Editing Di Penates (section)

==Function==
An [[etymology|etymological]] interpretation of the Penates would make them in origin [[tutelary deity|tutelary deities]] of the storeroom, [[Latin]] ''penus'', the innermost part of the house, where they guarded the household's food, wine, oil, and other supplies.<ref>Schutz, ''Women's Religious Activity'', p. 123; Sarah Iles Johnston, ''Religions of the Ancient World'' (Harvard University Press, 2004), p. 435; Schilling, "The Penates," p. 138.</ref> As they were originally associated with the source of food, they eventually became a symbol of the continuing life of the family.<ref>{{cite book|last=Morford|first=Mark P.O.|title=Classical Mythology|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780195397703|pages=80–82|edition=Ninth|author2=Lenardon, Robert J. |author3=Sham, Michael }}</ref> [[Cicero]] explained that they "dwell inside, from which they are also called ''penetrales'' by the poets".<ref>[[Cicero]], ''De natura deorum'' 2.68, as cited by Schilling, "The Penates," p. 138.</ref> The 2nd-century AD grammarian [[Sextus Pompeius Festus|Festus]] defined ''penus'', however, as "the most secret site in the shrine of Vesta, which is surrounded by curtains."<ref>[[Sextus Pompeius Festus|Festus]] 296L, as cited by Schilling, "The Penates," p. 138.</ref> [[Macrobius]] reports the theological view of [[Varro]] that "those who dig out truth more diligently have said that the Penates are those through whom we breathe in our inner core ''(penitus)'', through whom we have a body, through whom we possess a rational mind."<ref>''Qui diligentius eruunt veritatem Penates esse dixerunt per quos penitus spiramus, per quos habemus corpus, per quos rationem animi possidemus'': [[Macrobius]], ''Saturnalia'' 3.4.8–9, quoting Varro; Sabine MacCormack, ''The Shadows of Poetry: Vergil in the Mind of Augustine'' (University of California Press, 1998), p. 77; H. Cancik and H. Cancik-Lindemaier, "The Truth of Images: Cicero and Varro on Image Worship," in ''Representation in Religion: Studies in Honor of Moshe Barasch'' (Brill, 2001), pp. 48–49.</ref>