Pomona
Pomona names 5 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Pomona in Roman mythology
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
in Roman mythology, a beautiful wood nymph, who presided over fruit trees. Many a suitor sought her, but she would have none of them. Unlike her companions, who preferred the deep wood, she loved the open near the dwellings of man. The lemon, the lime, the grape, and especially the apple, were her delight. Diana loved to hunt with a javelin in her hand, but Pomona bore a pruning knife with which to trim and graft. This goddess of the orchard led streams by the roots of her favorite trees that they might drink. Her shy, modest ways and her final wooing by Vertumnus form a delightful chapter in the history of myths. Vertumnus was the god of the seasons. Knowing that Pomona would avoid meeting anyone who came as a suitor, he disguised himself as a reaper; then as a vine-dresser; then as a driver, ox-goad in hand; and again as a fisherman, or a discharged soldier. In this way he saw Pomona frequently and each time wished the more ardently to win her; but his suit advanced not at all, for Pomona did not recognize him as a lover and if she had would have fled his presence. At last Vertumnus disguised himself as an old, gray-haired woman leaning on a staff. The old woman was admitted readily to Pomona's garden, where she kissed the nymph and sat down to rest. She won Pomona's favor by praising her vines and fruit trees. Then she talked with her of marriage and advised the nymph to accept one of her many suitors. Then she began skillfully to praise Vertumnus, and finally told a heartrending tale of an unhappy lover, his tragic death, and the terrible fate of the cruel lady he had loved and whom the gods turned to stone that her form might be like the stony heart she had shown herself to possess. Just at the right moment Vertumnus threw off his disguise, and Pomona's heart was won.
Pomona A nymph at Rome
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A nymph at Rome, who was supposed to preside over gardens and to be the goddess of fruit trees. Pompeii or Pompeium. A town of Campania . It was partly destroyed by an earthquake A. D. 63, and sixteen years afterward it was overwhelmed by ashes and lava from an eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Herculaneum, in its vicinity, shared the same fate. Pompeius, Cneius. Son of Pompeius Strabo 15 and Lucilia, surnamed Magnus from his exploits. In the contentions which existed between Marius and Sylla, Pompey linked himself with the latter. Subsequently he united his interest with that of Caesar and Crassus, thus forming the first triumvirate. A breach soon occurred, and at the great battle of Pharsalia, where the forces of Caesar and Pompey met, the latter was totally defeated, and fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated in the fifty-eighth year of his age, B. c. 48. He left two sons, Cneius and Sextus, who at their father's death were masters of a powerful army with which they opposed: Caesar, but were defeated at the battle of Munda, where Cneius was slain. Sextus escaped, and was put to death by Antony about в. c. 35. Pontus Euxinus, or simply Pontus (The Black Sea ). The great inland sea inclosed by Asia Minor on the south, Colchis on the east, Sarmatia on the north, and Dacia and Thracia on the west, and having no other outlet than the narrow Bosporus Thracius in its southwest corner. ason tint to
Pomona the Roman divinity of the fruit (pomum) of trees
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the Roman divinity of the fruit (pomum) of trees. She was beloved by several of the rustic divinities, as Sylvanus, Picus, and Vertumnus. Varro tells us that at Rome the worship of Pomona was under the care of a special priest, the flamen Pomonalis. In works of art she was generally represented with fruits in her lap, or in a basket, with a garland of fruits in her hair, and a pruning knife in her right hand.
Pomona the largest and most populous of the Orkney Islands
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the largest and most populous of the Orkney Islands; length from N. W. to S. E., 23 miles; extreme breadth, about 15 miles, but at the town of Kirkwall only about 2½ miles; area, 150 square miles. Pop. 17,165. The surface is covered in great part by moor and heath, but good pasture is also to be found and in the valleys a good loamy soil occurs. The principal towns are Kirkwall and Stromness.
Pomona a city of California
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city of California, the county seat of Los Angeles co. It is on the Southern Pacific and the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake railroads. Its attractive situation and healthful climate make it a popular health resort. It is the center of an important fruitgrowing region. Pomona College is in the neighborhood. It has a handsome park and a public library. Pop. (1910) 10,207; (1920) 13,505.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The mythological entries still stand: Ovid's tale of Vertumnus wooing Pomona in the guise of an old woman is told today much as Aiton's did in 1910, and the flamen Pomonalis recorded by Varro remains the one solid scrap of evidence for her cult. The other two Pomonas have fared differently. The Orkney island Collier's called Pomona in 1921 is now known almost universally as Mainland, "Pomona" being an antiquarian coinage that has fallen out of everyday use, though Kirkwall and Stromness are still its chief towns. And Pomona, California, then a fruit-growing health resort of 13,505 people, is now a city of over 150,000 in the Los Angeles conurbation, its citrus groves long since built over; Collier's slip in calling it the county seat of Los Angeles County was never true — that has always been Los Angeles itself, though Pomona has long housed a county courthouse.
Written for this edition, 2026.