medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
At 09:48 AM 3/30/2004 -0500, chris wrote:
> >He is also credited with restoring Syracuse's ancient church of
>Athena/Minerva
>
>Ste. Athena/Minerva?
La meme. Of course, she's not a _Christian_ saint. But see this coin of
the unfortunate Geta:
http://www.cgb.fr/monnaies/rome/r08/monnaies-455.html
Not to be confused, of course, with "Santa Minerva" in the modern city of
Roma (short form of "Santa Maria sopra Minerva").
There's also this curious entry in the "Onomastico" section of the Santi
Beati site:
http://www.santiebeati.it/nomi/Detailed/3060.html
"Minerva
Etimologia: Deriva dall'etrusco Menerfa e significa
"intelligenza, saggezza".
L'onomastico viene, per antica tradizione, festeggiato il 23
agosto in ricordo del martirio di Santa Minerva."
Can anyone shed light on this "ancient tradition" of a Santa Minerva,
martyr, celebrated on 23 August? There's nothing on her elsewhere in the
Santi Beati site or, as far as I can discover, in the _Bibliotheca Sanctorum_.
I realize that in English "temple" (or, if one is being arch -- we won't
say whether rounded or pointed, "fane") is customary usage for a worship
structure consecrated to a non-Christian deity of Greco-Roman
antiquity. But "church" is not reserved for Christian contexts, though it
is often so used. Still, if I hadn't been about to dash for a bus, I would
probably have noticed my non-conforming usage here.
Best again,
John Dillon
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