ANGERONA

angerona, or angeronia, an old roman goddess, whose name and functions are variously explained. according to ancient authorities, she was a goddess who relieved men from pain and sorrow, or delivered the romans and their flocks from _angina_ (quinsy); or she was the protecting goddess of rome and the keeper of the sacred name of the city, which might not be pronounced lest it should be revealed to her enemies; it was even thought that angerona itself was this name. modern scholars regard her as a goddess akin to ops, acca larentia and dea dia; or as the goddess of the new year and the returning sun (according to mommsen, _ab angerendo_= [greek: apo tou anapheresthai. ton haelion).] her festival, called divalia or angeronalia, was celebrated on the 21st of december. the priests offered sacrifice in the temple of volupia, the goddess of pleasure, in which stood a statue of angerona, with a finger on her mouth, which was bound and closed (macrobius i. 10; pliny, _nat. hist._ iii. 9; varro, _l. l._ vi. 23). she was worshipped as ancharia at faesulae, where an altar belonging to her has been recently discovered. (see faesulae.)