The rites remained a subject of male curiosity and speculation, both religious and prurient. Starting from the VIII Century BC, peoples from the Peloponnese colonized the eastern coasts of Calabria, founding the first Hellenistic centers, which then expanded into a network of cities that made up the colonies of Magna Graecia: Hipponion, Kaulon, Krimisa, Kroton, Locri Epizefiri, Medma, Methauros, Rhegion. The latter festival came to scandalous prominence in 62 BC, when the politician Clodius Pulcher was tried for his intrusion on the rites, allegedly bent on the seduction of Julius Caesar's wife, whom Caesar later divorced because 'Caesar's wife must be above suspicion'. Calabria was, along with Sicily, the pulsating, vital heart of Magna Graecia. One was held at her Aventine temple the other was hosted by the wife of Rome's senior annual magistrate, for an invited group of elite matrons and female attendants. Most often, she was identified as the wife, sister or daughter of the god Faunus, thus an equivalent or aspect of the nature-goddess Fauna, who could prophesy the fates of women. Given that male authors had limited knowledge of her rites and attributes, ancient speculations about her identity abound, among them that she was an aspect of Terra, Ops, the Magna Mater, or Ceres, or a Latin form of Damia. Men were barred from her mysteries and the possession of her true name. According to modern historian Mogens Herman Hansen, more than 46 Greek colonies were founded in Sicily and more than 22 in southern Italy. From 700 BC to 500 BC the Greek colonies in the regions of Sicily and present-day mainland Italy multiplied, creating the area known as Magna Graecia. According to Roman literary sources, she was brought from Magna Graecia at some time during the early or middle Republic, and was given her own state cult. Southern Mediterranean and Magna Graecia. She was associated with chastity and fertility in women, healing, and the protection of the Roman state and people. Her rites allowed women the use of strong wine and blood-sacrifice, things otherwise forbidden them by Roman tradition. Bona Dea (The Good Goddess) was a divinity in ancient Roman religion. According to Roman literary sources, she was brought from Magna Graecia at some time during the early or middle Republic, and was given her own state cult on the Aventine Hill.

Divers at Riace Marina on the Ionian sea found them in 1972.

The most impressive exhibits in this collection are two large (about 8 foot) bronze statues of naked warriors straight out of myth. Bona Dea was a divinity in ancient Roman religion. The Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria houses a remarkable assortment of relics from Magna Graecia.

Bona dea magna graecia