Vertumnus | |
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God of seasons, change, gardens, fruit trees, and plant growth | |
![]() Statue of the 1st or 2nd centuries AD. | |
Symbols | gardening tools |
Festivals | Vertumnalia |
Consort | Pomona |
Equivalents | |
Etruscan equivalent | Voltumna |
In Roman mythology, Vertumnus (Latin pronunciation: [wɛr'tʊmnʊs]; also Vortumnus or Vertimnus) is the god of seasons, change[1] and plant growth, as well as gardens and fruit trees. He could change his form at will; using this power, according to Ovid's Metamorphoses (xiv), he tricked Pomona into talking to him by disguising himself as an old woman and gaining entry to her orchard, then using a narrative warning of the dangers of rejecting a suitor (the embedded tale of Iphis and Anaxarete) to seduce her. The tale of Vertumnus and Pomona has been called "the first exclusively Latin tale."[2]
Vertumnus' festival was called the Vertumnalia and was held 13 August.[3]