Two-faced Janus is one of many gods,legends about which we are obliged to ancient Roman mythology. More specifically, this legendary character at one time was perhaps the first king in Latium (presumably, this is the original homeland of the heart of modern Italy and Rome itself). In those days, this god lived in a palace located on the hill of Janicule, on the right bank of the Tiber. From here, Janus and ruled his subordinate lands. He didn’t rule a long time, but soon a much more active and powerful king, Jupiter, ascended to the throne, ascended to the throne, the most important god of the ancient Greeks.
Why is Janus a two-faced god?It is believed that the king of Latium received as a gift a special talent from his divine “colleague” Saturn, which was to see clearly all past and future. Because of this, Janus in all images is presented with two faces - young and old, who are turned in opposite directions (to the future and, respectively, to the past).
By the way, the name “Janus” itself was not chosen by chance.This word, if translated from Latin ("janya"), means "door." Over time, this “door” became not only a symbolic feature dividing yesterday from tomorrow, but also generally a symbol of all end and beginning. Well, and then it was somehow preached that the two-faced Janus combines such two categories as “bad” and “good” in one, as they say, bottle.
In addition to the two faces of Janus in the ancient periodportrayed also with keys, because he was also called a “locking” and “unlocking” god. The fact is that he patronized all military undertakings and had his own temple, the doors of which in peacetime were tightly closed and only opened during military operations. And over the long centuries of existence of the ancient Roman Empire, these gates were closed, alas, only three times. You can imagine what a heated situation at the time was.
Практический вклад в развитие древних римлян the two-faced Janus also contributed substantial. In addition to his “paranormal” clairvoyance abilities, God taught people such a thing as shipbuilding, cultivating land, growing vegetables, and the basics of calculus. For the latter purpose, the Roman number “CCC” was depicted on his right hand, 300, on the left - “LXV”, i.e. 65.
The Romans even dedicated to their beloved and the mainA special day is the feast of agony, which was celebrated on the ninth of January. By the way, few people probably know, but it was two-faced Janus who gave the name to the first month of the year - Januarius, or January in our opinion.
But in principle, the two-faced Roman god nospecial feats for his kingdom and not committed. He was not handsome, did not possess unlimited power and special power. However, according to legend, he knew how to "manage" natural phenomena. So, before the cult of Jupiter appeared, it was Janus who was engaged in opening the gates of heaven in the morning, releasing the sun into the sky, and in the evenings locking them so that the light would disappear and night would come. Even the Romans believed that the two-faced Janus was the god of all undertakings, so before starting to do something, people called for his help and asked for protection.
Not so long ago, scientists have suggestedthat Janus had not two, but three faces, personifying both the past and the future, as well as the present. Just because the last time category is considered to be a momentary invisible edge between the two others, the third person of God is invisible.
Janus two-faced: phraseological unit
Today, it is unlikely someone would have remembered about the god Janus andall its merits, if not our article. In the everyday life of modern speech, there is, indeed, such a phraseological unit, which for some reason is customarily applied to an insincere, hypocritical, that is, two-faced person. And although the two-faced Janus did not accomplish any outstanding feats at one time, one should think that he would be greatly offended by such an unflattering comparison.
