Fortuna

Fortuna, called by the Greeks Tyche, was in classical mythology the goddess of Chance. According to Hesiod, she was a daughter of Oceanus; according to Pindar, a sister of the Parcae. She differed from Destiny or Fate in so far that she worked without law, giving or taking away at her own good pleasure, and dispensing joy or sorrow indifferently. She had temples at Smyrna, Corinth, and Elis. In Italy she was extensively worshipped from a very early period, and had many titles, such as Patricia, Plebeia, Equestris, Virilis, Primigenia, Publica, Privata, Multiebris, Virginensis, &c., indicating the extent and also the minuteness of her superintendence. Particular honours were paid to her at Antium and Præneste; in the temple of the former city two statues of her were even consulted as oracles. Greek poets and sculptors generally represented her with a rudder, as a symbol of her guiding power; or with a ball, or wheel, or wings, as a symbol of her mutability. The Romans proudly affirmed that when she entered their city she threw away her globe, and put off her wings and shoes, to indicate that she meant to dwell with them for ever. See Dreschler's exhaustive article in part ix. (1886) of Roscher's Lexicon der Mythologie.