Roman mythology founded Roman religion; Numa was believed to have had as his consort and adviser a Roman goddess or nymph of fountains and of prophecy, Egeria. The Etruscan-influenced Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva later became central to official religion, replacing the Archaic Triad — an unusual example within Indo-European religion of a supreme triad formed of two female deities and only one male. The cult of Diana became established on the Aventine Hill, but the most famous Roman manifestation of this goddess may be Diana Nemorensis, owing to the attention paid to her cult by J.G. Frazer in the
Nyctimene (mythology) Nyctimene (mythology) Nyctimene was, according to Roman mythology, the daughter of Epopeus, a king of Lesbos. Depending on which version of the story one reads, she was either raped or seduced by her father. Out of shame or guilt, she fled to the forest and refused to show her face in daylight. Taking pity on her, Minerva transformed her into the nocturnal owl which, in time, became a widespread symbol of the goddess. In "Metamorphoses", Cornix (the crow) complains that her place as Minerva's sacred bird is being usurped by Nyctimene, who is so ashamed of herself that she will