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''Dis Pater'' was commonly shortened to simply ''Dis''. This name has since become an alternate name for the underworld or a part of the underworld, such as the Dis of '' The Divine Comedy ''. ETYMOLOGY Dis Pater was originally a god of wealth, much like the Greek god Pluto (from ''Plouton'', a Greek word for "rich"), who was later equated with Dis Pater. ''Dis'' is contracted from the Latin word ''dives'' ("rich"), and ''pater'' is Latin for "father", so ''Dis Pater'' literally meant "Wealthy Father" or "Father of Riches". Julius Caesar writes in '' Commentarii De Bello Gallico '' that the Gaul s considered Dis Pater to be an ancestor of theirs. This may in part be due to confusion between Dis Pater and the Proto-Indo-European Deity Dyeus , who was addressed as ''Dyeu Phter'' ("Sky Father"). This name is also the likely origin of the name of many Indo-European gods, including Zeus and Jupiter , though its relationship with ''Dis Pater'' may be in part coincidental. MYTHOLOGY Like Pluto, Dis Pater eventually became associated with death and the underworld because the mined wealth of the earth—gems and precious metals—was considered in the domain of the Greco-Roman underworld. As a result, Dis Pater was over time conflated with the Roman gods Pluto, originally an Epithet of the Greek god Hades , and Orcus , a Roman underworld deity. In being conflated with Pluto, Dis Pater took on some of the ).Grimal, Pierre (1986). ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'' (pp. 141, 177). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. ISBN 0631132090. In literature, Dis Pater was commonly used as a symbolic and poetic way of referring to Death itself. WORSHIP When Dis Pater was in the underworld, only Oath s and Curse s could reach him, and people invoked him by striking the earth with their hands. Black sheep were sacrificed to him, and those who performed the sacrifice averted their faces. Dis Pater, like his Greek equivalent, Hades, had little or no real cult following, and so there are few statues of him. In called Valesius , the ancestor of the first Consul . The servants were digging in the Tarentum on the edge of the Campus Martius to lay foundations following instructions given to Valesius's children in dreams, when they found the altar 20 ft. (6.09 m) underground. Valesius reburied the altar after three days of games. Sacrifices were offered to this altar during the Ludi Saeculares (" Centennial Games") or Ludi Tarentini ("Tarentine Games"). It may have been uncovered for each occasion of the games, to be reburied afterwards, a clearly Chthonic tradition of worship. It was rediscovered in 1886–87 beneath the Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Rome .Nash, E. (1962). ''Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome Volume 1'' (p. 57). London: A. Zwemmer Ltd. ISBN 0878172653.Richardson, L. (1992). ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' (pp. 110–111). Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801843006. In addition to being considered the ancestor of the Gauls, Dis Pater was sometimes identified with the Sabine god Soranus . In southern Germany and the Balkans , Dis Pater had a Celtic Goddess , Aericura , as a consort. Dis Pater was rarely associated with foreign deities in the shortened form of his name, ''Dis''.Green, Miranda J. (1992). ''Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend'' (pp. 81–82). London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0500015163. SEE ALSO REFERENCES |
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