Orbona
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Orbona (/orˈboː.na/; Latin: [ɔrˈboːnä]) is the Roman goddess who protects parents who are bereaved of their children and parents of ill children.[1][2][3][4] The first mention of Orbona is unknown. She appears in the Arnobius Against The Heathen V4 written by Arnobius. Said Orbona is the goddess who takes care of parents who are bereaved of their children.[5] There is no description of the appearance or related presence in the Roman mythology. Orbona is a unique figure in Roman religion. She stands apart and does not derive directly from any Greek goddess. Her name is barely seen in the present because she has a particular role to protect only the father and mother who lose their child to death.
The name Orbona is from the Latin from orbus ("bereft") + -ōna ("epithets of female deities").[6] The word orbus is from Proto-Indo-Eurupean *h₃erbʰ- ("orphan"). Cognate with Ancient Greek ὀρφανός (orphanós, "orphaned").[7] Meaning related to bereaved, bereft, deprived by death which refers to orphaned, parentless, fatherless, childless, widowed.[6]
Origins
The first mention of Orbona is unknown. She appear in the Arnobius Against The Heathen V4 written by Arnobius, a Christian apologist from the 4th century. Said Orbona is the goddess take care parents who bereaved of their children.[5] There are interpretations from other writings that Orbona was a goddess invoked by father and mother, for the preservation of their children and those who lose them were under particular protection of her.[8] In other writings it has been interpreted that the offering were not intended for the soul of the decreased, but for the safety of remaining children or for the conception of additional ones. Also, parents of ill children prayed to Orbona too.[1] In some writing, there is a mention of Orbona alongside deities like Febris, goddess of fever and Mala Fortuna, goddess of bad luck.[9] Which indicates that she might have had a darker or more ominous aspect in Roman belief.