Empanda

Or Panda, was, according to Festus,1 a dea paganorum. Varro2 connects the word with pandere, but absurdly explains it by panem dare, so that Empanda would be the goddess of bread or food. She had a sanctuary near the gate, called after her the Porta Pandana, which led to the capitol. Her temple was an asylum, which was always open, and the suppliants who came to it were supplied with food from the funds of the temple. This custom at once showed the meaning of the name Panda or Empanda: it is connected with pandere, to open; she is accordingly the goddess who is open to or admits any one who wants protection. Hartung3 thinks that Empanda and Panda are only surnames of Juno.

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References

Notes

  1. s.v. Empanda.
  2. ap. Nonius, p. 44; comp. Gellius. Noctes Atticae xiii, 22; Arnobius, iv, 2.
  3. Die Religion der Römer. Vol. 2, p. 76 ff.

Sources

  • Festus, s.v. Pandana.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.
  • Varro. On the Latin Language v, 42.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.