Editing Camenae

{{Short description|Goddesses in Roman mythology}}
[[File:Aegeria.png|150px|thumb|A 16th-century drawing of [[Egeria (mythology)|Egeria]] by [[Guillaume Rouille]]]]
In [[Roman mythology]], the '''Camenae''' (also ''Casmenae'', ''Camoenae'') were originally goddesses of childbirth, wells and fountains, and also prophetic deities.<ref name=camenae>{{Cite journal |last=Hardie |first=Alex |date=April 2016 |title=The Camenae in Cult, History, and Song |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/ca/article/35/1/45/25602/The-Camenae-in-Cult-History-and-Song |access-date=2022-11-04 |journal=Classical Antiquity |volume=35 |pages=45–85 |doi=10.1525/ca.2016.35.1.45 |archive-date=2022-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104200322/https://online.ucpress.edu/ca/article/35/1/45/25602/The-Camenae-in-Cult-History-and-Song |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Mythology==
Some mythological figures associated with the Camenae include:<ref>[[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]]; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D19%3Aentry%3Dcamenae-bio-1 "Camenae"].</ref>
*[[Carmenta]], or Carmentis
*[[Egeria (mythology)|Egeria]], or Ægeria, or Aegeria
*[[Antevorta]], or Porrima, or Prorsa
*[[Postverta]], or Postvorta

The last two were sometimes specifically referred to as the Carmentae and in ancient times might have been two aspects of Carmenta rather than separate figures; in later times, however, they are distinct beings believed to protect women in labor.<ref>[[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]]; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D19%3Aentry%3Dantevorta-bio-1 "Antevorta"].</ref>

It is not clear whether these were in fact Camenae themselves, or just closely connected to them.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=310497 |title=Some Phases of the Cult of the Nymphs |last1=Ballentine |first1=Floyd G. |journal=Harvard Studies in Classical Philology |date=1904 |volume=15 |pages=77–119 |doi=10.2307/310497 }}</ref><ref name=camenae />

===Relationship with the Muses===
The Camenae were later identified with the [[Greek mythology|Greek]] [[Muses]]. The first instance of this is in [[Livius Andronicus]]' translation of [[Homer|Homer's]] ''Odyssey'', rendering the Greek word ''Mousa'' (Μοῦσα) as ''Camena''.<ref name=horatcallid>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/293799|jstor=293799 |title=Horatius Callidus |last1=McDermott |first1=Emily A. |journal=The American Journal of Philology |date=1977 |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=363–380 }}</ref>

[[Horace]] refers to poetic inspiration as the "soft breath of the Greek Camena" (spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae) in [[Odes (Horace)|Odes]] II.16. He also mentions the "nine Camenae" ({{lang|la|novem Camenae}})  in the [[Carmen Saeculare]], which denotes the Muses.

==In Latin literature==

Latin authors used the Camenae as a Latinized version of the Greek Muses. This began with Livius Andronicus and continued with [[Gnaeus Naevius]]' epitaph. However, their use waned afterwards until a resurgence around the time of Horace.<ref name=horatcallid />

==See also==
*[[Casmenae]]
*[[Crinaeae]]
*[[Naiad]]
*[[Nymph]]
*[[Pegasides]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101112200647/http://www.mythindex.com/roman-mythology/C/Camenae.html Myth Index - Camenae]

{{Roman religion}}

[[Category:Childhood goddesses]]
[[Category:Oracular goddesses]]
[[Category:Roman goddesses]]
[[Category:Water goddesses]]