god
Isis
Egyptian goddess widely worshipped at Rome; her rites (which barred the marriage bed) furnish a woman a ready excuse to refuse a lover.
Reading notes
- The Loves §1.8 Isis
Egyptian goddess popular at Rome; her periods of ritual abstinence give a woman a pretext to refuse her lover.
- The Art of Love §1.3 the linen-clad heifer
Isis, the Egyptian goddess identified with the heifer Io, served by linen-robed priests; her Roman cult drew many women.
- The Art of Love §3.19 Memphian heifer
Isis (identified with the heifer Io of Memphis), at whose incense-burning altars the women gathered.
- Letters from the Black Sea §1.1 shrill sistrum of Pharos
The sistrum, a rattle shaken in the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis (here 'of Pharos,' i.e. Alexandrian); her begging priests collected alms in the streets of Rome.
- Letters from the Black Sea §1.1 linen-robed Isis
Isis, the Egyptian goddess whose Roman cult demanded confession and penance; Ovid cites her power to blind and then restore as a model of divine mercy after offense.
- The Festivals §9 lady of Inachus
Isis, identified with Io daughter of Inachus; the goose's liver is offered to her.
- Metamorphoses §1.12 linen-clad crowd
The white-robed worshippers of Isis; Io, brought to Egypt and restored, is identified with the goddess Isis.
- Sorrows §2.1 Isis
The Egyptian goddess, identified with Io, driven by Juno's wrath across the seas; her temple too holds an amorous tale.