
Chthonia Dea Tacita: Double Edged Sword of Silence
Oct 13, 2025
44:09
This week's episode is about the Roman deity Dea Tacita, celebrated with a ritual at the Feralia to keep gossip and the results of "loose tongues" from the family and the city. However, Dea Tacita's origin story relates to a nymph called Lara (also mother of the Lares or household gods), who has her tongue cut out for warning one of Jupiter's would-be paramours of his possibly unwanted advances. This fact makes the symbolism of Dea Tacita a double edged sword--we see the virtues of silence, but is this silence also a type of oppression?
