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Mens

Roman divine personification of thought, consciousness and mind From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mens
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In ancient Roman religion, Mens, also known as Mens Bona (Latin for "Good Mind"), was the personification of thought, consciousness and the mind, and also of "right-thinking". The founding (dies natalis) of her temple in Rome was celebrated on June 8.[2][3] A temple on the Capitoline Hill in Rome was vowed to Mens in 217 BC on advice from the Sibylline Books, after the defeat of Lake Trasimene,[4] and was dedicated in 215 BC.

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An altar dedicated to Bona Mens by a vilicus named Felix (Castello Malaspina)[1]
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In Latin poetry

In Latin love elegy, Mens Bona is represented as a guardian against Desire (Cupido) and amorous pursuits. Propertius celebrated his escape from erotic bondage to his Cynthia by dedicating himself to the shrine of Mens Bona.[5] Ovid depicted Cupid as leading Mens Bona as a captive in his triumphal parade.[6]

Legacy

The Latin word mens expresses the idea of "mind" and is the origin of English words like mental and dementia. The gifted-only organization Mensa International was originally to be named mens in the sense of "mind", but took instead the name Mensa (Latin: "table") to avoid ambiguity with "men's" in English and "mens" in other languages such as the Dutch language. In the Dutch vocabulary, "mens" is the word for "man" as in "mankind".

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See also

References

Further reading

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