Plutarch alone has left some examination of the nature of the goddess, deriving Mana from the Latin verb manare, "to flow", an etymology which the Roman grammarian Verrius Flaccus[3] also relates to the goddess Mania mentioned by Varro,[4] and to the Manes, the souls of the departed.
In a Greek equivalence perspective, Plutarch, on account of the bitch sacrifice, loosely connects the goddess to Hekate[5] and in parallel notes that Argive sacrificial practice (using dogs) makes as well for an interesting comparison for her with Eilioneia, meaning the birth goddess Eileithyia.
Horace also links her to Eileithyia in carmen saeculare[6] Some modern commentators have elaborated on the "Genita" and "Mana" qualifiers, to suggest she were a goddess who could determine whether infants were born alive or dead.
[8] Some have compared it to the Oscan Deiua Geneta (birth goddess), while still others deem that Genita Mana may be only a vague epithet like Bona Dea rather than an actual theonym.
Or, because the dead are gracefully called "the good," are they in veiled language asking in their prayer that none of their household may die?