Dame Fortune is a goddess or spirit whom some believe brings luck and fortune to the lucky few.
Background[]
She is a mercurial lover--fickle and fast to flit away.[1] She only showers luck on those she deems fit, often those who show both physical and mental strength.[2] Alexander often found dame Fortune sitting on his shoulder. Fortune never says good-bye; one finds out it has deserted them just as they need her the most. That is usually when one begins meeting the bad things.[3]
In Daventry, the poor man's idea of a great tale involved a tradesman or poor farmer falling in with a fairy and thus gaining a fortune overnight. How many wild-eyed dreamers have spent their days searching out such instant prosperity instead of buckling down and taking the long road to that end?[4]
While many can handle adversity well, sudden good fortune can be the unkindness gift of all.
Behind the scenes[]
Probably inspired by Fortuna the roman God of Fortune, and personifiaiton of luck. But Tyche would be the greek equivalent.
Fortune differs terminologically from destiny and fate in that it has more to do with specific occurrences and outcomes, whereas destiny ultimately revolves around death rather than the events of one’s life. In Hellenistic civilization, the chaotic and unforeseeable turns of chance gave increasing prominence to a previously less notable goddess, Tyche (literally "Luck"), who embodied the good fortune of a city and all whose lives depended on its security and prosperity, two good qualities of life that appeared to be out of human reach. The Roman image of Fortuna, with the wheel she blindly turned, was retained by Christian writers, revived strongly in the Renaissance and survives in some forms today