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| (Pompeii Fresco) |
Many people know that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. destroyed the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Many also wonder whether the latter town was named after Hercules, since he allegedly had some associations with the Vesuvius region. The ancient Greek historian, Diodoros Siculus, referred to Hercules’ passing through there while traveling to complete his twelve labors. Venus, the patroness
of Pompeii, was also particularly associated with the region.
However, Wikipedia notes that it was Jupiter, the Roman “king of the gods, and the god of sky and thunder” who was considered to be the true deity of Mount Vesuvius. Surviving frescos from the region depict the genius (aka Agathodaimon) of Vesuvius as a meadow-snake that slithers nearby the volcano. In this case, genius does not refer to intellectual superiority, but rather to the “divine nature that is present in every person, place or thing.” The inscription IOVI VESVVIO (Jupiter Vesuvius), which was found in Capua, also shows this strong Vesuvian bond between heaven and earth.
Whereas the sudden onslaught of ash and pumice buried everything in Pompeii for almost 1700 years,
archaeologists are now uncovering more and more of these ancient artifacts. Wikipedia reports that the
excavation of Pompeii has “provided and extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire.”
Many of the houses there were found to have Iararia (“family shrines”). These were typically located “off the atrium, kitchen or garden, where the smoke of burnt offerings could vent through the opening in the roof.” Each had a panel fresco depicting two Lares (“guardian deities”) and one central family-genius figure.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius_(mythology)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_(mythology)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii
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