Monday, April 23, 2012

Who was that lady ...?
This mosaic, from the Hull Museum, is usually known as 'the Brantingham Tyche'. It was found in the remains of a Roman villa near Brough, about 12 miles west of Hull. Brough was known to the Romans as Petuaria and was a settlement of some importance. It appears to have been the chief town of a British tribe called the Parisii and was also known as Petuaria Parisiorum.
Hull was known to the Romans as nowhere at all, as it only appears on record (as Wyke) in the early 13th century.
The term tyche, according to my dictionary, is the name of the Greek goddess of good fortune (Τύχη), but appears to have been used loosely for any local female deity*. So, some think, we have an image of the Goddess of the Parisii. There is another possibility, which this article covers. My only thought on the subject is that those blue eyes don't look like they belong to a Mediterranean-based muse.
My own distant forebears were probably dwelling beyond the frontiers of the Empire, worshipping their own deities, but we're in Parisian** territory now, so a nod in the direction of those who went before does not go amiss.

*The word diva having been hijacked, devalued, and generally abused, is no longer available.

**The French capital was in Roman times Lutetia Parisiorum.

4 comments:

vza said...

Very interesting post, Jemmy. The link to the article is not working for me.

Jemmy Hope said...

I've added another link at the bottom of the post, v (if I may be so familiar). Failing that, try -

http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/museumcollections/collections/storydetail.php?irn=411&master=449

Jemmy Hope said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
vza said...

The link works now. Thanks!