Di Penates
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Encyclopedic overview
Aeneas and the Penates, from a 4th-century manuscript In ancient Roman religion, the Di Penates ( Latin: [ˈdiː pɛˈnaːteːs]) or Penates (English: /pɪˈneɪtiːz/ pin-AY-teez) were among the dii familiares, or household deities, invoked most often in domestic rituals. When the family had a meal, they threw a bit into the fire on the hearth for the Penates. They were thus associated with Vesta, the Lares, and the Genius of the pater familias in the "little universe" of the domus.
Like other domestic deities, the Penates had a public counterpart.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Di Penates” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.