Angerona

In Roman mythology, Angerona or Angeronia was an old Roman goddess, whose name and functions are variously explained. According to ancient authorities, she was a goddess who relieved men from pain and sorrow, or delivered the Romans and their flocks from angina (quinsy); or she was the protecting goddess of Rome and the keeper of the sacred name of the city, which might not be pronounced lest it should be revealed to her enemies; it was even thought that Angerona itself was this name. Modern scholars regard her as a goddess akin to Ops, Acca Larentia and Dea Dia; or as the goddess of the new year and the returning sun (according to Mommsen, ab angerendo = ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναφέρεσθαι. τὸν ἥλιον). Her festival, called Divalia or Angeronalia, was celebrated on the 21st of December. The priests offered sacrifice in the temple of Volupia , the goddess of pleasure, in which stood a statue of Angerona, with a finger on her mouth, which was bound and closed (Macrobius i. 10; Pliny, Nat. Hist. iii. 9; Varro, L. L. vi. 23). She was worshipped as Ancharia at Faesulae , where an altar belonging to her has been discovered.

In art, she was depicted with a bandaged mouth and a finger pressed to her lips, demanding silence.