Lara (mythology)

Lara, also called Lala: talker (from the Greek λαλέω, "to speak"), Laranda , Larunda or Tácita is, in Roman mythology, the name of a naiad, daughter of the oceanic Almón and famous for both her beauty and her charlatanry.. This last defect, which her parents had tried to correct, made her incapable of keeping any secrets. Jupiter having fallen in love with Yuturna, she could not satisfy her desires, because the nymph threw herself into the Tiber to hide from him. Then Jupiter called all the naiads to his aid and begged them to prevent Yuturna from hiding on its shores. The naiads fulfilled this request, with the exception of Lara, who in addition to warning Yuturna, she went to Juno, Jupiter's wife, and told her about the god's dalliances.

As punishment for her indiscretion, Jupiter tore out her tongue and ordered Mercury to lock her in hell. On the way, he rapes her, taking advantage of her inability to call for help. She gave birth to two twins, called the lares, who guarded the crossroads and watched over the cities.

Due to her long stay in the underworld, Lara involuntarily became a chthonic nymph, and over time Numa Pompilius began her cult as Tacita, the silent goddess (Dea Muta), convinced that In the good government of a nation this goddess was as necessary as that of eloquence.