Belphoebe Belphoebe Belphoebe (or "Belphebe", "Belphœbe") is a character in Edmund Spenser's poem "The Faerie Queene" (1590), a representation of Queen Elizabeth I (conceived of, however, as a pure, high-spirited maiden, rather than a queen). Spenser intended her name to mean "beautiful Diana" (Phoebe being an epithet of the Greek moon goddess Artemis, who was known to the Romans as Diana), and it is suggested that she is a member of Poseidon's family. A virgin huntress, Belphoebe can certainly fight, as a potential rapist found out. She is the stronger, militant sister of Amoret. Belphoebe is mentioned in Kipling's poem "The
Iana (goddess) to "Dianium", referring to either a shrine or the Temple of Diana on the Aventine Hill. Diana is one of the Roman goddesses most often identified with the moon, but Usener thought Iana might be better identified with Juno Lucina. The Church Father Tertullian, however, calls Iana a "diva arquis", "goddess of arches" (Latin "arcus" or "arquus", "arch; rainbow"). The arch as a passageway or portal suggests Iana as the female counterpart of Janus, whose role as a "doorkeeper" includes functions pertaining to time and the heavens. Varro's contemporary Nigidius Figulus identified Janus with Apollo and Iana with Diana. W.H.