Faunus and Fauna are the parents of Latinus, king of the Laurentines who welcomed Aeneas to Italy.
⚠ Virgil (Aeneid 7.47) names the nymph Marica as Latinus's mother rather than Fauna. Macrobius (Saturnalia 1.12.21) and Varro record the Fauna tradition.
In a variant myth preserved by Lactantius, Faunus transformed himself into a serpent to assault his daughter Fauna after she resisted his advances. This origin story explained both the serpent's sacred role in Bona Dea's cult and the goddess's aversion to men.
Hercules, parched from his journey, was refused water by the priestesses of Bona Dea because men were barred from her precinct. In retaliation, the hero founded his own cult at the Ara Maxima and banned women from his rites.
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