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Glite Dictionary
Tellus

Tellus

5 9.9
A Roman earth goddess who protects marriage and helps crops grow
  • proper noun
  • Literature
translation icon : Tellus
  • Virgil hailed it as Saturnia Tellus, the earth of the aurea aetas over which Saturn was to reign: PREFORMATTED TABLE
  • Tellus panel
  • Tellus Institute

Examples

  • She symbolized the military feats of Augustus, as the Tellus panel alluded to the fruits of the ensuing peace.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Personifications of Roma (to the north) and Tellus (to the south, Fig. 10) flank the eastern door.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The iconic figure of Tellus is also controversial, rich with layers of meaning.

    Academic text (1990)

  • As with the panels on the western face, the Roma and Tellus reliefs are symmetrical in composition and meaning.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Eternity is the underlying theme of the Tellus and Roma reliefs, the images emblematic of the Augustan peace.

    Academic text (1990)

  • In Roman mythology, Tellus is revered as the goddess of the earth who governs fertility and marriage.

  • The ancient Romans worshipped Tellus as a symbol of abundance and nurturing, paralleling the Greek goddess Gaea.

  • As the protector of the earth, Tellus was often invoked during ceremonies to bless marriages and harvests.

Synonyms

Ge
vsTellus
  • Literature
47 9.9

A Greek goddess who is the earth and mother of the Titans

is the Roman goddess equated with the Greek earth mother
Terra
vsTellus
  • Literature
14 9.9

A Roman goddess of the earth who protects marriage and helps crops grow

is the Roman earth goddess identified with the Greek ancestral earth mother
Gaia
vsTellus
  • Literature
8 8.9

A Greek goddess who is the Earth and mother of the Titans

is the Roman goddess equated with that Greek ancestral earth mother
Gaea
vsTellus
  • Literature
3 9.9

The Greek earth goddess who is mother of Cronus and the Titans

is the Roman deity identified with that Greek earth mother

Surface Forms

Tellus main

Etymology

Tellus is a Latin name that means 'earth' or 'ground', and she was the Roman earth mother who watched over marriage and fertility. You can see the same idea in familiar words like terrain and terrestrial, so her role as protector of the land is built into her name.