Similarities Between Roman And Greek Gods

ceremonies were held in the temples of their deities; sacred rituals involved animal sacrifice and stories were told to explain the creation of the earth and mankind. It would be remiss not to mention, after Rome conquered Greece, it adopted Greece’s religious beliefs, including Greece’s creation myth. Willis confirms, “It is not coincidence that the major gods and goddesses of the Roman pantheon were similar in character to Greek deities. Some of them were imported directly from the Greek world.” Roman mythology is a combination of Egyptian, Greek and Celtic mythology. Namely, Roman and Greek gods do appear to correlate with one another with a few differences. Roman deities’ are portrayed with human likeness, as the Greek deities, however their personalities are not as colorful, and

Roman deities conduct themselves with a higher degree of nobility. Greek and Roman gods have different names; their functions remain the same, i.e., Jupiter/Zeus, god of the sky/supreme god, Juno/Hera, Queen of goddesses, Diana/Artemis, goddesses of hunting.
Also, there were major physical differences between Egypt’s and Greco-Roman deities. Egyptians portrayed their deities as half human, half animal, and Greco-Roman deities portrayed with human characteristics, that operated out of human emotions. There are also differences in the three cultures deities’ personalities. Egyptians viewed their deities as compassionate, while Greeks perceived their deities as impulsive, quick to offend, and oftentimes vindictive. Nevertheless, each of them does have a common theme, once the creator gods and goddesses are established; the deities that govern social and moral order are created. Egypt, Greece and Rome each have a pantheon of gods and each has unique powers, performed particular duties and have their own dedicated temples. The Egyptian pantheon did not have a queen or king of the deities per se, but Isis was the first Egyptian Queen and revered as a goddess. She was the daughter of Geb and Nut and wife of the Osiris. There is very little information about Osiris and Isis’s relationship while he was alive, but from what is written about him, it is perceived that they had a respectful and mutually committed relationship. In addition, Isis was also very protective of her son, Horus, which she defended from the wrath of the rival god Seth, (Osiris’s hostile brother). Osiris was the king of Egypt; he was second in authority, to his Father Ra. Myths say that Osiris was responsible for teaching man about agriculture and civilization. After his death, Osiris became the god of the underworld. Isis loved her husband so much that she collected his mutilated body parts, resurrecting him temporarily. http://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Mythology/ mentions of Osiris, “In all things, he acted in accordance with the principle of Ma’at (harmony) and honored his father and siblings by keeping all things in harmonious balance.” In contrast, to the tumultuous relationship between Zeus and Hera, the two constantly fought over his infidelities. Hera sought revenge on Zeus in a very indirect manner. Zeus’s illegitimate children were the recipients of Hera’s jealous frenzies. Moreover, Hera’s own son Hephaistos was a victim of her psychosis. Hephaistos, born handicapped and was a source of amusement for the other gods. Hera was so embarrassed by his physical challenges; she threw him from heaven and into the ocean. Next, her husband Zeus constantly humiliates Hera with his numerous infidelities. www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Leda_and_the_Swan.html states, that, “Zeus took the form of a swan and raped or seduced Leda on the same night she slept with her husband, King Tyndareus.” Zeus’ relationship with Hera was contentious out the gate; he rapes his sister, who later became his wife.

He disguises himself as a cuckoo bird; Hera reaches down to pick the bird up, and Zeus transformed back into himself, overpowers her and rapes her. Myths say that although Zeus was a shameless philanderer, Hera, remained faithful to her marriage. Additionally, there were gods associated with home life, for example, Bes Egyptian god and protector of pregnant women, babies, and the family. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130619-how-the-devil-got-his-looks says the following, about the god “Bes was a tremendously popular in ancient Egypt. He was worshipped in ordinary homes; he was associated with many of the good things in life: sex, drinking, music, and merriment. He also had an important protective function, and was often invoked during childbirth.” Greek counterpart, Artemis, was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and she was the goddess of chastity, virginity, and the hunt. http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Artemis/artemis.html describes her as, “Leto had found shelter

after being hunted by the lawful wife of Zeus, Hera. As soon as Artemis was born, she helped her mother give birth to her twin brother, thereby becoming the protector of childbirth and labor.” She never gave in to any potential lovers; and potential suitors devoted to hunting and nature, she rejected marriage and love.” A perfect example of the depth of disdain Artemis harbored toward love, would be the story of the lost hunter Actaeon, who crossed paths with Artemis while she took a bath. Furious that he saw her naked, she transformed him into a deer, and he was killed by his own dogs. Additionally, Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris; he was appointed various responsibilities in the Egyptian pantheon, mainly known for his role as the god of the sky and protector of the Pharaohs. His persona was portrayed as a falcon-headed man wearing a double crown called a pschent. After Seth murdered his father, his uncle Seth, the one who killed Osiris, fought viciously over who would be the next Pharaoh. The gods took Horus’s side and decided that Horus would be his father’s successor. Horus’ Greek counterpart, Apollo, was the son of Leto and Zeus, and twin brother of Artemis, he was described as a handsome, with human characteristics. Willis states that “He was the god of medicine, archery bows, his arrows brought plague and sickness to humans, but paradoxically the god of medicine.” Apollo is one of the original pantheon gods, he had many lovers; most of his relationships ended disastrously. One of the most famous stories is the story of Daphne. Apollo made fun of Eros and in return, Eros shot Apollo in the heart with an arrow and made him fall in love with Daphne. The he shot Daphne with an arrow to cause her to loath Apollo. Ultimately, Daphne could no longer bear Apollo’s advances, http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/daphne.html states, “Peneus transformed his daughter into a laurel tree. Suddenly her legs took root, and her arms grew into long and slender branches.” He basically turned Daphne into a tree. Moreover, when Egyptians deities interacted with human life, it was to the extent of natural disasters vs. Greek deities who would wreak chaos on a soul. Zeus, would shape shift in a heartbeat in order to rape and satisfy his lusts and Hera, notorious for her wrath against mankind, particularly towards her husband’s illegitimate children. Case in point, she caused Hercules to go insane and during this episode, Hercules killed his wife and children. As a punishment for his murderous deeds, he was sentenced to servitude to King Eurystheus for a period of twelve years and during his years in bondage; he was required to fulfill twelve challenging tasks. The story of Apollo and Daphne, as well as his sister Artemis and her interaction with the hunter, are excellent examples of deities’ interaction with humans.
Finally, in today’s society, people are hyper judgmental. It is more acceptable to profess to serve one god, any individual who professes to be polytheistic, or an atheist would be subject to reproach. However, for the ancients to have enough imagination and creativity to conceive and articulate an idea of how the world and the people who occupy it, came into existence, deserves tremendous recognition. It is the ancients ideology that has an enormous impacted on modern society’s religions. Without the ancient’s curiosity, wisdom, intellect, and foresight, on how to develop an effective, operational government, that directly correlates with its religion; without their intricate stories of creation; and their polytheistic lifestyle that developed into today’s traditional monotheism practice (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) are all mere extensions of the old. The utmost honor to our Ancients!