Picus

For other uses, seePicus (disambiguation).

Picus

Picuswas a figure inRoman mythology,the first king ofLatium.He was the son ofSaturn,also known as Stercutus. He was the founder of the first Latin tribe and settlement,Laurentum,located a few miles to the Southeast of the site of the later city of Rome.He was known for his skill atauguryand horsemanship.

Mythology

According toFestushe got his name as a consequence of the fact that he used to rely on awoodpeckerfor the purpose of divination. Picus was also described to be quite handsome, sought after bynymphsandnaiads.The witchCirceattempted to seduce him with her charms and herbs while he was on a hunting trip, but he savagely rejected her. She turned him into a woodpecker for scorning her love. When his comrades accused Circe of her crime and demanded Picus' release, she turned them too into a variety of beasts. Picus' wife (to whom he was wholly devoted) wasCanens,a nymph. After Picus' transformation she wandered madly through the forest for 6 days until finally she lay down on the bank of theTiberand died. They had one son,Faunus.

According to grammarianServius,Picus's love forPomonawas itself scorned. But in another place he states she consented to marriage, but Circe transformed Picus into a woodpecker and her into apica,a kind of bird, probably a magpie or an owl.He is featured in one of theMetamorphosesofOvid.Virgilsays that he was the son ofSaturnusand the grandfather ofLatinus,the king of the Laurentines whomAeneasand hisTrojansfought upon reaching Italy.

Italic people believed Picus was the son of the god of warMarsand attributed his avine transformation to his skills at interpreting bird omens.

One of the functions he performed was to lead the deduction of colonies (made up of younger generation folk) with his flight, which traditionally took place in spring and was performed according to a religious ritual known asver sacrum.The people of thePiceniderived their name from the memory of this ritual.

References

• OvidMetamorphoses14.320-620
• VirgilAeneid7.45-49, 170-191
• ServiusonAeneid7.190
• Diodorus Siculus6, frag. 5