Back Febris BR Febris German Febris Spanish Febris GA פבריס HE Febris Italian Febrė LT Febris Dutch Febris Polish Febre (mitologia) Portuguese
| Febris | |
|---|---|
Goddess of fevers | |
| Member of Dii averrunci, Di indigetes | |
 Febris, print by Virgil Solis, from his Twelve mythological women series | |
| Other names | Dea Febris |
| Major cult center | Rome |
| Predecessor | Februus |
| Gender | Female |
| Region | Ancient Rome |
| Ethnic group | Romans |
| Offspring |
|
| Equivalents | |
| Greek | Pyretos[note 1][1] |
| Hindu | Jvarasura |
| Finnish | Kuume (spirits related to fevers) |
Febris (lit. 'fever'), or Dea Febris (lit. 'goddess of fever'), is the Roman goddess of fevers, who embodied, but also protected people from fever and malaria. Because of this, Febris was a feared goddess whom people wanted the favour of. She does not have a myth of her own nor is she mentioned in a myth. Among her characteristic attributes are "shrewdness" and "honesty", according to Seneca the Younger's Apocolocyntosis.[2]
Febris was accompanied by two daughters or sisters of her named Dea Tertiana and Dea Quartana,[3][4] the goddesses of tertian and quartan fever of malaria because the fever would come back in every three or four days. Theodorus Priscianus mentions Saturn as Tertiana and Quartana's father.[5]
The goddess Febris belongs to the apotropaic (turning away) deities (Lat. Dii averrunci) who have power over a specific evil: to impose it or to get rid of it. Romans worshipped Febris so she would not do harm to them. She may have originated from the Etruscan-Roman god of purification, Februus. Unlike some Roman deities, Febris was not derived from a Greek deity.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologies, Volume III, Part 2 (S. 1665 ff.): Pasikrateia – Pyxios. 1902–1909 n840 at the Internet Archive
- ^ Seneca the Younger, Apocolocyntosis, 6
- ^ Forslun, Tamara Von (2021-05-26). Encyclopedia of the Divine Feminine: Goddess of 10,000 Names - Tamara Von Forslun - Google Books. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781664105690. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
- ^ Reilly, Benjamin (2022-01-25). Roman Fever: Malaria, Transalpine Travelers and the Eternal City - Benjamin Reilly - Google Books. McFarland. ISBN 9781476643953. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Burkewas invoked but never defined (see the help page).