In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers and the season of spring. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime. Her festival, the Floralia, was held in April or early May and symbolized the renewal of the cycle of life, marked with dancing, drinking, and flowers. Her Greek equivalent was Chloris. Flora was married to Favonius, the wind god, and her companion was Hercules. Due to her association with plants, her name in modern English also means plant life.

Flora achieved more prominence in the neo-pagan revival of Antiquity among Renaissance humanists than she had ever enjoyed in ancient Rome.

One of the fairies in the Sleeping Beauty (1959 film) is named Flora after this goddess.

References

• Ovid, Fasti V.193-212
• Macrobius, Saturnalia I.10.11-14
• Lactantius, Divinae institutions I.20.6-10

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External links

• The Obscure Goddess Online Directory: Flora

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