Prayers to Lares, Penates and Manes

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[[Category:Roman religion]]
 
==Corpus Inscriptiones Latinae VI 18817 ==
 
  
Whole-heartedly I pray to you, most holy Manes, may you admit my dear
 
husband among you, and, may you want to be most indulging in this,
 
that in the hours of the night I may see him and also be advised by
 
him on what to do, in order that I may be able to swiftly and sweetly
 
come stand by his side. {{CIL|VI|18817}}
 
 
==Arnobius Adversus Nationes III 43==
 
 
Come, Dii Penates, come Apollo and Neptune and all You Gods, and by
 
Your powers may You mercifully turn aside this ill disease that
 
violently twists, scorches and burns our city with fever.
 
 
==Cato De Agricultura 139==
 
 
This prayer is probably to be understood as directed toward the ''Lares Rurales'' (Lares of the fields) or ''custodes agri'' (guardians of the fields), probably the most ancient form of Lar.
 
 
{{:De Agricultura 139 - 140}}
 
 
 
==Ennius Annales 1 fr. 141==
 
 
And you Lares, care for our house that you established.
 
 
==Lucan Pharsalia 9.990==
 
 
Gods of the cremated dead, who dwell within the ruins of Troy, and
 
Lares of my Aeneas who now reside in the temples of Lavinium and
 
Alba, where among their altars the fires of Troy still shine, and
 
You, Pallas, whose pledge of safety was given with the Palladium,
 
upon which no man may look, sheltered deep within Her shrine, look
 
upon me, the most renowned descendent of your family. Piously I
 
place incense upon Your ancient altars and rightly invoke You. Grant
 
me success and happiness in all that follows and I shall restore Your
 
people. In thanks shall the Italians restore Your Phrygian walls and
 
a new Roman Troy arise!
 
 
==Ovid Fasti 5.435-7==
 
 
After he has cleansed his hands with pure fountain water, he takes up
 
the black beans in his mouth and turns, casting them back over his
 
shoulder as he says, "This I send to you, Manes, with these beans I
 
redeem me and mine." When nine times he has says this, then he
 
says, "Manes of my forefathers, leave this place." He looks back,
 
the rite of purification he thinks completed.
 
 
==Plautus==
 
 
===Plautus: Mercator 834-35===
 
 
Divine Penates of our ancestors, to you I commend the good fortune of
 
my parents, and to you, Spiritual Father of our family, that you
 
safeguard them well.
 
 
===Plautus: Mercator 865 ===
 
 
Lares of the roadside, I call upon you to kindly protect me.
 
 
===Plautus: Poenulus 950-3===
 
 
To you gods and goddesses who cherish this city, reverently I pray
 
that the reason for my coming here may have a happy outcome. May the
 
Gods keep faith.
 
 
''deos deasque veneror, qui hanc urbem colunt, ut quod de mea re huc veni rite venerim, measque hic ut gnatas et mei fratris filium reperire me siritis, di vostram fidem.'' [[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/plautus/poenulus.shtml Plautus' "Poenulus" at The Latin Library]]
 
 
===Plautus: Trinummus 39-41:===
 
 
I adorn our Lar with a garland, so that we and our house may have
 
good fortune, happiness and prosperity.
 
 
''Larem corona nostrum decorari volo. uxor, venerare ut nobis haec habitatio bona fausta felix fortunataque evenat'' [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/plautus/trinummus.shtml Plautus' "Trinummus" in The Latin Library]
 
 
==Seneca Octavia 245==
 
 
Rise up, Father, come forth from the gloomy shades and aid your
 
daughter who calls to you, or else cleave open the earth to its
 
Stygian depths, and at last let me plunge into its refuge.
 
 
==Silius Italicus Punica 6.113==
 
 
I swear by the Manes, spirits of my ancestors, whom I fitly worship.
 
 
==Sulpicia 4.5.9==
 
 
Grant, O natal Genius, all my heart's desires, and expensive incense
 
I shall burn upon your altar.
 
 
==Tibullus 1.1.19-24==
 
 
Lares, and you gods also, who earlier made our household fruitful and
 
fortunate, may you guard and bless the little that remains today on
 
our farm. Lares, accept what your kindred present to you. For you a
 
lamb shall be offered when around your altar you'll hear rustic boys
 
shouting, "Io! Give us fine harvests and fruitful vines!"
 
 
==Tibullus 1.10.15-25==
 
 
Lares, gods of my fathers, preserve me! While young and still
 
nursing, you guided me when I played at your feet. Let none profane
 
your antique images: rough-hewn wooden statues set upon altars of
 
upturned sod then dwelled among our grandfathers. In those days
 
humble reverence provided you with sweet honey alone, you stayed in
 
meager shrines made of twigs, in tattered robes the gods were pleased
 
with offerings of grapes and wreathes of wheat set upon carved
 
heads. Granted his wish, a man would bring you honey cakes and set
 
his virgin daughters to attend your little shrines. Lares, turn away
 
from us those who scheme against us with their bronze weapons.
 
 
==Tibullus 2.2.1-9==
 
 
Speak no ill words today, good men and women, as we honor our friend
 
on his birthday. Burn frankincense, burn fragrant herbs from lands at
 
the very ends of the earth, even those sent from Arabia. His own
 
spirit comes to receive his honors, a holy wreath to crown his soft
 
crown of hair. This pure nard distilled for his temples and, sated
 
on wine and honey cakes, he gives his assent. And to you, Cornutus,
 
may everything you wish for be granted.
 
 
==Tibullus 3.4.1-2; 3-4; 95-6==
 
 
O gods, may you bring better dreams than this evil vision that has
 
awakened me from a peaceful sleep; let it not be a prophetic vision.
 
Cast far away from me this vain and false vision, and cease plucking
 
our intestines with your zealous inquiries. Gods, turn this cruel
 
dream to good, as night into day, and bid the warm South wind to
 
carry it away.
 
 
==Valerius Flaccus Argonautica 3.448-55==
 
 
Leave us, you ghosts of the slain, forget those angry memories and
 
vengeful thoughts. Let peace come between us. May you grow to love
 
your Stygian resting-place, far from our crew and far from the seas
 
we travel, and may you stay far from the battles we engage. At no
 
time haunt our cities back home in Greece or at the crossroads howl.
 
Do no harm to our pigs and cattle, bring no pestilence to our herds
 
or crops. Do not woefully assail our people or our children.
 
 
==Valerius Flaccus Argonautica 4.674-75==
 
 
Whosoever You may be among the Gods, I shall follow wherever You may
 
lead, in faithful trust that You do not deceive.
 
 
==Valerius Flaccus Argonautica 5.51-53==
 
 
O Holy Ghost, I pray that you may come to us in the semblance of a
 
guiding spirit with foreknowledge of impending storms and advising
 
our helmsman on the course he must follow.
 
 
==Valerius Flaccus Argonautica 5.192-209==
 
 
Bearing sacramental wine in a heavy bowl he approaches the tomb and
 
its altar and pours out the libation, addressing the ghosts of the
 
dead. "Phrixus, hear me, your kinsman. I pray you be my guide in
 
this enterprise. Protect us and help us now that we have reached
 
this land, having survived the perils of the trackless seas we have
 
crossed. Remember your countrymen in kindness, and favor your
 
kinsfolk. And You, too, my Lady, at whose empty tomb I stand, a
 
goddess now of the sea, be gracious to us and help us now and on our
 
return when we venture again on your waves. When shall that golden
 
fleece sail again past Sestus, perhaps to recognize that unfortunate
 
stretch of water? And You, O woods and shores of Colchis, welcome us
 
now and lead us to that sacred tree where the glittering fleece
 
hangs. And you, O Phasis, child of potent Jove, accept and allow
 
Minerva's vessel to travel between your banks on your tranquil
 
current. Appropriate gifts I promise at shrines that I shall erect
 
in your honour when I get home - statues commanding the reverence we
 
pay to the Enipeus or the Inachus whose god lolls in his golden cave."
 
 
==Valerius Flaccus Argonautica 6.288-91==
 
 
Holy Father, give me the strength and courage to try to do you credit
 
so that I may teach my children those lessons you once taught to me.
 
 
==Virgil Georgics 1.498-501==
 
 
Gods of our Fathers, Indigetes, heroes native to this land, Romulus
 
and Mother Vesta, who preserve Etruscan Tiber and Roman Palatine, in
 
this at least do not prohibit, a young savior come to the aid of a
 
generation decimated by war.
 
 
==Virgil Aeneid 2.701-4==
 
 
Any moment now, without delay, I follow, and wherever You lead, there
 
shall I be. Gods of my fathers, preserve my house, save my
 
grandchildren. Yours this augury, and yours the holy powers in Troy.
 
 
==Virgil Aeneid 4.576-79==
 
 
We follow you, Holy One of the Gods, whoever you may be, and once
 
again joyfully obey your command. Come, O Gentle One, and with
 
favoring stars in the heavens, lend us your aid.
 

Revision as of 21:56, 10 March 2011

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