Roman Mythology

Roman mythology is a collection of the religion and stories of the ancient Romans.

Important Figures in Roman Mythology[edit]

Bacchus was the Roman equivalent to the Greek god Dionysus. He was the god of wine and revelry.

Ceres is the Roman equivalent to Demeter.^[1] She was said to be the goddess of agriculture especially grains.

Cupid is the messenger of love under Roman mythology. In Greek mythology he was known as Eros. He was the son of Mercury (the messenger god) and Venus (the goddess of love). Cupid is usually depicted as a winged baby boy, with a bow and two kinds of arrows to cause mischief. One would invoke love, the other hate. Venus would use her son's power to gain revenge, as when she planned to have the beautiful Psyche (a mortal) fall in love with the ugliest man in the world. This backfired when Cupid pricked himself with his arrow. Because of this, Cupid fell in love with Psyche instead. Later she gained immortality when she married him and her job became sorting out family love problems. The myth of Cupid and Psyche was retold by C.S. Lewis in Till We Have Faces.

Flora was an early Roman goddess of the blossom of flowers and the spring.^[2]

Juno was the queen of the Roman gods. Her husband was Jupiter. The Greeks knew her as Hera with her husband being Zeus.

Jupiter was the king of the Roman gods. He was the husband of Juno. The ruler of the deities in Greek culture was Zeus. The pantheons were mixed with the Roman conquest and absorption of Greece into the Roman Empire and Jupiter and Zeus were then loosely considered to be the same god.

Mars is the Roman Mythology equivalent to Ares, a Greek god, in Roman mythology he was the god of war.

Mercury was the Roman Mythology equivalent to Hermes, in Roman mythology he was the messenger of the other deities.

Minerva is the Roman equivalent to Athena, a Greek goddess, in Roman mythology she was the goddess of wisdom. Minerva is featured at the center of the Medal of Honor for the Army, Navy (including Marines), and Coast Guard of the United States.

Neptune, the chief marine deity of the Romans, and identified with the Poseidon of the Greeks, is represented with a trident in his hand as his scepter.^[3]

Pluto is the Roman Mythology equivalent to Hades, a Greek god, in Roman mythology he was the god of the underworld.

Quirinus was a god in Roman Mythology who was said to be the deified version of Romulus.

Venus was the Roman goddess of love, of wedded love, and of beauty (originally of the spring), and is the Roman equivalent to the Greek Aphrodite; she was regarded as the tutelary goddess of Rome, and had a temple to her honor in the Forum.^[4]

References[edit]