Fortuna

The Roman Goddess of Fortune and Luck

### Titles

Personification of Luck, Dangerous Gambler, Wheel of Fate, Goddess that overshadowed her Greek Counterpart

## Profile

### Affiliations

Wheel of Fortune, Roman Pantheon, Rome, William Shakespeare

## Relationships

### Siblings

Cupid, Mars, Minerva, Vulcan, Apollo, Diana, Bacchus, Mercury, Hercules, Pax

## Other

### Status

Alive

**Fortuna**, also known as **Lady Fortune**, is the goddess of fortune, chance, lot, and luck in Roman mythology, daughter of Jupiter and Venus.

## Overview

Fortuna was the Roman goddess of chance, fortune, luck and fate, and the counterpart to the Greek goddess Tyche. She was said to be the daughter of Jupiter, the King of the Roman gods, which might be borrowed from Greek mythology, where the Zeus is one of the speculated fathers of Tyche. She was inspired in large part by the Greek goddess Tyche. While Tyche was generally connected to the fortunes of a city or state, however, Fortuna had a much broader domain.

She was a very popular goddess, and was worshiped under many epithets depending on the type of luck one wished to invoke or the circumstances in play. She can be represented veiled or blind. She might bring good luck or bad: she could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of Justice, and came to represent life's capriciousness. She was also a goddess of fate: as Atrox Fortuna, she claimed the young lives of the princeps Augustus grandsons Gaius and Lucius, prospective heirs to the Empire.

Like her father, Jupiter, Fortuna could grant bounty to those she chose. In early Rome, she did so in the form of a good harvest. Farmers thanked Fortuna for bringing them plentiful food, a form of luck that was not guaranteed in the ancient world. She was also a protective goddess who kept crops and grain stores safe from spoilage, fire, rodents, thieves, and other dangers. The plentiful harvest brought by Fortuna inspired one of her most well-known symbols. The cornucopia, or horn of plenty, is still used today in imagery of plentiful good and good fortune. The bounty that Fortuna could bring soon expanded beyond agricultural concerns. Fortuna could also bring material wealth. The concept of good fortune expanded even more to include all forms of luck.

She is believed to have originally been regarded as an Italian goddess of blessing and fertility, mainly being worshiped by mothers, and the bearer of prosperity and increase. As such she resembles a fertility deity, hence her association with the bounty of the soil and the fruitfulness of women. She was also treated as the personification of Luck.

## Appearance

Fortuna was usually depicted holding in one hand a cornucopia, or a horn of plenty, from which all good things flowed in abundance, representing her ability to bestow prosperity; in the other she generally has a ship's rudder, to indicate that She is the one who controls how lives and fates are steered. She could also be shown enthroned, with the same attributes of rudder and cornucopia, but with a small wheel built into the chair, representing the cycles of fate and the ups and downs of fortune. Sometimes she is blind, as an acknowledgment that good luck does not always come to those who seem to most deserve it; at other times she is described as having wings.

## Powers and Abilities

Fortuna has the power to randomize or bring luck to people but she cannot intentionally bring good fortune. She is a deity of fate and can see into the future. She uses her abilities to build a bright future. As a deity, Fortuna exhibited standard abilities for her kind.

* **Immortality**: Having existed since Roman empire, Fortuna is at least thousands of years old.
* **Luck Manipulation**: Fortuna is capable of altering a person's luck for the better or worse.
* **Telepathy**: When playing with someone, Fortuna is able to get a read on their personality.

## History

She had many temples in Rome itself, as well as having important cult-centers in Antium (the modern Anzio), a city on the west coast of Italy about 30 miles south of Rome, and Praeneste (modern Palestrina), about 20 miles south-east of Rome, both of which were cities of Latium, the land of the Latini tribes. Her many temples in Rome, and the various aspects of her worship are a reflection of the manners in which she was honored: from personal goddess, overseeing the fate of the individual mother, young man, or soldier, to a goddess of the state, ensuring the fortune of the population, the luck of the emperor, or the glorious fate of the entire Roman Empire.

The Emperor Trajan (97-117 CE) dedicated a temple to Fortuna, at which offerings were made to the goddess on the 1st day of January, at the start of the New Year, probably to ensure good luck and success for the coming year. This temple was dedicated to Fortuna in all of her aspects.

## Myths and Legends

Roman people invoked Fortuna whenever chance or luck might play a role in their lives. She was seen as a general goddess of fate who could influence events on both a large and small scale. Like Tyche, Fortuna could give her favor to an entire city or population. In the grand scope of the vast Roman Empire, she could influence the fates of millions of people through a single action.

Fortuna was not an entirely benevolent goddess, however. Both good luck and bad were due to her influence. Seen as a general goddess of fate, the whims of Fortuna could not be predicted. Ill fortune was as much as domain as bounty. The Wheel of Fortune, one of the goddess’s most enduring symbols, was first mentioned in the 1st century BC. It represented the unpredictable and often changeable nature of luck. When two potential heirs to the throne died unexpectedly, for example, that was the result of Fortuna. Any bad luck from natural disasters to minor inconveniences were as much a result of Fortuna as good luck was.

Fortuna's father was said to be Jupiter and like him, she could also be bountiful (Copia). As Annonaria she protected grain supplies. While the Greeks envisioned Tyche as beneficiary but a random being, for Romans, Fortuna was a major cult goddess and was honored her with a celebration known as the Feast of Fortuna which takes place on June 24th. Her cult dedicated the date of June 11th, and on June 24th a festival called Fors Fortuna was held in her name. She was an important goddess in the day-to-day lives of the Roman people, and was later merged with the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Fortuna was worshiped extensively in Italy from the earliest times. At Praeneste her shrine was a well-known oracular seat, as was her shrine at Antium. Fortuna is often represented bearing a cornucopia as the giver of abundance and a rudder as controller of destinies, or standing on a ball to indicate the uncertainty of fortune.

She was also a goddess of fate: as Atrox Fortuna, she claimed the young lives of the princeps Augustus' grandsons Gaius and Lucius, prospective heirs to the Empire. Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi means "Fortuna the empress of the world", Sors Immanis means "Fate is monstrous" and Sors Salutis means "Fate is against me" in Latin.

### Christianization

This goddess, unlike others, did not disappear from culture when Christianity settled in Europe, and she was often referred to depicted in poetry and painting, being called Lady Fortune. Saint Augustine took a stand against her continuing presence, in the City of God: *"How, therefore, is she good, who without discernment comes to both the good and to the bad?...It profits one nothing to worship her if she is truly fortune... let the bad worship her...this supposed deity"*. She is also one of the entities that can be seen in the Wheel of Fortune tarot card.

In astrology the term Pars Fortuna represents a mathematical point in the zodiac derived by the longitudinal positions of the Sun, Moon and Ascendant (Rising sign) in the birth chart of an individual. It represents an especially beneficial point in the horoscopic chart. In Arabic astrology, this and similar points are called Arabian Parts.

### Various Aspects of Fortuna

* Fortuna Annonaria: Brought the Luck of the Harvest
* Fortuna Belli: Brought the Luck of war
* Fortuna Primigenia: Decided the Fortune of a first born child at the moment of birth
* Fortuna Virilis: Attended a Man's Carrier and also of a Woman in marriage.
* Fortuna Redux: Brought one safely home
* Fortuna Respiciens: The Fortune of The Provider
* Fortuna Muliebris: The Luck of a Woman
* Fortuna Victrix: Brought victory in Battle
* Fortuna Augusta: The Fortune of The Emperor
* Fortuna Balnearis: The Fortune of the Baths
* Fortuna Conservatrix: The Fortune of the Preserver
* Fortuna Equestris: Fortune of The Knights
* Fortuna Huiusque/Huiusce Diei: Fortune of the Present Day
* Fortuna Obsequens: Fortune of Indulgence
* Fortuna Privita/Privata: Fortune of the Private Individual
* Fortuna Publica: Fortune of the Public
* Fortuna Romana: Fortune of Rome
* Fortuna Virgo: Fortune of Virgin
* Fortuna Faitrix: Fortune of Life
* Pars Fortuna
* Fortuna Barbata: Fortune of Adolescents becoming Adults

## Quotes

* *"O Fortuna, Capricious Daughter of Shining Venus and Thunderous Jupiter. I, son of Ba'al Belfefort of the Inferis Avernus, and foolish mortal man of the House of Black, here offer you our humble sacrifices. May you bless us, Harbinger of Good Fortune, and give us your sacred blessing on our journey!"* - Matt Wright and Carl Black.

* *"Fortuna likes to find a crowd and follow it."* - Mason Cooley.

* *"When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state..."* - William Shakespeare's Sonnet 29.

## Gallery

*Gambler's Ruin**Fortuna appearing before the Romans**Fortuna after gaining Chinese gems**Fortuna with the Wheel of Fortune**Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi**Fortuna's daemon form**Fortuna engraving**Heraldic Fortuna in the arms of Glückstadt**Fortuna governs the circle of the four stages of life, the Wheel of Fortune, in a manuscript of Carmina Burana**Lady Fortune in a Boccaccio manuscript**Fortuna and Pontus**A Sculpture of Fortuna in Vienna*
## Trivia

* Fortuna makes an appearance on card 10 of the Tarot Major Arcana, the Wheel of Fortune, and she is still to some extent honored today, for she features in gamblers' prayers to "Lady Luck."
* While Tyche is a minor Greek goddess, Fortuna is a major roman goddess.
* Fortuna is one of the small amount of roman deities to have more than one avatar. These avatars were known as the *Various Aspects of Fortuna*.
* She came to represent life's capriciousness
* There is a song based on Fortuna known as O Fortuna by Carl Orff.

## Image Sources

* (Fortuna by aidadaism d7tsej9-fullview.jpg) Fortuna by Aidadaism
* (Fortuna the gambler s ruin by junedays d7jfkym-fullview.jpg) Fortuna the Gambler's Ruin by Junedays
* (O Fortuna.png) O Fortuna by Anendda-Rysden
* (Fortuna by clinkorz d4kzk6w-fullview.jpg) Fortuna by Clinkorz
* (Fortuna by river bird d6lxisv-fullview.jpg) Fortuna by river-bird
* (Fortuna wip by methiston d28zcoo-fullview.jpg) Fortuna wip by Methiston
* (Leadjockey-fortuna-tyche.jpg) Fortuna/Tyche by LeadJockey .
* (Fortuna by terrauh d13kfzb-fullview.jpg) Fortuna by Terrauh
* (Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi.jpg) Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi by walkieduke
* (Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi 2.jpg) Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi by the-dowager
* (Jean Francois Armand Felix Bernard - Fortuna.jpg) Fortuna by Jean-françois Félix Armand Bernard
* (Fortuna.jpg) Fortuna from Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
* (Fortuna or Fortune.jpg) Fortuna by Hans Sebald Beham
* (Glueckstadt Wappen.png) Coat of arms of the Stadt Glückstadt by Lothar Leissner
* (CarminaBurana wheel.jpg) Fortuna governing the the Wheel of Fortune from Carmina Burana
* (ForutuneWheel.jpg) Fortuna from De casibus virorum illustrium
* (Fortuna, rielaborazione romana da originale greco del IV secolo ac. con testa non pertinente, da tor bovicciana (ostia), inv. 2244.jpg) Fortuna statue by ???
* (Charles Samuel, La Fortune (1894), KBS-FRB 03.jpg) La Fortune by Charles Samuel
* (TomisFortuna2.jpg) Depiction of Tomis Fortuna from Constanta Museum
* (2014-12-18 Fortuna, Johannes Benk at Neue Burg, Vienna -hu- 6224.jpg) Fortuna by Johannes Benk