Fortuna ( Latin : Fortūna , equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche ) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius , remained popular through the Middle Ages until at least the Renaissance . The blindfolded depiction of her is still an important figure in many aspects of today's Italian culture, where the dichotomy fortuna / sfortuna (luck / unluck) plays a prominent role in everyday social life, also represented by the very common refrain "La [dea] fortuna è cieca" ( latin Fortuna caeca est ; "Luck [goddess] is blind").
39-747: FSN may refer to: Fate/stay night , a visual novel Federal State of Novorossiya , a separatist entity in eastern Ukraine Federal Stock Number , a defunct codification system used by the United States federal government Federation of Student Nationalists , the student wing of the Scottish National Party Fjölbrautaskóli Snæfellinga , an Icelandic high school ( menntaskóli ) located in Grundarfjörður FN Five-seven ,
78-414: A cornucopia (horn of plenty). She might bring good or bad luck: she could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of Lady Justice , except that Fortuna does not hold a balance. Fortuna came to represent life's capriciousness. She was also a goddess of fate : as Atrox Fortuna , she claimed the young lives of the princeps Augustus ' grandsons Gaius and Lucius , prospective heirs to
117-524: A 'tide in the affairs of men' in his play Julius Caesar . In ancient Greece, many legends and tales teach the futility of trying to outmaneuver an inexorable fate that has been correctly predicted. This portrayal of fate is present in works such as Oedipus Rex (427 BCE), the Iliad , the Odyssey (800 BCE), and Theogony . Many ancient Chinese works have also portrayed the concept of fate, most notably
156-522: A Belgian pistol Fox Sports Networks , an American television network Fox Sports News (Australia) , an Australian television channel Fox Sports North , the former name of an American regional sports network by Fox Sports Networks Full Service Network , an American telecommunications company Fu's subcutaneous needle National Social Front (Italian: Fronte Sociale Nazionale ), an Italian political party National Salvation Front (Romania) (Romanian: Frontul Salvării Naționale ),
195-557: A defunct Romanian political party Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title FSN . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FSN&oldid=1192075348 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing Italian-language text Articles containing Romanian-language text Short description
234-456: A form of divination in which a small boy picked out one of various futures that were written on oak rods. Cults to Fortuna in her many forms are attested throughout the Roman world. Dedications have been found to Fortuna Dubia (doubtful fortune), Fortuna Brevis (fickle or wayward fortune) and Fortuna Mala (bad fortune). Fortuna is found in a variety of domestic and personal contexts. During
273-501: A previously less notable goddess, Tyche (literally " Luck "), who embodied the good fortune of a city and all whose lives depended on its security and prosperity, two good qualities of life that appeared to be out of human reach. The Roman image of Fortuna , with the wheel she blindly turned, was retained by Christian writers including Boethius , revived strongly in the Renaissance, and survives in some forms today. Philosophy on
312-411: A strong element for adaptation or survival in a better way. Nietzsche eventually transformed the idea of matter as centers of force into matter as centers of will to power as humanity's destiny to face with amor fati . The expression Amor fati is used repeatedly by Nietzsche as acceptation-choice of the fate , but in such way it becomes even another thing, precisely a "choice" destiny. Determinism
351-405: Is a philosophical concept often confused with fate. It can be defined as the notion that all intents/actions are causally determined by the culminations of an agent's existing circumstances; simply put, everything that happens is determined by things that have already happened. Determinism differs from fate in that it is never conceived as being a spiritual, religious, nor astrological notion; fate
390-402: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Fate Destiny , sometimes also called fate (from Latin fatum 'decree, prediction, destiny, fate'), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Although often used interchangeably,
429-539: Is from 55 BC. In Seneca 's tragedy Agamemnon , a chorus addresses Fortuna in terms that would remain almost proverbial, and in a high heroic ranting mode that Renaissance writers would emulate: O Fortune, who dost bestow the throne's high boon with mocking hand, in dangerous and doubtful state thou settest the too exalted. Never have sceptres obtained calm peace or certain tenure; care on care weighs them down, and ever do fresh storms vex their souls. ... great kingdoms sink of their own weight, and Fortune gives way 'neath
SECTION 10
#1732772963054468-652: Is one of the Endless , depicted as a blind man carrying a book that contains all the past and all the future. "Destiny is the oldest of the Endless; in the Beginning was the Word, and it was traced by hand on the first page of his book, before ever it was spoken aloud." Fortuna Fortuna is often depicted with a gubernaculum (ship's rudder), a ball or Rota Fortunae (wheel of fortune, first mentioned by Cicero ) and
507-439: Is prominent in most religions – but takes different forms: Metaphorical expressions of a predetermined destiny are commonly used by politicians to describe events not understood. Otto Von Bismarck said that the best a politician can do is to 'listen for God's footsteps and hang on to His coat tails'. In War and Peace , Leo Tolstoy wrote of the 'unconscious swarm-life of mankind', while Shakespeare spoke of
546-609: Is she good, who without discernment comes to both the good and to the bad?...It profits one nothing to worship her if she is truly fortune ... let the bad worship her...this supposed deity". In the 6th century, the Consolation of Philosophy , by statesman and philosopher Boethius , written while he faced execution, reflected the Christian theology of casus , that the apparently random and often ruinous turns of Fortune's Wheel are in fact both inevitable and providential, that even
585-450: Is typical of Roman representations: in a letter from exile he reflects ruefully on the "goddess who admits by her unsteady wheel her own fickleness; she always has its apex beneath her swaying foot." Fortuna did not disappear from the popular imagination with the ascendancy of Christianity. Saint Augustine took a stand against her continuing presence, in the City of God : "How, therefore,
624-454: Is typically thought of as being "given" or "decreed" while determinism is "caused". Influential philosophers like Robert Kane , Thomas Nagel , Roderick Chisholm , and A. J. Ayer have written about this notion. Among the representatives of depth psychology school, the greatest contribution to the study of the notion such as "fate" was made by Carl Gustav Jung , Sigmund Freud and Leopold Szondi . The concept of destiny, fate or causation
663-823: The Liezi , Mengzi , and the Zhuangzi . Similarly, and in Italy, the Spanish Duque de Rivas ' play that Verdi transformed into La Forza del Destino ("The Force of Destiny") includes notions of fate. In England, fate has played a notable literary role in Shakespeare's Macbeth (1606), Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), Samuel Beckett's Endgame (1957), and W.W Jacobs' popular short story " The Monkey's Paw " (1902). In America, Thornton Wilder 's book The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) portrays
702-625: The Art , of the Morality and of the Ascesis . For Friedrich Nietzsche , destiny keeps the form of Amor fati (Love of Fate) through the important element of Nietzsche's philosophy, the " will to power " (der Wille zur Macht ), the basis of human behavior, influenced by the Will to Live of Schopenhauer. But this concept may have even other senses, although he, in various places, saw the will to power as
741-653: The Roman senate dedicated a temple to Fortuna on account of the services of the matrons of Rome in saving the city from destruction. Evidence of Fortuna worship has been found as far north as Castlecary , Scotland and an altar and statue can now be viewed at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow . The earliest reference to the Wheel of Fortune , emblematic of the endless changes in life between prosperity and disaster,
780-628: The 15th century. The ubiquitous image of the Wheel of Fortune found throughout the Middle Ages and beyond was a direct legacy of the second book of Boethius's Consolation . The Wheel appears in many renditions from tiny miniatures in manuscripts to huge stained glass windows in cathedrals, such as at Amiens . Lady Fortune is usually represented as larger than life to underscore her importance. The wheel characteristically has four shelves, or stages of life, with four human figures, usually labeled on
819-478: The Empire. (In antiquity she was also known as Automatia .) Fortuna's father was said to be Jupiter and like him, she could also be bountiful ( Copia ). As Annonaria she protected grain supplies. June 11 was consecrated to her: on June 24 she was given cult at the festival of Fors Fortuna . Fortuna's name seems to derive from Vortumna (she who revolves the year). Roman writers disagreed whether her cult
SECTION 20
#1732772963054858-433: The Middle Ages. In Le Roman de la Rose , Fortune frustrates the hopes of a lover who has been helped by a personified character "Reason". In Dante's Inferno (vii.67-96), Virgil explains the nature of Fortune, both a devil and a ministering angel, subservient to God. Boccaccio 's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium ("The Fortunes of Famous Men"), used by John Lydgate to compose his Fall of Princes , tells of many where
897-518: The Stoic beliefs by denying the existence of this divine fate. They believed that a human's actions were voluntary so long as they were rational. In common usage, destiny and fate are synonymous, but with regard to 19th-century philosophy , the words gained inherently different meanings. For Arthur Schopenhauer , destiny was just a manifestation of the Will to Live, which can be at the same time living fate and choice of overrunning fate, by means of
936-471: The burden of herself. Sails swollen with favouring breezes fear blasts too strongly theirs; the tower which rears its head to the very clouds is beaten by rainy Auster . ... Whatever Fortune has raised on high, she lifts but to bring low. Modest estate has longer life; then happy he whoe'er, content with the common lot, with safe breeze hugs the shore, and, fearing to trust his skiff to the wider sea, with unambitious oar keeps close to land. Ovid 's description
975-756: The church of Sant'Omobono : the cults are indeed archaic in date. Fortuna Primigenia of Praeneste was adopted by Romans at the end of 3rd century BC in an important cult of Fortuna Publica Populi Romani (the Official Good Luck of the Roman People ) on the Quirinalis outside the Porta Collina . No temple at Rome, however, rivalled the magnificence of the Praenestine sanctuary. Fortuna's identity as personification of chance events
1014-539: The conception of fate. In Germany, fate is a recurring theme in the literature of Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), including Siddharta (1922) and his magnum opus, Das Glasperlenspiel, also published as The Glass Bead Game (1943). And by Hollywood through such characters as Neo in The Matrix . The common theme of these works involves a protagonist who cannot escape their destiny, however hard they try. In Neil Gaiman 's graphic novel series The Sandman , destiny
1053-612: The concepts of destiny and fate has existed since the Hellenistic period with groups such as the Stoics and the Epicureans . The Stoics believed that human decisions and actions ultimately went according to a divine plan devised by a god. They claimed that although humans theoretically have free will , their souls and the circumstances under which they live are all part of the universal network of fate. The Epicureans challenged
1092-561: The early Empire, an amulet from the House of Menander in Pompeii links her to the Egyptian goddess Isis , as Isis-Fortuna. She is functionally related to the god Bonus Eventus , who is often represented as her counterpart: both appear on amulets and intaglio engraved gems across the Roman world. In the context of the early republican period account of Coriolanus , in around 488 BC
1131-399: The left regnabo (I shall reign), on the top regno (I reign) and is usually crowned, descending on the right regnavi (I have reigned) and the lowly figure on the bottom is marked sum sine regno (I have no kingdom). Medieval representations of Fortune emphasize her duality and instability, such as two faces side by side like Janus ; one face smiling the other frowning; half the face white
1170-491: The most coincidental events are part of God's hidden plan which one should not resist or try to change. Fortuna, then, was a servant of God, and events, individual decisions, the influence of the stars were all merely vehicles of Divine Will. In succeeding generations Boethius' Consolation was required reading for scholars and students. Fortune crept back into popular acceptance, with a new iconographic trait, "two-faced Fortune", Fortuna bifrons ; such depictions continue into
1209-477: The other black; she may be blindfolded but without scales, blind to justice. She was associated with the cornucopia , ship's rudder, the ball and the wheel. The cornucopia is where plenty flows from, the Helmsman's rudder steers fate, the globe symbolizes chance (who gets good or bad luck), and the wheel symbolizes that luck, good or bad, never lasts. Fortune would have many influences in cultural works throughout
FSN - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-481: The other half being of their own will. Machiavelli reminds the reader that Fortune is a woman, that she favours a strong, ambitious hand, and that she favours the more aggressive and bold young man than a timid elder. Monteverdi's opera L'incoronazione di Poppea features Fortuna, contrasted with the goddess Virtue. Even Shakespeare was no stranger to Lady Fortune: When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state... Ignatius J Reilly,
1287-524: The protagonist in the famous John Kennedy Toole novel A Confederacy of Dunces , identifies Fortuna as the agent of change in his life. A verbose, preposterous medievalist, Ignatius is of the mindset that he does not belong in the world and that his numerous failings are the work of some higher power. He continually refers to Fortuna as having spun him downwards on her wheel of luck, as in "Oh, Fortuna, you degenerate wanton!" The Wheel of Fortune also has concerns with occultism and Satanism . In astrology
1326-478: The term Pars Fortuna represents a mathematical point in the zodiac derived by the longitudinal positions of the Sun , Moon and Ascendant (Rising sign) in the birth chart of an individual. It represents an especially beneficial point in the horoscopic chart. In Arabic astrology , this and similar points are called Arabian Parts . Al-Biruni (973 – 1048), an 11th-century mathematician, astronomer, and scholar, who
1365-607: The turn of Fortune's wheel brought those most high to disaster, and Boccaccio essay De remedii dell'una e dell'altra Fortuna , depends upon Boethius for the double nature of Fortuna. Fortune makes her appearance in Carmina Burana (see image). The Christianized Lady Fortune is not autonomous: illustrations for Boccaccio's Remedii show Fortuna enthroned in a triumphal car with reins that lead to heaven. Fortuna also appears in chapter 25 of Machiavelli's The Prince , in which he says Fortune only rules one half of men's fate,
1404-426: The words fate and destiny have distinct connotations. Traditional usage defines fate as a power or agency that predetermines and orders the course or set of events positively or negatively affecting someone or a group, or in an idiom , to tell someone's fortune , or simply the result of chance and events. In Hellenistic civilization , the chaotic and unforeseeable turns of chance gave increasing prominence to
1443-473: Was 24 June, or Midsummer's Day, when celebrants from Rome annually floated to the temples downstream from the city. After undisclosed rituals they then rowed back, garlanded and inebriated. Also Fortuna had a temple at the Forum Boarium . Here Fortuna was twinned with the cult of Mater Matuta (the goddesses shared a festival on 11 June), and the paired temples have been revealed in the excavation beside
1482-534: Was closely tied to virtus (strength of character). Public officials who lacked virtues invited ill-fortune on themselves and Rome: Sallust uses the infamous Catiline as illustration – "Truly, when in the place of work, idleness, in place of the spirit of measure and equity , caprice and pride invade, fortune is changed just as with morality". An oracle at the Temple of Fortuna Primigena in Praeneste used
1521-716: Was introduced to Rome by Servius Tullius or Ancus Marcius . The two earliest temples mentioned in Roman Calendars were outside the city, on the right bank of the Tiber (in Italian Trastevere ). The first temple dedicated to Fortuna was attributed to the Etruscan Servius Tullius, while the second is known to have been built in 293 BC as the fulfilment of a Roman promise made during later Etruscan wars . The date of dedication of her temples
#53946