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Religion in ancient Greece and ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Greece and ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Greece and ancient Rome
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The ancient Greek and ancient Roman religion was the belief in gods. They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time. They believed in something called polytheism. It is the belief of many gods, each given a personality and purpose. And was the subject of many myths and legends that would be told for many generations to come. They were to become the basis for a religion that would last for hundreds of years and would yield thousands of followers to believe in the made stories of these enchanted people or gods as they were called. The Roman mythology was to consist of twelve to thirteen main gods. Each having a function in the life of the everyday Roman, that would require some sort of worshipping. The Roman gods were taken from the beliefs of the Greek gods. They are directly descended from their neighboring religion. The Roman mythology consisted of the high god Jupiter, his wife and sister Juno, son Vulcan, son Mercury, daughter Diana, daughter Venus, son Mars, daughter Minerva, son Apollo, sister Vesta, brother Pluto, brother Neptune, and Janus.(Classical Mythology) Jupiter was the ruler of the gods. He is also known as Zeus to the Greeks. The King of Gods in Greek Mythology Zeus was the ruler of the sky, and had the power to create thunderstorms and lightning as well as earthquakes. He was the child of Cronus and Rhea. As the story goes he was their sixth child, and the father to protect him from being overthrown had eaten the five previous children. Zeus was taken to a city called Crete and hidden from his father. As Zeus grew older and learned of what happened he found a potion to make his father regurgitate the other children. Once this happened they all teamed up and killed their father. Zeus then became the ruler of Mount Olympus, and head of the new line of Gods. Jupiter was the predominant power holder of Roman Gods. He was ruler of the sky, the daylight, all the weather, and even the thunder and lightening.(Ruck,Carl and Staples, Danny, pg 19) Neptune was the god of the sea. He was worshipped mostly by seaman.
As the story goes he was their sixth child, and the father to protect him from being overthrown had eaten the five previous children. Zeus was taken to a city called Crete and hidden from his father. As Zeus grew older and learned of what happened he found a potion to make his father regurgitate the other children. Once this happened they all teamed up and killed their father. Zeus then became the ruler of Mount Olympus, and head of the new line of Gods. Jupiter was the predominant power holder of Roman Gods. He was ruler of the sky, the daylight, all the weather, and even the thunder and lightening. Jupiter helped drive back the Sabines. His temple was built in the Capitol, and newly elected counsels offered their first prayers to him.
It has been known that the Romans and the Greeks have had many interactions with each other, whether it would be due to trading or just plain traveling, the stories of their myths have crossed each other in one way or another. This is may be the reason why there are many similarities between Greek and Roman Mythology. Even though a Greek god or goddess may have a different name in Roman Mythology they still performed similar tasks and were worshiped for similar reasons. I will compare and contrast Greek gods with their Roman equivalences to see how similar they truly are to each other. Probably the most famous Greek god, Zeus, was the god of all gods. Born to Cronus and Rhea, he was the ruler of the sky, and had the power to create thunderstorms and lightning as well as earthquakes. As the story goes he overthrew his father, Cronus, and became the ruler of Mount Olympus to head the new line of Gods. Jupiter, also known as Jove, was very much like Zeus. He was the predominant power holder among the Roman Gods. According to Tripp, Jupiter is a “contraction of two words meaning ‘Heavenly Father.’”(Pg. 332) He ruled the sky, controlled all of the weather, and had thunderbolts as a weapon. Tripp also wrote “Jupiter’s cult and his general character were, however, well established in Italy before the Greek religion became influential there.” (Pg. 333) This implies that the idea of Zeus, Jupiter and Jove had very little influence on each other since they were created before the Greek myths and Roman myths had started to cross paths. Hera, the wife and sister of Zeus, was the goddess of marriage, childbirth, and the queen of the heavens. She gave birth to Ares, Hebe, and Eileithyia. She also gave birth to Hephaestus, but it has been believed that she bore him without the aid of Zeus. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, she was extremely jealous of the affairs that her husband had and she often tormented or harmed Zeus’s mistresses. Juno, the feminine version of Jupiter’s name, is Hera’s counterpart. Juno had many names that served for different purposes. As Juno Pronuba, she was goddess of marriage, as Juno Lucina, she was the goddess of childbirth, and as Juno Regina, she was the special counselor and protector of the Roman state. (Roman Mythological Characters, Juno) In Tripp, there was also a Juno Moneta that was governed finances. (Pg. 332) It seem...
Greek Mythology originated around 775 B.C.E. It all started with Homer’s Iliad and continued on with Hesiod’s Theogany. These were the first two myths to be recorded in Greek Mythology. Both of these myths reveal to us about their understanding of the universe, and about their culture. Not only do they talk about their various gods, and heroes, but they also talk about how they viewed the universe in general (Rosenberg 79). Greek Mythology evolved from two early civilizations, the Mycenaean’s and the Minoans. It was the combining of these different Greek cities and Kingdoms during 10th century B.C. that created Greek Mythology. Its Geographic isolation gave it a place for mythologies to evolve (Gale Virtual Reference Library: Greek Mythology 454-456). Roman mythology, on the other hand grew around the same time as Greek Mythology. It all began around 800 B.C. when the Roman Empire was at its peak. However the unique about the Romans is that their origin traces back to Latin and Italian cultures. They also share the same gods and heroes with Greek but with different names. Moreover Rome was the first nation to have a set government that is similar to ours today. They were the first empire to have elected officials who ruled their nation. (Gale Virtual Reference Library: Roman Mythology 896). Both of these mythologies portray how life was different back then during the B.C times. The reveal us their culture, their religion, and how they viewed universe as a whole. However what caused a collapse between these two civilizations is the relationship between man, gods, and their children.
The ancient Greeks knew little of any real people except those who lived in the countries to the immediate east and south of their country. Their imagination filled the rest of the land with mystical and supernatural beings. The ancient Greeks believed the earth to be a flat circular disk., with their country being in the middle of it. The disk was divided into two equal parts by the Sea(the Mediterranean). They believed the River Ocean flowed around the world from south to northen the western side of the world and vice versa on the eastern side. The Sea and all rivers around the world received water from it. The northern portion of the earth was thought to be inhabited by a happy race named the Hyperboreans. They dwelled in endless bliss and an endless spring. They never aged, knew any disease or other unpleasant things of such. Their caverns supposedly sent piercing blasts of the north wind to the people of Greece. Their country could not be reached by land or sea. On the south side of the earth lived the Ethiopians. They were favored highly by the gods.They were as happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans. On the western part of the earth was another happy place called Elysian Plain. Mortals favored by the gods were transported here without having to know death or anything but bliss.
The Greeks were very strong in their polytheistic beliefs. Polytheism is when someone believes in more than one god. In the Greeks case, there were an unbelievable amount but there were 12 main Olympian Gods. There are also plenty of minor gods that are still important in their lives. The Greek gods impacted the lives of the Greeks through their religion and beliefs. Many people don’t know the story behind the gods and how they came into “existence”. That is what you will learn from this report.
In ancient time, Greek and Roman mythologies were used to explain how the world works. To do this, the mythologies used gods and goddesses. In Greek mythology, the main group of gods was known as the Twelve Olympians and consisted of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes Aphrodite Hephaestus, Ares, and Dionysus. The Roman council of gods was known as Dii Consentes and consisted of Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Ceres, Minerva, Diana, Apollo, Mercury, Venus, Vulcan, Mars, and Bacchus. Numerous Romans and Greeks shared the belief of multiple gods and lived their lives according to it. However, despite this common theme in the mythologies, both councils have their differences.
Roman mythology applies to the religious system, and origins of ancient Rome. These attributes are found through the art and literature that the Romans provide. Although, the Romans have supernatural elements they still proceeded to treat their traditional stories historically. The Romans focused on how a person contributes to the Roman community, and merely concentrate on politics and morality. Catholicism is one of the most common known religions. Catholicism focuses on the traditions, and values of the Christian churches. The two main things that differentiate Roman mythology, and modern day catholicism is their: beliefs and religion.
Some of the gods were Zeus, who was the ruler of all the gods, Hera was his wife, and Hermes was his messenger. Artemis was the goddess of the moon, and Apollo was the god of the sun. Poseidon was the god of the sea, Loki, the god of mischief, and, Dionysus, the god of wine.
Throughout time each civilization has spread its folklore about their gods. Mythology is the collection of a societys myths and during older times mythology was thought to be created by the people who did not see the world like everyone else. Those people saw the world full of beautiful, magical possiblities. Many of the stories still hold an impact on the world today. Maybe not in the sense of worship, but people are intrigued to figure out the state of mind of the ancient people that once worshipped these gods. Some civilzations worshipped these gods in hope that they would help them in their daily lives. Most civilizations had gods for everything taht imacted their lives. Civilizations had gods that controlled the weather, the harvest, or
The Roman gods and goddesses were adapted from Greek culture. Once Greece was captured by Rome, the Romans changed the names of the gods and called them their own. These gods were said to live on mount Olympus in Greece. The main gods were Jupiter, king of the gods and god of Lightning and the sky, Juno, Queen of the gods, goddess of marriage whose patron animal was a peacock, Neptune, brother to Jupiter and god
Greek God Zeus became Roman god Jupiter, similarly Greek God Poseidon became Neptune, Goddess Aphrodite became Venus. These Roman God names became our solar system's planet names in modern times. These Roman gods played either similar or very much the same roles as their Greek counterparts. Other than the Greek gods, the Romans also adopted the idea of the Oracle at Delphi a holy woman who would supposedly act as medium and interpreter to send and receive messages to and from of the gods, priests and powerful people would goto the oracle for consultation and to ask god for favors. The Roman oracle was situated in a different location than the one in Greece, but would perform very similar services and the Romans would goto the oracle for consultation and advice from the
Jupiter: Originally a god of the sky and light taking the form of an eagle and even a lightning bolt at one point. On the coins the eagle was holding a lightning bolt and even being an emblem on the outfit shields and weapons showing their dedication to the god. Named king of the
I’ll start us off with the king, Zeus. Zeus is the one that controls the weather, and his most powerful weapon was the thunderbolt (Ancient). “The ancient Greeks believed that when lightning struck earth, it was a sign of Zeus being present (Ancient).” Next we have Hera, Zeus’s wife and the queen of the Gods. She was also the goddess of marriage and weddings (Ancient). After this, there is Athena. She is the God of wisdom, pot-making, and wool-working (Ancient). It is said that she invented the chariot (Ancient). Now we have Apollo, the God of the sun, truth, music, poetry, dance, and healing (Ancient). Next there is Demeter, the goddess of fertility and agriculture (Ancient). Zeus also had a brother named Poseidon, and he was the God of the sea (Ancient). After Poseidon, there is Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty (Ancient). The Gods had a messenger named Hermes, which is the god of travel (Ancient). Next is Artemis, the God of hunting (Ancient). The last three and Ares, the God of war, Hephaistos, the God of fire, and Dionysos, the God of high spirits. All of these Gods lived on Mount Olympus, except for Hephaistos because he was found as a threat to their home. This shows that all of the Gods had different personalities and
Also in Roman Mythology, the difference between history and myths was almost indistinguishable. The names for which were changed were Zeus and Jupiter, whereas Hades and Poseidon became Pluto and Neptune. Ares the God of War became Mars and Hermes the messenger god became Mercury and Hercules renamed as the hero of the Romans and what we know today as Hercules. Also Aphrodite became Venus, but also the Romans believe that their Gods were associated with the Greek gods, which they explain in some of their stories. After the people started to believe that the king was a descendent, they tried to kill him many times but failed and claimed that it was their god who ordered them to do it.
Zeus is the god of law, justice, morals, thunder, lightning, and rain. It was his job to oversee and make sure laws were being kept. He was worshipped originally as a weather god. He was depicted as a middle-aged man with a youthful appearance; he was regale and was almost always shown ready to throw a lightning bolt (pantheon/zeus).