In ancient Etruscan and Roman mythology, Mania (), also spelled Manea, was a goddess of the dead, spirits and chaos: she was said to be the mother of ghosts, the undead, and other spirits of the night, as well as the Lares and the Manes. She, along with Mantus (), ruled the underworld.
Mania, along with the Lares, were given offerings to turn their focus so they would not harm the living, leaving the people spared. This event occurred during Saturnalia.
Etymology Her name links her to the Manes, Mana Genita, and Manius.Roger D. Woodard, Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult (University of Illinois Press, 2006), pp. 116–117.
Both the Greek and Latin Mania derive from PIE (Proto-Indo-European) *men-, "to think." Cognates include Ancient Greek , and Avestan .
See also Mother of the Lares () – Roman chthonic goddess identified with Mania by Varro Roman festivals Lemuria (festival)
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