M y t h ,
C u l t
a n d
A n a l y s i s
A n c i e n t P l a n e t O n l i n e j o u r n a l
Roman Lamp showing Aeneas fleeing Trow carrying his father on his shoulders, while dragging his little son Askanius by the hand. The Palladium (and probably goddess herself) is depicted near by him on the right, standing on its shrine. Credit: Wiki Commons.
cult symbol of the Trojan (i.e. Roman) supremacy over Magna Graecia. Like other “traditional phylacteries”, the Palladium was an object of rituals which were revealed to only a handful of select individuals, either hereditary priesthoods or the highest rank of political leadership [C. A. Faraone, 1988]. The foundation of the temple of Vesta and the rigorous preservation of the Sacred Fire by the virgin priestesses who were also entrusted with the safe-guarding of the sacred image of the Palladium maintained this totemic function insofar as the preservation of Roman dominion was concerned [F. Bennett, 1913]. It is further apparent that the patron hero-deity Aeneas
was little more than a ‘fictional requirement’ from the earlier saga [Tim Cornell, 1995], serving to complement the Palladium myth as a pre-shamanic or proto-shamanic resynthesizing element of the Palladium’s cult, whose early myth was greatly developed by later Roman Emperors to bolster their growing dominion over conquered lands. Of course, the early Roman policy of empire building and the reassurance of divine support derived from the possession of the original sacred image, thus fulfilling an old oracle about the global revival of Troy’s power as rightful inheritor, was not the sole purpose of the Palladium cult. It also 37