The article begins with an analysis of three chapters of Olaus Magnus’s Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (XVIII, 45-47) concerning werewolves, chapters that sketch the outlines of a male societas that seems to have nothing to do with the metamorphosis of men into wolves. This is followed by an exploration of the relationship between werewolves and epilepsy on the one hand, and between male societies and female deities on the other. The latter relationship is particularly evident in the associations of the nemesiaci, young men who participated in the circus ludi known as venationes and who were devoted to the goddess Nemesis, who was mixed with Diana. Of particular interest are two literary sources on the nemesiaci: an acrostic by Commodianus (Instructiones I, 19: Nemesiacis vanis») and a passage from a sermon by Maximus of Turin («De idolis auferendis de propriis possessonibus»), which help us both to reconstruct the characteristics of a male alliance dedicated to a female deity and to understand the dynamics of the transmission of historical data, sometimes fragmented, often distorted, at the depth of literature.
Dianatici, lunatici ed altri evanescenti seguaci della Dea
Maura sonia barillari
2024-01-01
Abstract
The article begins with an analysis of three chapters of Olaus Magnus’s Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (XVIII, 45-47) concerning werewolves, chapters that sketch the outlines of a male societas that seems to have nothing to do with the metamorphosis of men into wolves. This is followed by an exploration of the relationship between werewolves and epilepsy on the one hand, and between male societies and female deities on the other. The latter relationship is particularly evident in the associations of the nemesiaci, young men who participated in the circus ludi known as venationes and who were devoted to the goddess Nemesis, who was mixed with Diana. Of particular interest are two literary sources on the nemesiaci: an acrostic by Commodianus (Instructiones I, 19: Nemesiacis vanis») and a passage from a sermon by Maximus of Turin («De idolis auferendis de propriis possessonibus»), which help us both to reconstruct the characteristics of a male alliance dedicated to a female deity and to understand the dynamics of the transmission of historical data, sometimes fragmented, often distorted, at the depth of literature.
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