Greek and Roman Mythology
Greek and Roman mythology was intertwined in many ways. The Ancient Greeks and Romans worshiped many of the same mythical gods and goddesses and they had some of the same heroes. The names and stories of some of them varied and there were some which they did not share but many of them they did share. It is believed that the Ancient Greek did not know how the universe came into being so they made up the myths and gods to compensate the emptiness in their minds. They wanted something to believe in so they made up the stories about how they believed it all began.
It appears to them that in the beginning, there was only Chaos. Chaos was a dark abyss like emptiness which had no sound, shape, and no life sign of life. Chaos created Uranus (also known as the Sky, the Heavens, and Ouranos), Eros (Desire), and Gaea (Ge, Mother Earth, the Earth, and Gaia). Uranus and Gaea married and gave birth to the first original 12 Titans, the 3 Cyclopes, and the 3 Hecatonchires. The 12 Titans consisted of 6 males and 6 females. They paired off and married, except for two of them. The Titans gave birth to the first Olypians. Zeus was the ruler of the Olympians and his father and mother were Cronus and Rhea, two of the first Titans.
The Greeks worshiped some gods and the Romans worshiped others, and there were many that both the Greeks and Romans worshiped, built temples and statues, and made sacrifices to. Some of the many gods and goddesses that they shared were:
Zeus (Greek) – Jupiter Jove (Roman) - Lord of the Sky, other Gods, Thunder, Rain, and Cloud gatherer.
Hera (Greek) - Juno (Roman) - Protector of Marriage
Poseidon (Greek - Neptune (Roman) - Ruler of the sea and horses
Hades, Polydectes (Greek) - Pluto (Roman) - God of the Underworld and precious metals
Pallas Athena (Greek) - Minerva (Roman) - Goddess of the City, Education, Science, and War
Phoebus Apollo (Greek) - Apollo (Roman) - God of Sun, Truth, Healing, and Music
Artemis, Orthia, Phoebe (Greek) - Diana (Roman) - Goddess of Wild Things, Hunter-In-Chief
Aphrodite, Anadyomene (Greek - Venus (Roman) - Goddess of Love and Beauty
Ares (Greek) - Mars (Roman)- God of War
Hermes, Psychopompus (Greek) - Mercury (Roman) - God of Commerce and Market, also Zeus’ Messenger
Enyo (Greek) - Bellona (Roman) - Lesser Goddess of War
This is just a few of the many gods and goddesses the Greeks and the Romans shared. Some of those which were only worshiped by the Greeks were: Hymen, Hebe, Iris, Hygea, Aeolus, Pontus, Nereus, Triton, Ate, Nemesis, Hespera, Morpheus, and Fama. Some of those worshiped only by the Romans were Priapus, Libitina, Juventus,Terminus, Priapus, Pales, Sylvanus, Saturn, Janus, Pomona, Vertumnus, Flora, and more.
|