This article is about the mythological and classical depiction and meaning of rudders. For the navigational instruments through history, seerudder.
Agubernaculum in classical references describes a ship'srudder[1] or steering oar.[2] The English wordgovernment[3] is related to the word. The Old English word governail[4] and the Scots word gouernaill[5] are both derived from it.
The ancient rudder's different parts were distinguished by the following names: ansa, the handle; clavus, the shaft; pinna, the blade.[6] The famous shipTessarakonteres or "Forty" is said to have had four rudders. In the Bible, Paul's ship, which was shipwrecked on Malta, had its rudders (plural)[7] cut loose.[8]
Various gods such as Tritons and Venus have been shown with a gubernaculum.[9] It is most associated withFortuna since, along with thecornucopia, it is an item that she is often depicted as holding. The corresponding Greek godTyche is also regularly shown with a gubernaculum. There are abundant depictions of Fortuna holding the gubernaculum on coins, in paintings, on altars and statues or statuettes.
Fortuna is depicted on around 1000[10] different Roman coins usually holding a gubernaculum.[11]
Statuette[15] of the Roman goddessFortuna, with gubernaculum (ship's rudder),[16]Rota Fortunae (wheel of fortune) andcornucopia (horn of plenty) found near the altar at Castlecary in 1771.[17]
In mythology the rudder, which the goddess can steer, represents control of the changeable fortunes of life. Plato used the metaphor of turning theShip of State with a rudder. In the Biblical book of James, the author compares the tongue with a ship's rudder which, though physically small, makes great boasts.[18]
^Conybeare, William John; Howson, John Saul (1861).The life and epistles of St. Paul. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts. p. 371. Retrieved13 October 2017.
^"Fortuna Coins".Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE). American Numismatic Society and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. Retrieved12 October 2017.
^"statuette of Fortuna".Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery Collections: GLAHM F.43. University of Glasgow. Archived fromthe original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved13 October 2017.
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![Statuette[15] of the Roman goddess Fortuna, with gubernaculum (ship's rudder),[16] Rota Fortunae (wheel of fortune) and cornucopia (horn of plenty) found near the altar at Castlecary in 1771.[17]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aTitulihunteriani00macdrich_raw_0143.png)
