Roman mythology

Roman Mythology
Romulus and Remus, the Lupercal, Father Tiber, and the Palatine on a relief from a pedestal dating to the reign of Trajan (AD 98–117).

Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to the subject matter as represented in the literature and art of other cultures in any period.

The Romans usually treated their traditional narratives as historical, even when these have miraculous or supernatural elements. The stories are often concerned with politics and morality, and how an individual's personal integrity relates to his or her responsibility to the community or Roman state. Heroism is an important theme. When the stories illuminate Roman religious practices, they are more concerned with ritual, augury, and institutions than with theology or cosmogony.

The study of Roman religion and myth is complicated by the early influence of Greek religion on the Italian peninsula during Rome's protohistory, and by the later artistic imitation of Greek literary models by Roman authors. In matters of theology, the Romans were curiously eager to identify their own gods with those of the Greeks (interpretatio graeca), and to reinterpret stories about Greek deities under the names of their Roman counterparts. Rome's early myths and legends also have a dynamic relationship with Etruscan religion, less documented than that of the Greeks.

While Roman mythology may lack a body of divine narratives as extensive as that found in Greek literature, Romulus and Remus suckling the she-wolf is as famous as any image from Greek mythology except for the Trojan Horse. Because Latin literature was more widely known in Europe throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, the interpretations of Greek myths by the Romans often had a greater influence on narrative and pictorial representations of "classical mythology" than Greek sources. In particular, the versions of Greek myths in Ovid's Metamorphoses, written during the reign of Augustus, came to be regarded as canonical.

Roman pantheon

Organisation

The Roman pantheon organization ranges from primordial deities like Terra to guardian gods like the Lares. Jupiter was the king of the Roman gods.

The Twelve Olympians of Roman mythology:

• Jupiter 
• Juno (Greek: Hera)
• Ceres
• Neptune
• Bacchus (Greek: Dionysus)
• Apollo (Greek: Apollon)
• Diana
• Minerva
• Venus (Greek: Aphrodite)
• Mars
• Vulcan
• Mercury
• Vesta (Greek: Hestia)

Adopted deities

Roman mythology is known for adopting deities from other mythologies, mainly Greek mythology.

Deity	Origin	Description
Aesculapius	Greek (Asclepius)	God of healing.
Attis	Phrygian	God of growth, fertility and vegetation.
Apollo	Mesopotamian (Nergal), by Etruscan Aplu which adopted from Greek Apollon which also adopted from Hurrian Aplu	God of Sun
Bacchus	Greek (Dionysos)	God of wine.
Bellona	Greek (Enyo), or Etruscan	Goddess of war and battles.
Bubona	Celt (Epona)	Goddess of horses and cattle.
Cupid	Greek	God of love.
Cybele	Phrygian (Magna Mater in Latin)	The Great Mother.
Dis	Celtic	God of the underworld and treasure in the form of gems and metals of the earth.
Endovelicus	Iberian Celt Hispania	The god of health and welfare.
Furies	Greek (Erinyes)	Minor Goddesses or Demonesses of Vengeance.
Hercules	Greek (Heracles) via Etruscan (Hercle)	God of victory and commercial enterprise.
Inuus	Greek (Pan)	God of the wilds and fertility.
Isis	Egyptian	Goddess of marriage and womanhood.
Janus	Italii, Latin or Etruscan (Culsans)	God of gates, doors, beginnings and endings. He was worshipped at the beginning of the harvest, the beginning of planting, at marriages, at births, etc. The month of January is named after him.
Mithras	Persian	God of the sun.
Neptune	Proto-Indo-European (Neptonos) then identified with the Greek Poseidon later.	God of the waterfalls, elements, and horses.
Ops	Greek	Goddess of the fertile earth, abundance, sowing, harvest and wealth.
Orcus	Greek (Horcus) via Etruscan Orcus but later identified with Hades	God of Oath and Underworld
Salus	Greek (Hygieia)	Goddess of health and prosperity. Festival was celebrated on March 30.
Serapis	Graeco-Egyptian	God of the sky.
Saturn	Etruscan (Satre), later identified with the Greek (Cronus)	God of agriculture and the sowing of seeds.
Silvanus	Greek (Silenus) but later identified with Pan	God of woods and fields.
Sol	Greek (Helios)	God of the sun.
Sol Invictus	Syrian	God of the sun.
Somnus	Greek (Hypnos)	God of sleep.
Tellus	Greek (Gaea)	Goddess of the earth. Fordicidia, held on April 15 was her festival.
Veiovis	Etruscan (Veive)	God of healing.
Victoria	Greek (Nike)	Goddess of victory.

Roman religion

By the end of the Roman empire, Christianity was the official religion for the Romans.

Practices

In ancient Roman myth and religion, priests like the Arval Brethren use to make sacrifices on an annual basis to the Lares and the rest of Roman deities to guarantee good harvests and the health of the Emperor.

Gallery

The Roman gods

Mercury

Hercules

Mars

Neptune

Jupiter

Minerva

Vulcan

Saturn

Diana

Venus

Bacchus

External links

• Adopted Roman deities at UNRV History