Roman Gods
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Apollo- a god in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis (goddess of the hunt). In later times he became in part confused or equated with Helios, god of the sun, and his sister similarly equated with Selene, goddess of the moon in religious contexts. But Apollo and Helios/Sol remained quite separate beings in literary/mythological texts. In Etruscan mythology, he was known as Aplu. -
he was in charge of prophecys am i right?and isn't he a greek god?
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Bacchus - God of wine
Dionysus or Dionysos also known as Bacchus in both Greek and Roman mythology and associated with the Italic Liber), the Thracian god of wine, represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficent influences. He is viewed as the promoter of civilization, a lawgiver, and lover of peace — as well as the patron deity of both agriculture and the theater.
Greeks borrowed Dionysus' figure and within the Olympian tradition he is made to be the son of Zeus and Semele; other versions of the story contend that he is the son of Zeus and Persephone. -
Goddess of Agriculture
Ceres, in Roman mythology, equivalent to the Greek Demeter (see which for more details), daughter of Saturn and Rhea, wife-sister of Jupiter, mother of Proserpina by Jupiter, sister of Juno, Vesta, Neptune and Pluto, and patron of Sicily.
Ceres was the goddess of growing plants (particularly cereals) and of motherly love. She is said to have been adopted by the Romans in 496 BC during a devastating famine, when the Sibylline books advised the adoption of the Greek goddesses Demeter, Kore (Persephone) and Iacchus (possibly Dionysus).
She was personified and celebrated by women in secret rituals at the festival of Ambarvalia, held during May. There was a temple to Ceres on the Aventine Hill in Rome. Her primary festival was the Cerealia or Ludi Ceriales ("games of Ceres"), instituted in the 3rd century BC and held annually on April 12 to April 19. The worship of Ceres became particularly associated with the plebeian classes, who dominated the corn trade. Little is known about the rituals of Cerelean worship; one of the few customs which has been recorded was the peculiar practice of tying lighted brands to the tails of foxes which were then let loose in the Circus Maximus.
She had twelve minor gods who assisted her, and were in charge of specific aspects of farming: "Vervactor who turns fallow land, Reparator who prepares fallow land, Imporcitor who plows with wide furrows" (whose name comes from the Latin imporcare, to put into furrows), "Insitor who sowed, Obarator who plowed the surface, Occator who harrowed, Sarritor who weeded, Subruncinator who thinned out, Messor who harvested, Conuector who carted, Conditor who stored, and Promitor who distributed"[1]
She was depicted in art with a scepter, a basket of flowers and fruit, and a garland made of wheat ears.
The word cereals derives from Ceres, commemorating her association with edible grains. The name Ceres comes from the Indo-European root "ker", meaning "to grow", which is also the root for the words "create" and "increase". The asteroid 1 Ceres is named after this goddess, and subsequently a chemical element was named Cerium in turn. Ceres had begged Jupiter that Sicily be placed in the heavens; the result, because the island is triangular in shape, was the constellation Triangulum, an early name of which was Sicilia. -
Cupid - God of love
Cupid is the god of erotic love. He is equated with the Greek God Eros and one of his Latin names is Eros. He is also called Amor, Latin for love.
There are differing stories about his parentage. Cicero provides three different lineages: son of Mercury (Hermes) and Diana (Artemis), son of Mercury and Venus (Aphrodite), and son of Mars (Ares in Greek mythology) and Venus. Plato mentions two of these, and Hesiod's Theogony, the most ancient Greek theoography, says that Cupid was created coevally with Chaos and the earth.
Throughout ancient mythological writing, there appear to be either two Cupids or two sides to the figure of Cupid. One is the son of Jupiter (Zeus) and Venus. He is a lively youth who delights in pranks and spreading love. The other is a son of Nyx and Erebus, and he is known for riotous debauche -
Diana - Goddess of the moon and hunting
Diana was the equivalent in Roman mythology of the Greek Artemis (see Roman/Greek equivalency in mythology for more details). She was the daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and the twin sister of Apollo. Both were born on the island Delos.
Diana was the perpetual virgin goddess of the hunt, associated with wild animals and forests. She was also a moon goddess, and an emblem of chastity. Oak groves were especially sacred to her. She was praised for her strength, athletic grace, beauty and her hunting skills. With two other Roman deities she made up a trinity: Egeria the water nymph, her servant and assistant midwife; and Virbius, the woodland god.
Diana was worshipped in a temple on the Aventine Hill and at the city of Ephesus where stood the Temple of Artemis. (At the city of Ephesus Jesus' mother, the virgin Mary, was officially decreed to be the Mother of God). Diana was regarded with great reverence by lower-class citizens and slaves. Slaves could receive asylum in her temples. She was worshipped at a festival on August 13.
Diana remains an important figure in some modern mythologies. In Freemasonry, she is considered a symbol of imagination, sensibility, and the creative insanity of poets and artists. Those who believe that prehistoric peoples lived in matriarchal societies consider Diana to have originated in a mother goddess worshipped at that time, and she is still worshiped today by women practicing the religion known as Dianic Wicca. -
Fortuna - Goddess of luck
In Roman mythology, Fortuna (Greek equivalent Tyche) was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck, but she could be represented veiled and blind, as modern depictions of Justice are seen, and came to represent the capriciousness of life.
Fortuna had a retinue that included Copia among her blessings. Under the name Annonaria she protected grain supplies. In the Roman calendar, June 11 was sacred to Fortuna, with a greater festival to Fors Fortuna on the 24th [1].
Fortuna was propitiated by mothers. Traditionally her cult was introduced to Rome by Servius Tullius. Fortuna had a temple in the Forum Boarium, a public sanctuary on the Quirinalis, as the tutelary genius of Roma herself, Fortuna Populi Romani, the "Fortune of the Roman people", and an oracle in Praeneste where the future was chosen by a small boy choosing oak rods with possible futures written on them.
All over the Roman world, Fortuna was worshipped at a great number of shrines under various titles that were applied to her according to the various circumstances of life in which her influence was hoped to have a positive effect. Fortuna was not always positive: she was doubtful (Fortuna Dubia); she could be "fickle fortune" (Fortuna Brevis), or downright evil luck (Fortuna Mala).
Her name seems to derive from the Italic goddess Vortumna, "she who revolves the year". -
Janus - God of doors
In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. His most apparant remnant in modern culture is his namesake, the month of January. Though he was usually depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions (Janus Geminus (twin Janus) or Bifrons), in some places he was Janus Quadrifrons (the four-faced). The Romans associated Janus with the Etruscan deity Ani.
Janus was frequently used to symbolize change and transitions such as the progression of past to future, of one condition to another, of one vision to another, and of one universe to another. Hence, Janus was worshipped at the beginnings of the harvest and planting times, as well as marriages, births and other beginnings. He was representative of the middle ground between barbarity and civilization, rural country and urban cities, and youth and adulthood.
Janus was supposed to have come from Thessaly in Greece and shared a kingdom with Camese in Latium. They had many children, including Tiberinus. Janus and his later wife, Juturna, were the parents of Fontus. Another wife was named Jana. Historically, however, he was one of the few Roman gods who had no ready made Greek counterpart, or analogous mythology.
As the sole ruler of Latium, Janus heralded the Golden Age, introducing money, laws and agriculture (making him a culture hero).
When Romulus and his men kidnapped the women of the Sabines, Janus caused a hot spring to erupt, causing the would-be attackers to flee. In honor of this, the doors to his temples were kept open during war so that he could easily intervene. The doors and gates were closed during peace. -
how bout Zeus? or how bout doing greek gods too.
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Juno - Queen of the gods
Juno was the equivalent of the Greeks' Hera, queen of the gods.
Every year, on the first of March, women held a festival in honor of Juno called the Matronalia. Another festival in her honor, the Nonae Caprotinae ("The Nones of the Wild Fig") was held on July 7. Many people consider the month of June, which is named after the goddess who is the patroness of marriage, to be the most favorable time to marry.
Juno's own warlike aspect among the Romans is apparent in her attire. She often appeared armed and wearing a goatskin cloak, which was the garment favoured by Roman soldiers on campaign. This warlike aspect was assimilated from the Greek goddess Athena, whose goatskin was called the aegis.
Juno was called Regina ("queen"). As Juno Moneta ("she who warns"), she protected the finances of the Roman Empire. Lucina was an epithet for Juno as "she who brings children into light". -
Jupiter- king of gods
In Roman mythology, Jupiter (sometimes shortened to Jove) held the same role as Zeus in the Greek pantheon. He was called Jupiter Optimus Maximus (Jupiter Best and Greatest) as the patron deity of the Roman state, in charge of laws and social order.
This article focuses on Jupiter in early Rome and in cultic practice. For information on mythological accounts of Jupiter, which are heavily influenced by Greek mythology, see Zeus.
The name of the god was also adopted as the name of the planet Jupiter and was the original namesake of the weekday that would come to be known as Thursday. -
Maia - Goddess of growth
Maia, in Greek mythology, is the eldest of the Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. She and her sisters, born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, are sometimes called mountain goddesses. Maia was the oldest, most beautiful and shyest.
In a cave of Cyllene Maia became by Zeus the mother of the god Hermes. The story is told in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes.
After giving birth to the baby, Maia wrapped him in blankets and went to sleep. The rapidly-maturing infant Hermes crawled away to Thessaly, where by nightfall of his first day he stole some of Apollo's cattle and invented a lyre. Maia refused to believe Apollo when he claimed Hermes was the thief and Zeus then sided with Apollo. Finally, Apollo exchanged the cattle for the lyre.
Maia also raised the infant Arcas to protect him from Hera, who had turned his mother, Callisto into a bear. -
Mars - God of war (originally agriculture)
Mars was Roman god of war, the son of Juno and a magical flower (or Jupiter). Initially the Roman god of fertility and vegetation, and protector of cattle, he later became associated with battle. He is identified with the Greek god Ares. As the god of spring, when his major festivals were held, he presided over agriculture in general. In his warlike aspect, Mars was offered sacrifices before combat and was said to appear on the battlefield accompanied by Bellona, a warrior goddess variously identified as his wife, sister or daughter or cousin. His wife was also said to be Nerio. -
Mercury - Messenger of the gods
Mercury was believed to be a god, also known as the god of trade, profit and commerce. His name is apparently derived from the Latin merx or mercator, a merchant. He is very similar to the Greek god Hermes and the Etruscan Turms.
Mercury's temple in the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine hills, was built in 495 BC. This was a fitting place to worship a god of trade and swiftness, since it was a major center of commerce as well as a racetrack. Since it stood between the plebeian stronghold on the Aventine and the patrician center on the Palatine, it also emphasized the role of Mercury as a mediator.
On May 15, the Mercuralia was held in his honor; merchants sprinkled water from his sacred well near the Porta Capena on their heads.
Mercury became extremely popular among the nations the Roman Empire conquered. In the Roman syncretism, he was equated with the Celtic god Lugus and the Germanic god Wotan.
He was called Mercuriuslisten (♫
in Latin and was also known as Alipes ("with the winged feet").
Often identified in Classical art by his characteristic petasos and caduceus. -
Minerva - Goddess of wisdom
Minerva was a Roman goddess of crafts and wisdom. -
Neptune (Poseidon) God of the sea
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In the historical period, Poseidon was often referred to by the epithets Enosichthon, Seischthon and Ennosigaios, all meaning "earth-shaker" and referring to his role in causing earthquakes.
Poseidon was a major civic god of several cities: in Athens, he was second only to Athena in importance; while in Corinth and many cities of Magna Graecia he was the chief god of the polis.
According to Pausanias, Poseidon was one of the caretakers of the Oracle at Delphi before Olympian Apollo took it over. Apollo and Poseidon worked closely in many realms: in colonization, for example, Apollo provided the authorization to go out and settle from Delphi, while Poseidon watched over the colonists on their way, and provided the lustral water for the foundation-sacrifice. Xenophon's Anabasis describes a groups of Spartan soldiers singing Poseidon a paean - a kind of hymn normally sung for Apollo.
Like Dionysus and the Maenads, Poseidon also caused certain forms of mental disturbance. One Hippocratic text says that he was blamed for certain types of epilepsy.
Sailors prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage, sometimes drowning horses as a sacrifice.
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Role in society
When in a good mood, Poseidon created new islands and calm seas. When in a bad mood, he struck the ground with his trident and caused chaotic springs, earthquakes, drownings and shipwrecks.
Birth and Childhood
Poseidon was a son of Cronus and Rhea. Like his brothers and sisters save Zeus, Poseidon was swallowed by his father. He was regurgitated only after Zeus forced Cronus to vomit up the infants he had eaten. Zeus and his brothers and sisters, along with the Hecatonchires, Gigantes and Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans. According to other variants, Poseidon was raised by the Telchines on Rhodes, just as Zeus was raised by the Korybantes on Crete.
When the world was divided in three, Zeus received the earth and sky, Hades the underworld and Poseidon the sea.
Lovers
His wife was Amphitrite, daughter of Nereus and Doris.
Poseidon fell in love with Pelops, a beautiful youth, son of Tantalus. He took Pelops up to Olympus and made him his lover, even before Zeus did the same with Ganymede. To thank Pelops for his love, Poseidon later gave him a winged chariot, to use in the race against Oenomaus for the hand of Hippodamia.
Poseidon once pursued Demeter. She spurned his advances, turning herself into a mare so that she could hide in a flock of horses; he saw through the deception and became a stallion and captured her. Their child was a horse, Arion, which was capable of human speech.
Poseidon had an affair with Alope, his granddaughter through Cercyon, begetting Hippothoon. Cercyon had his daughter buried alive but Poseidon turned her into the spring, Alope, near Eleusis.
Poseidon rescued Amymone from a lecherous satyr and then fathered a child, Nauplius, by her.
A mortal woman named Tyro was married to Cretheus (with whom she had one son, Aeson) but loved Enipeus, a river god. She pursued Enipeus, who refused her advances. One day, Poseidon, filled with lust for Tyro, disguised himself as Enipeus and from their union was born Pelias and Neleus, twin boys.
With Medusa, Poseidon had sexual intercourse on the floor of a temple to Athena. Medusa was changed into a monster. When she was later beheaded by the hero Perseus, Chrysaor and Pegasus emerged from her neck.
After raping Caeneus, Poseidon fulfilled her request and changed her into a man. -
Pluto King of the underworld
Pluto is an alternate name for the Greek god Hades, but was more often used in Roman mythology in their presentation of the god of the underworld. He abducted Proserpina (Gr. Persephone), and her mother Ceres (Gr. Demeter) caused winter in her grief. He kidnapped Persephone so he could marry her. In later times he was largely seen as synonymous with the Greek god of the underworld Hades. Although often envisioned today as evil (due to the fact of his similarities to the Christian demon Satan), the Romans did not view him as such.
Unlike the Greek god Hades, Pluto was originally not the god of the underworld. Pluto stems from the Greek word "Ploutos" (god of wealth), and was considered by the Romans as the giver of gold, silver, and other subterranean substances (interestingly, his Latin name, Dis, also means "wealth"). Because these "gifts" were mined, Pluto became recognized as the god of the underworld, which in turn helped him become recognized as the god of the spiritual underworld and death. This brought about his mythological relationship to the Greek god Hades. Because the mythology of the gods is more known than the actual religious roles of the gods, Pluto is identified as the counterpart to the Greek Hades (which is only wholly true in Mythology).
Pluto (Greek: Πλούτων should not be confused with the Greek god Plutus (Πλοῦτος, the god of wealth (even though an etymological relationship is shared). The potential for confusion increases when it is taken into account that Pluto was also known as Dīs, a name which comes from a shortening of dīves, meaning "wealthy" which reflected the belief that the wealth from the ground came from the underworld. "Dīves" in turn derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *dyeu; this root is also the ultimate source of other deity names such as Jupiter, Diana, Zeus, Dione, Tiu, Tyr, Devi and Asmodai. -
Proserpine Queen of the underworld
Proserpina is an ancient goddess whose story is the basis of a myth of Springtime. She is the Roman equivalent of Persephone (qv). She was subsumed by the cult of Libera, an ancient fertility goddess, wife of Liber. Her name comes from proserpere meaning "to emerge." She is a life–death–rebirth deity.
She was the daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, and was described as a very enchanting young girl.
Venus, in order to bring love to Pluto, sent her son Amor to hit Pluto with one of his arrows. Proserpina was in Sicily, at the fountain of Aretusa near Enna, where she was playing with some nymphs and collecting flowers, when Pluto came out from the volcano Etna with four black horses. He abducted her in order to marry her and live with her in Hades, the Greek Underworld, of which he was the ruler. Notably, Pluto was also her uncle, being Jupiter's (and Ceres's) brother. She is therefore Queen of the Underworld.
Her mother Ceres, the goddess of cereals or of the Earth, vainly went looking for her in any corner of the Earth, but wasn't able to find anything but a small belt that was floating upon a little lake (made with the tears of the nymphs). In her desperation Ceres angrily stopped the growth of fruits and vegetables, bestowing a malediction on Sicily. Ceres refused to go back to Mount Olympus and started walking on the Earth, making a desert at every step.
Worried, Jupiter sent Mercury to order Pluto (Jupiter's brother) to free Proserpina. Pluto obeyed, but before letting her go, he made her eat six pomegranate seeds (a symbol of fidelity in marriage) so she would have to live six months of each year with him, and stay the rest with her mother. So this is the reason for Springtime: when Proserpina comes back to her mother, Ceres decorates the Earth with welcoming flowers, but when in Fall she has to go back to Hades, nature loses any colour.
The myth of Proserpina, mainly described by the Roman Claudianus (4th century AD) is closely connected with that of Orpheus and Eurydice — it is Proserpina, as Queen of Hades, who allows Orpheus enter and bring back to life his wife Eurydice who is dead by snake poison. Proserpina played her cetra to quiet Cerberus, but Orpheus did not respect her order never to look back, and Eurydice was lost -
Quirinus God of defense & the state
In Roman mythology, Quirinus was a mysterious god.
At first he probably was a Sabine god. Sabines had a settlement near the future site of Rome, and they called one of their sites, in which they had erected an altar, the Collis Quirinalis ("Quirinal Hill") after Quirinus; this area was later included among the Seven hills of Rome, and Quirinus became one of the most important gods of the state as the deified form of Romulus, the founder and first king of Rome.
His name derives from co-viri "men together"; as such, he embodied the military and economic strength of the Roman populus collectively. He also watched over the curia "senate house" and comitia curiata "tribal assembly", the names of which are cognate with his own.
Quirinus' wife was Hora.
In art, he was portrayed as a bearded man with religious and military clothing.
He was sometimes associated with the myrtle plant. -
Uranus God of the heavens
Ouranos is the Greek name of the sky, Latinized as Uranus. In Greek mythology it is personified as the son and husband of Gaia, Mother Earth. They were ancestors of most of the Greek gods.
Other sources claim a different parentage of Ouranos. Cicero, in his work De Natura Deorum claims that he was the offspring of the ancient gods Aether and Hemera. According to the Orphic Hymns, Ouranos was the son of the personification of night, Nyx.
His equivalent in Roman mythology was Coelus. He may have originally been the same Indo-European god as the Hindu Varuna.
Uranus imprisoned Gaia's youngest children in Tartarus. The one-hundred armed giants (Hecatonchires) and the one-eyed giants, the Cyclopes caused pain to Gaia. She shaped a great sickle and asked her sons Cronus and his brothers to castrate Uranus. Only Cronus was willing, he ambushed his father and castrated him, casting that which was severed into the sea. From that which spilled from Uranus onto the Earth came forth the Gigantes, Erinyes and Meliae. From that which was cast into the sea came forth Aphrodite. For this, Uranus called his sons Titanes Theoi, or "Straining Gods" for their fearful deed. After Uranus was deposed, Cronus re-imprisoned the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes in Tartarus. -
Venus Goddess of love
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, broadly, although not completely, equivalent to Greek Aphrodite and Etruscan Turan.
Her cult began in Ardea and Lavinium, Latium. On August 18, 293 BC, her oldest temple was built. August 18 was then a festival called the Vinalia Rustica. On April 1, the Veneralia was celebrated in honor of Venus Verticordia, the protector against vice. On April 23, 215 BC, a temple was built outside the Colline gate on the Capitol dedicated to Venus to commemorate the Roman defeat at the Battle of Lake Trasimene.
Julius Caesar introduced Venus Genetrix as a goddess of motherhood and domesticity.
Venus was often referred to with epithet Venus Erycina ("of the heather").
Venus became a popular subject of painting and sculpture during the Renaissance period in Europe. As a "classical" figure for whom nudity was her natural state, it was socially acceptable to depict her unclothed. As the goddess of sexual healing, a degree of erotic beauty in her presentation was justified, which had an obvious appeal to many artists and their patrons. Over time, "venus" came to refer to any artistic depiction of a nude woman, even when there was no indication that the subject was the goddess. -
Vesta Goddess of hearth
Vesta was the virgin goddess of the health, home, and family in Roman mythology, analogous to Hestia in Greek mythology. She has no distinct personality, plays no part in the myths and is never depicted: the sacred flame was her numinous presence.Vesta was introduced in Rome by King Numa Pupulusioas. She was a african Roman deity (some authors suggest received from the Sabine cults), sister of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, and presumably the daughter of Saturn and Ops (or Rea). However, the similarity with the cult of Greek Hestia is notable. Vesta too protected familial harmony and the res publica. Apollo and Neptune had asked for her in marriage, but she refused both, preferring to preserve her girly hood, whose symbol was the perpetually lit fire in her circular fane next to the Forum which the Romans always distinguished from a temple by calling it her "house".
As Goddess of the Hearth she was the symbol of the hearth, around which a newborn child must be carried before it could be received into the family. Every meal began and ended with an offering to her: -
Vulcan God of smithing
Vulcan, in Roman mythology, is the son of Jupiter and Juno, and husband of Maia and Venus. He was god of fire and volcanoes, and the manufacturer of art, arms, iron, and armor for gods and heroes. Vulcan's analogue in Greek mythology is the god Hephaestus. He is also called Mulciber ("softener") in Roman mythology and Sethlans in Etruscan mythology.
His smithy was believed to be situated underneath Mount Aetna in Sicily. At the Vulcanalia festival, which was held on August 23, fish and small animals were thrown into a fire.
Vulcan's shrine in the Forum Romanum, called the Volcanal, appears to have played an important role in the civic rituals of the archaic Roman Kingdom.
Vulcan was the father of Caeculus.
A statue of Vulcan located in Birmingham, Alabama is the largest cast iron statue in the world. -
wtf? Leto is female? FMA is sooooo wrong!