Lemures

Not to be confused with Lemurs.
Religion in
ancient Rome
Marcus Aurelius sacrificing
Marcus Aurelius (head covered)
sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
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The lemures /ˈlɛmjəriːz/ were shades or spirits of the restless or malignant dead in Roman religion,[1] sometimes used interchangeably with the term larvae [de] /ˈlɑːrviː/ (from Latin larva, 'mask').[2] lLmures is first used by Horace (in Epistles 2.2.209),[2] and it is the more common literary term during the Augustan era -- larvae is used but once by Horace.[2] However, even lamures is rare: It is used by the Augustan poets Horace and Ovid, the latter in his Fasti, the six-book calendar poem on Roman holidays and religious customs.[3] Later the two terms were used nearly or completely interchangeably, e.g. by St. Augustine in De Civitate Dei.[4]

The word lemures can be traced to the Proto-Indo-European stem *lem-, which also appears in the name of the Greek monster Lamia.[5]

  1. ^ Cirlot, J. E. (1971). A Dictionary of Symbols (2nd ed.). Dorset Press. p. 181. ISBN 9781566490542.
  2. ^ a b c Thaniel, George (1973). "Lemures and Larvae". The American Journal of Philology. 94 (2): 182–187. doi:10.2307/294451. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  3. ^ Horace, Epistles 2.2.209; Ovid, Fasti 2.500-539.
  4. ^ Smith, William (1873). "Lemures". A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. New-Street Square and Parliament Street: Spottiswoode and Co. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  5. ^ Polomé, Edgar C.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). "Spirit". In Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 538.