Flora (mythology)

The name Flōra descends from Proto-Italic *flōsā ('goddess of flowers'), itself a derivation from Proto-Italic *flōs ('flower'; cf. Latin flōs, flōris 'blossom, flower'). It is cognate with the Oscan goddess of flowers Fluusa, demonstrating that the cult was known more widely among Italic peoples. The name ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃ōs ('blossoming'). ==Festivals and temples==

Flora's festival, the Floralia, was held between April 28 and May 3 and was celebrated with drinking, flowers, and entertainments (ludi). The festival was first instituted in 240 BCE, and on the advice of the Sibylline books, she was also given a temple in 238 BCE. At the festival, with the men decked in flowers, and the women wearing normally forbidden gay costumes, five days of farces and mimes were enacted – ithyphallic, and including nudity when called for – followed by a sixth day of the hunting of goats and hares. On May 23 another flower festival was held, the Rosalia. ==Interpretatio graeca==

Flora's Greek equivalent is the nymph Chloris, whose myths were assimilated to Flora in mythological narratives (interpretatio graeca). The Hellenized Flora was married to Favonius, the wind god also known as Zephyr, and her companion was Hercules. According to the legend, Flora ran away from Favonius, but he caught her, married her and gave her dominion over the flowers. ==In the classical tradition==

Music Flora is the main character of the 1894 ballet The Awakening of Flora. In painting File:Primavera 04.jpg|Detail of Flora from Primavera by Botticelli, c. 1482 File:Flora, por Tiziano.jpg|Flora by Titian, 1515 File:1520 Veneto Idealbildnis einer Kurtisane als Flora anagoria.JPG|Idealized Portrait of a Courtesan as Flora by Bartolomeo Veneto, c. 1520 File:Francesco Melzi 002a.jpg|Flora by Francesco Melzi, c. 1520 File:Jan Brueghel the Elder & Peter Paul Rubens - Flora and Zephyr, 1617.jpg|Flora and Zephyr, by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, 1617 File:Claude Vignon - Flora - WGA25093.jpg|Flora by Claude Vignon, 1650 File:Rembrandt, Flora, circa 1654, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.jpg|Flora by Rembrandt, 1654 File:Flora (Museum of Bordeaux).jpg|Flora or Hebe by Alexander Roslin, 18th century File:Flora By Valentine Bromley.jpg|Flora by Valentine Walter Bromley, 1874 File:Keller, Ferdinand - Flora - 1883.jpg|Flora by Ferdinand Keller, 1883 File:Mosè Bianchi Flora.jpg|Flora by Mosè Bianchi, 1890 Sculpture There are many monuments to Flora, for example in Rome (Italy), Valencia (Spain), and Szczecin (Poland). File:Flora statue orangerie Kassel.jpg|statue of Flora at Orangerie Kassel, around 1703 File:Flora_Farnese_(Napoli).jpg|Flora Farnese (Naples), mid-18th century AD File:PosagFloryWSzczecinie.jpg|Statue of Flora in Szczecin, Poland, 1730. ==See also==