[tied] Re: Mater theia

I just thought to check Dumezil's "Archaic Roman
Religion" which I had dug out to answer Alex's inquiry about
Angerona (btw, Alex, why "Di Indigetes" on the subject line?
Angerona was no Dea Indiges), and found some discussion of 'mundus'.
"The term /mundus/, which was called to such a far-reaching
destiny, was reserved for two things, or types of things. On the one
hand, the ditch, closed forever, into which, at the time of the
foundation of the city, Romulus, following a ritual which was said
to be Etruscan had thrown ' first-fruits of all things the use of
which was sanctioned by custom as good and by nature as
necessary. ... On the other hand a trench (or several?) which gave
access to that subterranean world of which the ancient Romans do not
seem to have made any coherent representations (p. 351)".
Dumezil quotes Festus, who cites Cato as
saying "the /mundus/ owes its name to the /mundus/ (vault of heaven)
which is above us; actually, as I have been able to learn from those
who have entered it, it has a shape similar to that of the
other /mundus/."
I presume to doubt Cato. The ditch-pit /mundus/ certainly
looks to be Etruscan. If Dumezil, by his "far-reaching destiny"
implies he thought all the meanings of /mundus/ have climbed out of
the pit, I thinks he's wrong too.
Dan