Reconsidering the Matronalia and Women’s Rites
2011; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 104; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/clw.2011.0024
ISSN1558-9234
Autores Tópico(s)Historical and Literary Studies
ResumoScholars have long contended that the Matronalia was a “women’s festival,” dominated by matrons’ rites to Juno Lucina at her temple on the Esquiline hill. This paper challenges standard interpretations and argues that the Matronalia was much more comprehensive. A reexamination of evidence for the festival’s participants and distinct components reveals its significance as a family observance that contributed to the welfare of the domus as a whole. The Matronalia brought together the household’s diverse members in a ritual that had the potential to promote unity and collective identity, while reaffirming core social values regarding gender and juridical status in particular.
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