Pluto, Mars, and Shooting Stars: How Greek and Roman Deities are Different

1857 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Characteristics of greek gods and goddesses

In both Greek and Roman mythology there are multiple gods and heroes, but there are some differences in what these gods represent and the way that the heroes are portrayed. Different ideals are held in high regards for each culture not only for the gods and heroes but also for the people and their culture. The basic descriptions and origin stories of each have similarities but are also very different. It’s very easy to see why many would think that Greek and Roman traditional religion and culture are the same. There are many similarities after all not only in the culture of the people but also in the gods that the people worshiped. Both religions are polytheistic and have gods be they major or minor to represent almost every part of everyday life from something as simple as flowers to the skies and weather patterns and childbirth. Even though both the cultures and religions of Greece and Rome are similar they have many differences as well.
“The religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct. The so-called divinities of Olympus have not a single worshiper among living men.” (Bullfinch pg1) The religions of ancient Greece and Rome are very old religions and are believed to in many ways have correlating deities. However, to begin understanding these similarities and differences we must first take a look at the family tree of the Greek gods and then of the family tree of the Roman gods and what all of these gods represent. The Greek gods were a large family with many gods and demigods. There were however a group of gods who were considered the major gods that lived on Olympus and met to decide the laws and fates of the entire world. Zeus, the god of the skies, was considered the king of the gods as well as men and was the father o...

... middle of paper ...

...ly Trees." The of Gods and Goddesses. Windows 2 Universe, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
"Greek Mythology: Heroes." Greek Mythology: Heroes. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Hunter, James. "Aeneas." Aeneas. Encyclopedia Mythica, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
"Mythology Summary and Analysis." Mythology Study Guide : Summary and Analysis of Hercules; Atalanta. Grade Saver, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
N.d. Aeneas Carrying Anchises. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.
N.d. Athena's Web Weekly Column. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
N.d. The Birth of Athena. Web. 05 Mar. 1997.
N.d. Labours of Herakles. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
N.d. Olympians. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
N.d. Venus and Cupid. Web. 28 Mar. 1997.
"Roman Religion." Roman Religion. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2014.
Romulus and Remus. N.d. The Myth of Romulus and Remus. Mr. Guerriero's Blog. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
"Romulus and Remus." Romulus and Remus. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Greco-Roman And Judeo-Christian Laws

    343 Words  | 1 Pages

    Both Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian believe in gods. Greco-Roman believe in multiple gods. And Judeo-Christian believe in one god. They both believe they are doing that right thing. They both have certain laws they go under certain

    Read More

  • Use Of Greco-Roman Polytheism To Medieval Monotheism

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is evident that the Romans emulated much or all of Greek culture into their lives, even down to their philosophies and complete blatancy of using the same gods and goddesses. However, there was an apparent shift of Greco-Roman polytheism to medieval monotheism, which is where persons in this period started to pivot their attention primarily on just God, disregarding old traditions of other gods. They went from issuing deities to make sense of their ancient world, and using rational thought (never was this used before) to probe for questions, to a reliance on just one god for all explanations (the medieval period). However, as time progressed, during the time of the Renaissance, people were using some of the same techniques as Greco-Roman

    Read More

  • The Peplos Kore

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    The religion of this culture group involved many gods. Unlike the present-day United States of America where the running of the country depends on the separation of church and state, religion, including the pleasing of the gods, heavily influenced the government of the ancient Greeks. Of all the gods they had, the most important gods of this religion emerged

    Read More

  • Comparisons of Creation Myths

    2080 Words  | 5 Pages

    Morford, Mark P.O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. '7th ed'. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

    Read More

  • How the Greek Revered Their Gods

    3757 Words  | 8 Pages

    The ancient Greeks practiced a religion that was in effect, a building block to many ensuing pagan religions. This religion revolved around their reverence to the gods. Essentially, the Greeks worshipped numerous gods, making their religion polytheistic. They believed that exercising the opportunity to choose between a wide array of gods to worship offered them a great sense of freedom that they treasured. After all, the Greeks were known for their intellectual distinction of which their means of worship played a huge part. Each city-state, or polis, thus had an affiliated god who protected and guided its residents. Within a given polis, the belief in common gods unified the people. Ultimately, the Greeks yearned for this unity and order in the universe, which is a characteristic that is not unlike that of people today. It might seem contradictory that they believed in many gods and sought organization at the same time, for larger numbers are inherently unstable. But, to the god-fearing Greeks, each god represented a different facet of life that together upheld an organized universe if each of these gods was properly appeased. To satisfy these gods, the Greeks participated in activities such as prayer and sacrifice and erected divine temples and centers for oracles in honor of specific gods. There is evidence of this institutionalization early on in the reign of the Olympian gods, thus forming the Olympian religion.

    Read More

  • Achilles’ Courage in the Iliad

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Claybourne, Anna. "Achilles." Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology. Marshall Cavendish Digital, 04 Jan 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. http://marshallcavendishdigital.com/articledisplay/41/8483/89264.

    Read More

  • Monsters in Greek Mythology

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rosenberg, Donna. "The Labors and Death of Heracles." World Mythology. 3rd ed. Chicago: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, Inc., 1999. 100-05. Print.

    Read More

  • W.H. Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts and Pieter Bruegel's The Fall of Icarus

    2840 Words  | 6 Pages

    "Daedalus in Greek Mythology." Mythography: The Legend of Daedelus in Myth and Art. Loggia. 12 Dec. 2005 .

    Read More

  • The Admonitions of King Oedipus

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Gods and Men in Greek Religion." Gods and Men in Greek Religion. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr.

    Read More

  • Greek Gods

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people would blatantly state that the importance of the gods in Greek society derives from the fact that Gods in any society are usually used to explain phenomenon that people cannot logically comprehend, but in ancient Greece gods were actually entities that took part in the workings of society itself. Even simple aspects of day-to-day life such as sex and disputes between mortals were supposedly influenced by godly workings. Unlike modern religions such as Catholicism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, where an omnipotent force supposedly controls the workings of the world, a hierarchy of Gods characterized religion in ancient Greece. Working as one big family, which they actually were, each one of the Greek gods governed a certain aspect of the world in a way that usually reflected their own humanlike personalities. These unique personalities also contained many human flaws such as envy and greed, and were where the Greek God’s importance lay. Greek religion was more concentrated on the way an individual dealt with situations that popped up in the world around him than on understanding the world itself. In other words the Greeks were more interested in the workings of the mind than in the workings of the environment around them.

    Read More

  • Greek and Roman Mythology

    2303 Words  | 5 Pages

    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)

    Read More

  • Family Relationships in Greek Mythology

    1647 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Should gods be Moral?

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ancient Greek religion was a polytheistic religion that believed in many gods and goddesses. To Greeks, these gods and goddesses would be able to control everything. Each god or goddess had his or her own distinct personality and territory. “Greek myths explained the origins of the gods and their individual relations with mankind” (Hemingway). Unlike current religions, like Christianity and Judaism, Greek gods were not known for being moral or being truly good or evil. Many of the Greek gods and goddesses were disorganized and self-contradicting. Although this was apparent to the Greeks, the Greeks believed that their religion was to brighten their own lives, rather than give them godlike guidance. The best example of a self-contradicting Greek god is Zeus – father of all gods and humans (Cunningham and Reich 32-33).

    Read More

  • The Roman Republic

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...uing the belief in various gods and goddesses. After the expansion of Rome they started developing other forms of deities based on Greek culture, basically meaning “Greco-Roman” religion. Although many religious cults that were connected to Rome including Greece were often accepted, many were banished.

    Read More

  • Similarities And Differences Between Sparta And Athens

    1651 Words  | 4 Pages

    Technically all city-states had a strong faith in the Greek polytheistic religion. They both pay homage to the Greek gods to keep them happy and bring order to their society. However, each city-state would plan special events for certain gods that they favored. The people of Sparta favored the Greek figures that are more associated with Olympic events or strengths like the god Aries; the god of war. However, the people of Athens favored Athena, the greek god of wisdom, courage, justice, and war wisdom. The types of gods they favored represent how their societies life is

    Read More

More about Pluto, Mars, and Shooting Stars: How Greek and Roman Deities are Different

Open Document