Mefitis was a Samnite and Oscian goddess from before Roman times, presiding over poisonous gases emitted from the ground, particularly in swamps and volcanic vapours. The area of her sanctuary is mentioned by Virgil as the entrance to the Underworld, boars were sacred to her, and she’s sometimes associated with healing. Marcus Terentius Varro, a famed Roman scholar, mentions a Grove of Mefitis on the Esquiline in Rome alongside an altar to Mala Fortuna (misfortune) and Febris, the goddess of fevers.
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