Fortune’s Wheel

1. Fortune’s Wheel By: Crystal Ryans

2. Fortuna • In Roman religion, Fortuna is the goddess of fortune. • She appears to have originally been a goddess of fertility. • Romans pictured Fortuna as a goddess, sometimes blindfolded to indicate that luck was a matter of "blind chance."

3. Tyche • Fortuna was later identified with Tyche, the Greek goddess of luck or chance. • Daughter of Zeus and a sister of the Fates. • She had a temple at Argos where the first set of dice were said to have been invented. • Some times Tyche is shown with wings to symbolize how luck can "fly away."

4. Tyche or Fortuna • Usually depicted holding a rudder in one hand and a cornucopia (or horn of plenty) in the other. • The rudder she used to steer men to good luck or bad. Thus the rudder signified that she guides the destiny of the world. • The cornucopia that she held in the other hand indicates that she was the provider of abundance.

5. Fortuna’s Wheel • In earlier times, the wheel is depicted as a globe in which Fortuna stands, turning it with her feet. • In the twelfth century, however, Fortuna is shown standing next to the mechanical which she controls with a lever.

6. Fortuna’s Wheel (cont.) • The Wheel served to remind people that earthly things were only temporary. • It was particularly geared towards reminding nobles who were seen as being the “most susceptible to the sin of ambition and the wiles of Fortune.” • There are usually four figures depicted on the wheel: one at the top, one at the bottom, one rising, and one falling. These figures were usually guised as kings.

7. Fortune’s Wheel (cont.) • Idea of the Wheel seems to have began with classical philosophers. • It’s influence in the Middle Ages can be traced mostly to the Consolation of Philosophy, which was written by the Roman philosopher Boethius while he was in prison.

8. Boethius • Roman philosopher. • Started as a commoner working in the court of Theoderic the Great. • Rising-He has a successful career, he was happily married, and his sons attained the positions of consuls (the highest honor a Roman could attain). • Falling-Some of the kings advisors convinced Theoderic that Boethius (as well as many others) of “subverting his rule.”

9. Boethius (cont.) • Falsely accused of treason and thrown in jail. • Consolation of Philosophy-Throughout this work, Boethius complains about his particular misfortunes, about Fortune, and how she upsets the harmony of man. All the while Philosophy tries to console him and remind him thathe has never really possessed the things which fortune had taken away from him. If he did, then he could not have lost them.

10. Resources and Additional Links • http://www.bufferstock.org/fortuna.htm • http://www.entrenet.com/~groedmed/greekm/mythtych.html • http://www.arcgl.org/Bo2.html • http://www.byu.edu/ipt/projects/middleages/LifeTimes/Fortune.html • http://www.entrenet.com/~groedmed/greekm/myth.html • http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/rcoins/sub1/art28.htm