Dea Viriplaca

Dea Viriplaca ("Husband-Pleasing Goddess") was an ancient Roman goddess who mediated in troubled marriages. Married couples went to her shrine to seek reconciliation.[1]

Amy Richlin characterized this goddess's religious service as "a sort of couples counseling – one-sided, judging by her name."[2] The husband and wife took turns speaking about what conflict had been bothering them. Once they had unburdened themselves, they could return to a more agreeable state of mind.[1] Dea Viriplaca's functions are thus comparable to Fortuna Virilis in her man-pleasing aspect,[3] and to Venus Obsequens and Venus Verticordia as goddesses who encouraged good marital relations.[4] Unlike many other marriage-promoting rites for women only, but like the Matronalia, the services of Dea Viriplaca required the participation of men.[3]

The shrine (sacellum) was located on the Palatine Hill.[1] Valerius Maximus writes of it as existing in his own time (the reign of Tiberius) but considers it among the instituta antiqua, an institution of the old days.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Richardson 1992, p. 107.
  2. ^ Richlin 2014, p. 225, citing Valerius Maximus 2.1.6.
  3. ^ a b Dolansky 2011, p. 197.
  4. ^ Denzey 2007, p. 66.

Sources

  • Denzey, Nicola (2007). The Bone Gatherers: The Lost Worlds of Early Christian Women. Beacon.
  • Dolansky, Fanny (2011). "Reconsidering the Matronalia and Women's Rites". Classical World. 104 (2): 191–209. JSTOR 25799995.
  • Richardson, Lawrence, Jr. (1992). A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801843006.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Richlin, Amy (2014). Arguments with Silence: Writing the History of Roman Women. University of Michigan Press.