Goddess of women’s health

If asked to name Roman gods and goddesses, few pharmacists, I suspect, would think of Bona Dea, even though she has a strong connection with healthcare.

Bona Dea was worshipped only by women. So complete was men’s exclusion from her cult that they were not even allowed to know her true name and the appellation Bona Dea simply means “Good Goddess”, a euphemism men were able to use. Her secret name is sometimes said to be Fauna, meaning “She who wishes well”.

Bona Dea was mainly associated with virginity and fertility but also had a role in healing and herb-lore. Roman women who sought her aid for sickness or infertility visited her temple on Rome’s Aventine Hill, where her priestess treated them with medicinal herbs in the temple garden.

Although worship took place at the temple, the venue for the annual secret rites performed in Bona Dea’s honour was the home of Rome’s consul. The rites were held on 4 December, beginning on the previous evening and progressing through the night.

Because no men could be involved, the consul had to absent himself and the festival was conducted by his wife, assisted by the Vestal Virgins. Even paintings or drawings of men or male animals were banned from the house during the rite.

Also forbidden was use of the words “wine” and “myrtle”, items that were sacred to the goddess. The consumption of wine among women was restricted in Rome, but behind closed doors it may have played a major, if unspoken, role in the rites. Myrtle was used as a medicine in Roman times, mainly for female ailments.

Depictions of Bona Dea usually show her on a throne, holding a cornucopia and a snake, the former symbolising abundance and the latter fertility and health. As a symbol of healing, the snake is today best known from the snake-entwined staff that represents Aesculapius, god of medicine and healing.