Venilia

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Possibly “the incoming wave” or “she who comes to the shore”
• Gender: Female
• Classical Latin pronunciation: weh-NEE-lee-ah; Eng (veh-NEE-lee-ah)

Venilia is the name of an ancient Roman nymph or minor goddess associated with the sea, marine winds and the movement of waves. The name’s precise etymology is uncertain, but ancient Roman writers connected it with the Latin verb venīre, meaning “to come.”

Saint Augustine described Venilia as the wave that comes toward the shore, in contrast to Salacia, who represented the wave returning to the sea. Venilia may therefore be interpreted as “the incoming wave” or “she who comes to the shore.” This describes the goddess’s function, however, and should not necessarily be regarded as a definitive literal translation of her name.

Venilia and Salacia were both associated with Neptune and were sometimes described as his attendants or consorts. They apparently represented complementary aspects of the sea: Venilia the approaching or calmly flowing water and Salacia the retreating or more turbulent water.

Accounts of Venilia’s family relationships vary considerably. In Virgil’s Aeneid, she is the divine mother of Turnus, king of the Rutuli, and the water nymph Juturna. Ovid identifies Venilia as the wife of the two-faced god Janus and the mother of Canens, a nymph renowned for the extraordinary beauty of her singing voice. Other traditions connect her with Faunus or the Italian king Daunus.

Other forms include:

• Venília (Catalan, Portuguese)
• Vénilie (French)
• Wenilia (Polish)

Sources

• Augustine of Hippo, The City of God, Book VII
• Virgil, Aeneid, Book X
• Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book XIV
• Varro, De Lingua Latina
• Venilia – Wikipedia