{
  "id": "bellona",
  "type": "entity",
  "name": "Bellona",
  "summary": "Roman goddess of war, Mars's companion in the Latin poets: \"grim Bellona\" calls Aeneas to the fighting in burning Troy, Juno promises Lavinia a bridal bed lit by \"Bellona's blaze\", and on the shield of Aeneas she \"waves her sanguinary scourge\" beside Discordia at Actium; in Ovid she drenches a wedding hall in blood.",
  "locale": "en",
  "tags": [
    "roman",
    "deities",
    "war-gods",
    "mars",
    "aeneid"
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "target": "mars"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "target": "juno"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "target": "aeneas"
    },
    {
      "rel": "attested_in",
      "target": "aeneid"
    },
    {
      "rel": "attested_in",
      "target": "metamorphoses"
    }
  ],
  "questions": [
    "Who is Bellona in Roman mythology?",
    "Is Bellona the wife or sister of Mars?",
    "What does Bellona carry?",
    "Where does Bellona appear in the Aeneid?",
    "Is Bellona the same as Enyo?"
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": "c1",
      "text": "In the sack of Troy Aeneas \"flew to battle, where the flames leaped high, where grim Bellona called, and all the air resounded high as heaven with shouts of war\" (Aen. 2.318) — she is the summons to fighting itself.",
      "sources": [
        "virgil-aeneid"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.93
    },
    {
      "id": "c2",
      "text": "Juno, plotting the Italian war, curses the marriage of Lavinia: \"Let Teucrian and Rutulian slaughter be thy virgin dower, and Bellona's blaze light thee the bridal bed!\" (Aen. 7.286) — Bellona's torch in place of the wedding torch.",
      "sources": [
        "virgil-aeneid"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.93
    },
    {
      "id": "c3",
      "text": "On the shield of Aeneas, at Actium, \"the face of angry Mars, carved out of iron, in the centre frowns, grim Furies fill the air; Discordia strides in rent robe, mad with joy; and at her side, Bellona waves her sanguinary scourge\" (Aen. 8.671) — the only attribute the poets give her.",
      "sources": [
        "virgil-aeneid"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.95
    },
    {
      "id": "c4",
      "text": "Ovid brings her into the brawl at Perseus's wedding: \"Bellona in a sea of blood has drenched their Household Gods, polluted by these deeds, and she endeavours to renew the strife\" (Met. 5.74).",
      "sources": [
        "ovid-metamorphoses"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.92
    }
  ],
  "takeaways": [
    "Virgil never states her kinship to Mars; he places her beside him (Aen. 8.671) and lets her stand for war itself (Aen. 2.318, 7.286).",
    "Her one attribute in these texts is the bloody scourge on the shield of Aeneas.",
    "No Greek name is given for her here; the usual pairing with Enyo is not made by Virgil or Ovid."
  ],
  "faqs": [
    {
      "q": "Where does Bellona appear in the Aeneid?",
      "claim": "c1"
    },
    {
      "q": "What does Bellona carry?",
      "claim": "c3"
    },
    {
      "q": "Is Bellona the wife or sister of Mars?",
      "claim": "c3"
    }
  ],
  "evidence_tier": "primary",
  "evidence": {
    "level": "theoretical",
    "source_types": [
      "paper"
    ]
  },
  "moat_flag": false,
  "winning_edge": "Four passages, each quoted, are the whole of Bellona in the two epics — which lets an agent say exactly how much the poets give her and how much later handbooks add.",
  "confidence": 0.92,
  "last_verified": "2026-09-03",
  "media": [],
  "x": {
    "myth": {
      "pantheon": "roman",
      "kind": "deity",
      "group": "other",
      "domains": [
        "war",
        "bloodshed",
        "battle frenzy"
      ],
      "symbols": [
        "scourge",
        "torch",
        "blood"
      ],
      "wikidata": "Q207234"
    }
  },
  "canonical_url": "https://mythosdata.dev/k/bellona",
  "api_url": "https://mythosdata.dev/api/k/bellona.json",
  "jsonld": {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "name": "Bellona",
    "description": "Roman goddess of war, Mars's companion in the Latin poets: \"grim Bellona\" calls Aeneas to the fighting in burning Troy, Juno promises Lavinia a bridal bed lit by \"Bellona's blaze\", and on the shield of Aeneas she \"waves her sanguinary scourge\" beside Discordia at Actium; in Ovid she drenches a wedding hall in blood.",
    "url": "https://mythosdata.dev/k/bellona",
    "license": "https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html",
    "dateModified": "2026-09-03",
    "citation": [
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "Ovid, Metamorphoses — tr. Brookes More (1922), Perseus TEI edition",
        "url": "https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-latinLit/blob/master/data/phi0959/phi006/phi0959.phi006.perseus-eng3.xml"
      },
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "Virgil, Aeneid — tr. Theodore C. Williams (1910), Perseus TEI edition",
        "url": "https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-latinLit/blob/master/data/phi0690/phi003/phi0690.phi003.perseus-eng2.xml"
      }
    ],
    "@type": "Article",
    "headline": "Bellona"
  }
}