Gubernaculum (classical)

Last updated

A gubernaculum in classical references describes a ship's rudder [1] or steering oar. [2] The English word government [3] is related to the word. The Old English word governail [4] and the Scots word gouernaill [5] are both derived from it.

Contents

Classical history

The ancient rudder's different parts were distinguished by the following names: ansa, the handle; clavus, the shaft; pinna, the blade. [6] The famous ship Tessarakonteres or "Forty" is said to have had four rudders. In the Bible, Paul's ship, which was shipwrecked on Malta, had its rudders (plural) [7] cut loose. [8]

Classical depiction

Various gods such as Tritons and Venus have been shown with a gubernaculum. [9] It is most associated with Fortuna since, along with the cornucopia, it is an item that she is often depicted as holding. The corresponding Greek god Tyche is also regularly shown with a gubernaculum. There are abundant depictions of Fortuna holding the gubernaculum on coins, in paintings, on altars and statues or statuettes.

Fortuna is depicted on around 1000 [10] different Roman coins usually holding a gubernaculum. [11]

A sandstone statuette of Fortuna, [12] the Roman god of luck, fate, fortune [13] was found at Castlecary and can now be found at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, Scotland. [14]

Symbolism and meaning

In mythology the rudder, which the goddess can steer, represents control of the changeable fortunes of life. Plato used the metaphor of turning the Ship of State with a rudder. In the Biblical book of James, the author compares the tongue with a ship's rudder which, though physically small, makes great boasts. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

Tyche Greek Goddess of Fortune

Tyche was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Aphrodite and Zeus or Hermes. The Greek historian Polybius believed that when no cause can be discovered to events such as floods, droughts, frosts, or even in politics, then the cause of these events may be fairly attributed to Tyche. Other ancient Greek sources corroborate Polybius, such as Pindar who claims Tyche could hand victory to a lesser athlete.

Abundantia Roman personification of abundance

In ancient Roman religion, Abundantia also called Abundita was a divine personification of abundance and prosperity. The name Abundantia means plenty or riches. This name is fitting as Abundantia was a goddess of abundance, money-flow, prosperity, fortune, valuables, and success. She would help protect your savings and investments.Abundantia would even assist someone with major purchases. She was among the embodiments of virtues in religious propaganda that cast the emperor as the ensurer of "Golden Age" conditions. Abundantia thus figures in art, cult, and literature, but has little mythology as such. She may have survived in some form in Roman Gaul and medieval France. Abundantia would carry a cornucopia that was filled with grain and coins.She would occasionally leave some of her grain or money at someone's house as a gift.

Cornucopia Mythological symbol of abundance, also called the horn of plenty

In classical antiquity, the cornucopia, from Latin cornu (horn) and copia (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts.

Hariti Both a revered goddess and demon in some Buddhist traditions


Hārītī (Sanskrit), also known as Chinese: 鬼子母(神); pinyin: Guǐzǐmǔ(shén), Japanese: 鬼子母神, romanized: Kishimojin, is both a revered goddess and demon, depending on the Buddhist tradition. She is one of twenty four protector deity of Mahayan Buddhism.

Rudder Control surface for fluid-dynamic steering in the yaw axis

A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other conveyance that moves through a fluid medium. On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane. A rudder operates by redirecting the fluid past the hull (watercraft) or fuselage, thus imparting a turning or yawing motion to the craft. In basic form, a rudder is a flat plane or sheet of material attached with hinges to the craft's stern, tail, or after end. Often rudders are shaped so as to minimize hydrodynamic or aerodynamic drag. On simple watercraft, a tiller—essentially, a stick or pole acting as a lever arm—may be attached to the top of the rudder to allow it to be turned by a helmsman. In larger vessels, cables, pushrods, or hydraulics may be used to link rudders to steering wheels. In typical aircraft, the rudder is operated by pedals via mechanical linkages or hydraulics.

Liberty (personification) Personifications of the concept of Liberty

The concept of liberty has frequently been represented by personifications, often loosely shown as a female classical goddess. Examples include Marianne, the national personification of the French Republic and its values of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, the female Liberty portrayed on United States coins for well over a century, and many others. These descend from images on ancient Roman coins of the Roman goddess Libertas and from various developments from the Renaissance onwards. The Dutch Maiden was among the first, re-introducing the cap of liberty on a liberty pole featured in many types of image, though not using the Phrygian cap style that became conventional. The 1886 Statue of Liberty by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi is a well-known example in art, a gift from France to the United States.

Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery Museum in Glasgow, Scotland

The University of Glasgow's museum dedicated to William Hunter is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology Museum and the Anatomy Museum, all located in various buildings on the main campus of the University in the west end of Glasgow.

Fortuna Ancient Roman goddess of fortune and luck

Fortuna is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at least the Renaissance. The blindfolded depiction of her is still an important figure in many aspects of today's Italian culture, where the dichotomy fortuna / sfortuna plays a prominent role in everyday social life, also represented by the very common refrain "La [dea] fortuna è cieca".

Annona (mythology)

In ancient Roman religion, Annona is the divine personification of the grain supply to the city of Rome. She is closely connected to the goddess Ceres, with whom she is often depicted in art.

<i>Rota Fortunae</i> Symbol of fate in medieval and ancient philosophy

In medieval and ancient philosophy the Wheel of Fortune, or Rota Fortunae, is a symbol of the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna who spins it at random, changing the positions of those on the wheel: some suffer great misfortune, others gain windfalls. The metaphor was already a cliché in ancient times, complained about by Tacitus, but was greatly popularized for the Middle Ages by its extended treatment in the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius from around 520. It became a common image in manuscripts of the book, and then other media, where Fortuna, often blindfolded, turns a large wheel of the sort used in watermills, to which kings and other powerful figures are attached.

Castlecary Human settlement in Scotland

Castlecary is a small historic village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, directly adjacent to the border with Falkirk. It has long been associated with infrastructure, being adjacent to a bridged river, a Roman fort and roads, a nationwide canal, a Victorian railway viaduct, and a modern motorway. Castlecary is close to the town of Cumbernauld but like Dullatur and Luggiebank is not officially part of the town. Around 1725, the barony of Castlecary, with a population of just seventeen families, was disjoined from the parish of Falkirk, and annexed to Cumbernauld quoad sacra. Castlecary is also near Allandale which, though in the Falkirk council area, was built for Castlecary fireclay workers.

Westerwood

Westerwood is an area in the north-east of Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Historically it was the site of a Roman Fort of which a video reconstruction has been produced. In the past two decades, new housing developments have been built around the Westerwood Hotel and Golf Course. The golf course, which was designed by Seve Ballesteros and Dave Thomas, is located on the north side of the town, close to Cumbernauld Airport. Westerwood Community Council was set up for local residents and a committee has been appointed. Neighbouring villages which are outside of Cumbernauld include Dullatur to the north-west and Castlecary to the east.

Nike (mythology) Goddess of victory in Greek mythology

In ancient Greek civilization, Nike was a goddess who personified victory. Her Roman equivalent was Victoria.

Laetitia (goddess) Minor Roman goddess of gaiety

Laetitia, deriving from the root word laeta, meaning "happy", "glad", "lucky", "successful", "prosperous", "luxurious", "lush", or "abounding", was a minor Roman goddess of gaiety. Her name was used to mean happiness with prosperity and abundance. She is usually shown with greenery to depict the abundance of seasonal decorations that many sites would include. Wreaths of flowers or leaves are commonly worn at festivals or holy rituals, similarly Laetitia would be shown wearing a garland to mean celebration. She was sometimes depicted on Roman coinage with an anchor, as a representation of stability, or, like Fortuna, a ship's rudder symbolizing her guiding one to good fortune or prosperity.

Fortuna Redux

Fortuna Redux was a form of the goddess Fortuna in the Roman Empire who oversaw a return, as from a long or perilous journey. Her attributes were Fortuna's typical cornucopia, with her specific function represented by a rudder or steering oar sometimes in conjunction with a globe.

<i>Allegory of Fortune</i>

Allegory of Fortune, sometimes also named La Fortuna, is an oil painting on canvas featuring the Roman goddess of fortune, Fortuna, that was created c. 1658 or 1659 by the Italian baroque painter Salvator Rosa. The painting caused uproar when first exhibited publicly and almost got the painter jailed and excommunicated. Bearing initials but undated, it measures 200.7 by 133 centimetres. Rosa was known for his landscape paintings, but also worked in the sphere of mythology, witchcraft, portraits, and satire. Since 1978 it has been in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California.

Croy Hill

Croy Hill was a Roman fort, fortlet, and probable temporary camp on the Antonine Wall, near Croy, to the north east of the village in Scotland. Two communication platforms known as ‘expansions’ can be seen to the west of the fortlet. Alexander Park excavated the site in 1890-1891. Sir George Macdonald wrote about his excavation of the site which occurred in 1920, 1931, and 1935. At Croy Hill, the ditch in front of the rampart was not excavated by the Romans. It is likely that hard basalt and dolerite of the hill was virtually impossible to shape with Roman tools. This is the only place along the Wall where the ditch wasn't dug. There is a bath house just outside one fort. A video reconstruction of the site has been produced.

Cleddans Roman fortlet on the Antonine Wall, Scotland

Cleddans is the site of a Roman fortlet on the Antonine Wall in Scotland. Its postulated existence was confirmed by trial trenching in 1979. Evidence of building work on Cleddans and on the Wall by units of both the sixth and the twentieth legions has been found in the area.

Balmuildy

Balmuildy is the site of a Roman fort on the Antonine Wall in Scotland. It is one of only two forts on the Antonine Wall to have been found with stone ramparts; the other is Castlecary. A digital reconstruction of the fort has been created.

Ardoksho Female deity of the Kushan Empire

Ardoksho, also Romanised as Ardochsho, Ardokhsho and Ardoxsho, an alternative name of Lakshmi was a female deity of the Kushan Empire, in Central and South Asia during the early part of the 1st millennium CE. She is considered as an east Iranian goddess and alternate name of Lakshmi. She is known in the Avesta as Ashi.

References

  1. "Gubernaculum from Dictionary of Roman Coins". Forum Ancient Coins. The Collaborative Numismatics Project. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  2. Hill, George Francis, Sir (1903). Illustrations of school classics, arranged and described. London: Macmillan. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  3. Matthews, John (25 March 2003). Sir Gawain: Knight of the Goddess. ISBN   9780892819706 . Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  4. Dwight, William (1889–1891). The Century dictionary: an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language: prepared under the superintendence of William Dwight Whitney. New York: Century Co. p. 2585. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  5. Francisque, Michel (1882). A critical inquiry into the Scottish language with the view of illustrating the rise and progress of civilisation in Scotland. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood. p. 364. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  6. Peck, Harry Thurston (1896). Harper's dictionary of classical literature and antiquities. New York: Harper & brothers. p. 754. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  7. Conybeare, William John; Howson, John Saul (1861). The life and epistles of St. Paul. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts. p. 371. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  8. "The Shipwreck on Malta". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  9. Smith, William (1859). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Little, Brown, and Co. pp. 788–789. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  10. "Fortuna Coins". Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE). American Numismatic Society and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  11. "Late Roman Coins with Fortuna, from the period of the first tetrarchy at the end of the third century AD". Ancient Roman and Greek Coins: Educational pages. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  12. "Fortuna". The Magical Art of Thalia Took. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  13. "Fortuna & The Wheel of Fortune". Exploratory Shakespeare. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  14. "The Antonine Wall: Rome's Final Frontier". The Hunterian. University of Glasgow. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  15. "statuette of Fortuna". Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery Collections: GLAHM F.43. University of Glasgow. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  16. "Roman statuette of Fortuna". BBC - A History of the World. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  17. MacDonald, James (1897). Tituli Hunteriani: An Account of the Roman Stones in the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow. Glasgow: T. & R. Annan & Sons. pp. 90–91. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  18. "Taming the Tongue". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 9 November 2017.