| Voluptas | |
|---|---|
Goddess of enjoyment, sensual pleasure, bliss and delight | |
 Giulio Romano's Banquet of Amor and Psyche, which depicts Voluptas and her parents (at far right). | |
| Other names | Volupia, Volupta |
| Parents | Cupid and Psyche |
| Equivalents | |
| Greek | Hedone |
In Roman mythology, Voluptas or Volupta is the daughter born from the union of Cupid and Psyche, according to Apuleius.[1] The Latin word voluptas[2] means 'pleasure' or 'delight';[3][4][5] Voluptas is known as the goddess of "sensual pleasures". She is often found in the company of the Gratiae, or Three Graces.
Some Roman authors[6][7][8][9] mention a goddess named Volupia, a name which appears to signify "willingness".[10] She had a temple, the Sacellum Volupiae, on the Via Nova, by the Porta Romana. Sacrifices were offered to the Diva Angerona there.
The corresponding goddess in Greek mythology is Hedone.
- ^ Apuleius, The Golden Ass, 6. 24 ff
- ^ “huic verbo (voluptatis) omnes qui Latine sciunt, duas res subiciunt, laetitiam in animo, commotionem suavem iucunditatis in corpore: Cic. Fin. 1, 11, 37
- ^ Lewis & Short, "voluptas"
- ^ Cicero, De natura deorum, II. 23
- ^ Statius, Silvae 1. 3. 8
- ^ Pliny the Elder, Letters, VII. 20
- ^ Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, III. 5
- ^ Varro, De lingua Latina, V. 164
- ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia, I. 10
- ^ Robert E. A. Palmer, The Archaic Community of the Romans, Cambridge University Press 1970 pp.171ff.