BONA DEA. — Originally an epithet of a goddess who protected pastures and woods, she was identified, after the conquest of Tarentum (271 B.C.), with Damia, a Greek divinity whose cult was reserved exclusively to women (Macrobius, Sat., I, 12, 27; Plutarch, Quaest. rom., 20).
The festival of B. D. was celebrated at night (women only being admitted) at the beginning of December; her priestess was called Damiatrix (Festus, s. v.; De har. resp., 8, 37). A sow and a libation of wine were offered to her, though the wine was called "milk." The temple, believed to have been on the Aventine, is of unknown foundation date, though not later than the 4th century B.C. It still stood in the 4th century A.D.
B. D. also shared with Damia healing powers; indeed, a dispensary for women was attached to her temple, as attested by various inscriptions.