Mania (mythology)

Mania is true in Roman mythology as a goddess.

A cult is not busy and the few surviving inscriptions are controversial. After Georg Wissowa a goddess Mania is the construct of ancient scholars, including Marcus Terentius Varro, where she is one of several characters who were identified with the Mater Larum. Sextus Pompeius Festus they called mother or grandmother of Larvae and the Manes.

It is said to have rather acted on Wissowa to the mythological interpretation of a custom of the feast of Compitalien, where it was customary to hang Maniae, small dolls made of flour or wool for the Lares and Manes at the crossroads.

According to Macrobius, these dolls are said to have served as a substitute for the time of the last Roman king Tarquinius Superbus sacrifice offered human sacrifices. Mainly boys were sacrificed. Lucius Junius Brutus, the first consul of the Roman Republic, have finished this custom. The Oracle of Delphi was the "main for main " demanded as a sacrifice, the consul ordered therefore to sacrifice instead of kids heads poppy heads and garlic bulbs. The suspended at the front door doll then served the defense against disaster.

Transfer were also referred bugbears and hobgoblins for children as " Maniae ".

Therefore, the name is not derived from the Greek Mania Mania ( Μανία "Rage ", " madness "; see mania) ago, but just from the manes of Compitalien.