold is a later visual choice, and no ancient text checked for this page describes it. Ovid says the opposite of Servius's lover, that she was not blind for him (Fasti 6.569-584).
Source: Cicero, De Amicitia 54
Where Accounts Differ
- why the statue of Servius was veiled
- who built the first temple of Fortune
- where Fortuna Primigenia stood
- the Women's Fortune and the speaking statue
- who fathered Servius Tullius
- blind or blindfolded
- Fortuna has almost no narrative myth. What survives is cult: temples, festivals, titles and the Servius Tullius story. Ovid's Fasti (6.569-636, 6.771-784) and Plutarch's On the Fortune of the Romans (322f-323a) are the fullest accounts, and neither gives her a genealogy.
- Why the statue in Servius's temple was veiled is disputed. Ovid gives three reasons and does not choose. Fortuna loved the king and hid her face from shame (Fasti 6.569-584). Or the people covered his statue in grief after his murder. Or the statue hid its eyes from his daughter Tullia (Fasti 6.585-636). Plutarch has the window visits but not the three explanations (On the Fortune of the Romans 322f-323a).
- The first temple of Fortune is placed differently. Plutarch says Ancus Marcius built the first (On the Fortune of the Romans 318e-f), yet a few pages on he credits Servius Tullius with the Capitoline temples and most of her titles (322f-323a). Ovid credits Servius with the temple beside the Tiber (Fasti 6.569-636, 6.771-784).
- Fortuna Primigenia is placed differently. Plutarch makes it a temple of Servius on the Capitoline (On the Fortune of the Romans 322f-323a). Livy describes a temple to Fortuna Primigenia vowed by Publius Sempronius in the Hannibalic war and dedicated on the Quirinal (Ab Urbe Condita 29.36; 34.53). They may be different buildings or different traditions.
- The Women's Fortune is told differently. Livy records a temple and the women's deed (Ab Urbe Condita 2.40.12). Plutarch adds that the statue spoke (On the Fortune of the Romans 318f-319a). Plutarch also says the temple stood before the time of Camillus (On the Fortune of the Romans 318f-319a).
- Servius's father is given differently. Ovid says Vulcan was his father and Ocresia his mother (Fasti 6.569-636). Plutarch reports that some named the household Lar and others Vulcan as the father (On the Fortune of the Romans 322f-323a).
- The blindfold is not ancient. Cicero, Pliny and Boethius call Fortune blind (De Amicitia 54; Natural History 2.22; Consolation of Philosophy 2, prose 1). The sources checked never describe a blindfold. The iconography of the cornucopia as her symbol was not checked in a text for this page.
Sources
- Ovid, Fasti 4.133-162
- Ovid, Fasti 6.569-636
- Ovid, Fasti 6.771-784
- Horace, Odes 1.35
- Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 2.40.12
- Plutarch, On the Fortune of the Romans 318e-325c
- Cicero, De Amicitia 54
- Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.22
- Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy 2
- Machiavelli, The Prince 25