Roman Mythology & Gods and Goddesses

Throughout history, stories have been passed down from ancestors. In ancient Greece and
Rome, myths were popular tales told to scare kids, educate people, and so much more. Myths
basically answer the worlds questions that no one can answer. Although, myths differentiate
about people, Greek myths, and things, Roman myths. Greek myth is said to have a very detailed
genesis, similar to the bible. First, there was Chaos. Everything was dark and empty until love
entered the world followed by light and earth. This continued with Night and Day, Fear, Doom,
Death, and Sleep (3). Greeks were the first to be written down around c. 8th century BCE. The
culture and daily life had a lasting effect on Rome. Greek had influenced Rome with their way of
life, art, government, and literature. There are two main myths of the creation of Rome. One talks
about how Romulus and Remus founded Rome. The twin brothers were abandoned until a wolf
decided to treat them as her own. As they grow up, they begin to quarrel and Romulus kills
Remus and takes Rome as his own. Also, after the war between Greece and Asia, a strong
beautiful, and successful soldier from the Greek army decided to leave for Carthage. When he
went there, h fell in love with a queen, but left her to find Italy. These were the foundation of all
Roman g myths. History and myths were the same thing in Rome (2). On the other hand, Greek
mythology was similar and different on certain terms. Both were passed down through oral
tradition until people began writing the stories down. At the center of Greek mythology was the
gods and goddesses that lived on Mount Olympus. The twelve main Olympians are Zeus, the god
of the sky, Hera, the wife of Zeus and Queen of Olympus, Aphrodite, the goddess of love,
Apollo, the god of the sun, music, and poetry, Ares, the god of war, Artemis, goddess of the
wilderness, Athena, goddess of wisdom, Demeter, the god of harvest and agriculture, Dionysus,
the god of wine and fertility, Hephaistos, the god of blacksmiths, sculptors, metallurgy, fire and

volcanoesHermes, the god of light, and Poseidon, the god of the sea. Romans even made their
own versions of these gods/goddesses and gave them new names. Greek mythology usually
involves heroes and monsters (1). There are all types of myths. For an example, religious myths
are very popular and influenced the lives of everyday Greeks and Romans to modern people
today. Although there are many similarities. Both Greek and Roman mythology was respected
and believed in. Honoring and worshipping were commonly used to memorialize the gods and
goddesses. People would leave food and drinks for them and when a family was in need of a
certain gods help then, they would draw the god/goddesss symbol for help. The main difference
between Greek and Roman myths are that the Greeks are about people and Romans are about
things or objects mostly and Roman myths were created in 12th century BC and Greek myths
were created in 2000 BC (6).
As you have learned, the Romans took the Greek gods and goddesses they believed in
and gave them different names. It was when the Romans conquered the Greeks when they
changed the Greek gods and goddesses names to the Latin versions. Neptune, also known as
Poseidon in Greek myths, was the god of the sea. In art, he is usually displayed with black or
dark hair wearing shades of green in a sea shell chariot pulled by whales or some sort of large
water animal with his signature trident in his hand. He is looked upon to be one of the greatest
gods on Mt. Olympus. In cartoons, he is portrayed as one of the big and powerful gods like Zeus.
When people have a scarcity of water, they will pray to Neptune for help. They even had
festivals for him. In the middle of summer, on July 23, Romans have Neptunalia to pray for
water and thank Neptune for his great deeds. Tales Beyond Belief said, It was one of the 'dies
comitiales' when committees of Roman citizens could vote on civil or criminal matters.
Neptunalia was a water-related festival held in honor of the god. During sacrifices to the Roman

gods, at festivals like Neptunalia, the sex of the victim had to correspond to the sex of the god to
whom it was offered. White animals were given to the gods of the upper world whereas black
victims to the gods of the underworld, (5). Some important facts were, he was the Roam god for
horses and was called Neptunus Equester, he was a major role in the Trojan War because he
shipwrecked Odysseus which effected the fight, provokes a nation of people, and had a love
connection with Medusa, a Gorgon. Also, he was the son of Saturnus and Ops, he had two
temples in Rome: The Roman racetrack and Basilica Neptuni, and the planet Neptune was named
after this Roman god, because it reminded astronomers of the oceans and seas. Neptune is
symbolized as a trident, representing his water powers, dolphin, representing his power of
moving in and out of water, horse, Neptune is believed to have created the first horse, and the
bull, his connection to the Cretan bull (5).
Just like the Greek empire influenced many successful civilizations like the Roman
Empire, the roman empire influenced surrounding nations with their pagan beliefs. The Christian
belief is said to be pieced together by other religions. Most Christian faiths were pure with the
belief of Jesus Christs resurrection, but slowly adopted foreign beliefs. In the beginning of the
Christian faith, the people were set on their beliefs and did not think anyone else was right. They
wrote about the surrounding abhorrent religions. The main problematic topic is that Christians
are being called atheist for not believing in the pagan gods. St. Justin Martyr said, So we are
called atheists. Well, we do indeed proclaim ourselves atheists in regard to the Most True God,
the Father of righteousness and temperance and other virtues, who is without admixture of evil,
(7). The important question to this subject is: if the early church fathers adopted their beliefs
from the pagan god believers, then why would they risk capital punishment to go against their
faith and listen to the Roman cults at the time?

Works Cited
1. http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/greek-mythology
2. http://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Mythology/
3. http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/The_Creation/the_creation.html
4. http://www.talesbeyondbelief.com/roman-gods/neptune.htm
5. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Neptune-Roman-god
6. http://www.kean.edu/~eslprog/accents/2003/page2003_7.html
7. http://www.catholic.com/blog/jon-sorensen/the-early-church-fathers-and-paganism