MAJOR GODS AND GODDESSES OF ROMAN MYTHOLOGY

JUPITER- upiter was king of the Gods. The eagle was his messenger. His weapon was the Thunderbolt (thunder and lightning). All other gods were terrified of him, although he was a little scared of his wife Juno! Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto were the three sons of Saturn. They divided up the world between themselves. Jupiter took the air, Neptune had the sea and Pluto ruled under the earth, the home of the Dead.Jupiter means Father Jove (Father in Latin is "pater"). There was a big temple on the Capitol in Rome dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus (which means Jupiter Best and Greatest). The Romans thought that Jupiter guarded their city and looked after them.

JUNO- Juno was the wife of Jupiter and queen of the gods. She was the goddess of women and marriage. Her bird was the peacock.The Romans believed that every man had a spirit that looked after him all his life. This was called his genius. Some people believed each man had both a good genius and a bad genius. Women didn't have a genius, they had a juno instead.

NEPTUNE-Neptune was the god of the sea. He carried a trident, which had three prongs. He rode a dolphin or a horse. When the sea is rough enough to show white tops to the waves, these are called sea horses. On the right, the back half of the seahorse is a fish.

APOLLO- Apollo was the god of the sun. Each day he drove his chariot of fiery horses across the sky to give light to the world. Apollo had a son called Phaethon, who was human. Phaethon nagged at Apollo to let him borrow the sun chariot and fly across the sky. Finally Apollo agreed. Phaethon proudly drove the sun chariot up into the sky, but then he lost control of the horses. The sun chariot dived towards the earth, burning everything. Finally Jupiter had to stop him with a thunder bolt.Apollo was also the god of music, and played the lyre.

MERCURY-was the god of travellers. He had a winged hat and sandals, so he could fly. He carried a staff which also has wings and two snakes winding round it.He was also the god of thieves. When he was only a few days old, he stole the cows of Apollo. Mercury made special shoes for the cows and made them walk backwards, so no-one could follow their tracks. Eventually Apollo noticed that Mercury was playing a new musical instrument called a lyre, strung with cow-gut and worked out that Mercury had stolen his cows. Apollo was furious with Mercury, but thought the lyre was wonderful. So they agreed that Mercury could keep the cows and Apollo would get the lyre.

PLUTO-was the god of the Dead. Romans were afraid to say Pluto's real name because they were afraid he might notice them and they would die.Pluto sometimes got confused with the Greek god, Plutus, the god of wealth. This is not surprising, since the names sound alike, and also wealth, like gold, silver or jewels, are found underground, where Pluto ruled.The metal Plutonium is radio-active. It was discovered soon after the planet Pluto. It is not only used for nuclear bombs, it is deadly by itself. It deserves to belong to the god of Death!

DIANA- Diana was the goddess of the moon. Her twin brother Apollo was the god of the sun.Diana carried a bow and arrows. She was the goddess of hunting. Once she was bathing in a forest pool. A hunter called Actaeon spied on her. So Diana turned him into a stag and he was chased by his own hunting dogs.She helped women in child-birth, because her mother Leto gave birth to her and her twin brother so easily.

MARS

The Romans were great soldiers and thought Mars, the god of War, was very important. They said that he was the father of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. When Romulus and Remus were babies, they were left to die. But they were found by a mother wolf, who suckled them. Romulus gave his name to Rome.The Campus Martius or field of Mars, was next to the river Tiber in in ancient Rome. It was used to train soldiers and hold horse races. March was called after Mars because that was when the soldiers started fighting again after winter.

VENUS- Venus was born in the sea and first came to shore at Cyprus, floating on a scallop shell.There was a Golden Apple with "For the Fairest" written on the side. Venus, Juno and Minerva all wanted it. They decided to let a man, Paris, judge between them. They were all so beautiful that he couldn't make his mind up. So Juno said she would make him powerful. Minerva said she would make him wise. Venus offered him Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. He chose Venus, and Helen. Unfortunately Helen was married to someone else, and when Paris carried her off to his home at Troy, her husband came with his allies to get her back. Paris and all his family were killed and Troy was destroyed. One of the few Trojans to survive the Trojan War was Aeneas, the son of Venus. He went to Italy, and was the ancestor of the Romans.

CUPID- Cupid was the mischievous little god of love. His weapon was a bow, and anyone hit by one of his arrows fell madly in love.Cupid once scratched himself with one of his own arrows by mistake. He was looking at a woman called Psyche, and fell in love with her. He knew that his mother Venus would be angry, so he hid Psyche away and told her that she must never try to look at him. Psyche thought that she had been captured by a hideous monster, and, of course, couldn't resist taking a peep. She was enchanted by the first sight of her handsome husband, and while playing with his arrows, scratched herself as well.

MINERVA-Minerva was the goddess of arts and crafts. She was particularly good at weaving. Once a woman called Arachne wove a beautiful picture. Minerva tried to find something wrong with it. When she couldn't, she tore it up and turned Arachne into a spider. The spider still weaves beautiful webs.Minerva helped the hero Perseus to kill the gorgon Medusa, who was a monster with snakes instead of hair. Anyone who looked at a gorgon turned to stone! But Minerva told Perseus to look at Medusa's reflection in a polished shield. That way he could cut the head off without looking directly at the gorgon. He gave the head to Minerva, who put it on her shield, so it would turn her enemies to stone.

CERES-Ceres was the Earth goddess and goddess of corn. She carried the cornucopia, a horn full of vegetables and fruit. Her daughter was Proserpine.Pluto fell in love with Proserpine, and carried her off to the Underworld. Ceres searched everywhere, but couldn't find her. Eventually Ceres refused to let the plants grow any more, and everyone begun to die of hunger. So Pluto admitted he had Proserpine, but said she could only go back home if she had eaten none of the food of the Dead. Proserpine had eaten almost nothing, as she was so sad at being kept underground, but she had eaten six seeds from a

pomergranate. This means that she could go home, but had to return to her husband for six months every year. When this happens, Ceres stops everything growing, and winter comes.

VULCAN-Vulcan was the smith of the gods, and made Jupiter's thunderbolts. His smithy was in the volcano Etna, in Sicily, where you can see fire from his forge.Once, he made Jupiter angry, and Jupiter threw him out of Heaven. Vulcan fell to Earth and broke both legs, which made him lame. This picture from a Greek vase shows him in a sort of winged wheel-chair.He made women of gold to help him in his smithy - possibly the first robots!

BACCHUS- was the god of wine. He was accompanied by Maenads, or wild dancing women, see right. They carried the thyrsus, a staff of giant fennel, covered with ivy leaves, with a pine cone on top. There is a wonderful description of a Bacchanalia, or feast in honour of Bacchus, in Prince Caspian, one of the Narnia books, by C.S.Lewis.Bacchus was also the god of the theatre, since the first plays in Greece were performed in his honour. There were tragedies, serious stories about heroes and gods, and comedies, which laughed at politicians and were often very rude!

SATURN-was god of Time and his weapon was a scythe. He is called Old Father Time.Saturn ruled the gods before Jupiter. Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto were his children. They represent Air, Water and Death, the three things that Time cannot kill.The Romans had a mid-winter festival in honour of Saturn, called the Saturnalia. It lasted seven days, and there was much merrymaking. Public business was suspended and schools were closed. Parents gave toys to their children and there was a public banquet. That is why we eat so much at Christmas, give presents and go to parties.

VESTA-was the goddess of the hearth, the centre of the Roman home.She was a quiet well-behaved goddess, who didn't join in the arguments and fights of the other gods.She was protector of the sacred flame, which was supposed to have been brought from Troy to Rome by the hero Aeneus. The flame was relit every March 1st and had to be kept alight all year. If this flame ever went out, disaster would fall on Rome. The flame was kept alive by the Vestal Virgins. These priestesses were chosen when they were as young as six years old. They had to stay as priestesses for thirty years, and were not allowed to marry.

JANUS- kept the gate of Heaven, so he became the god of doors and gates. He was very important, because a house is only as strong as its doors.His temple in Rome had its doors thrown open in times of War, and closed in times of Peace. They were usually open! The Emperor Augustus closed the doors of the temple, since he brought peace to the Roman Empire.Janus had two faces, one looking forwards and one looking back, since a door can let you in, or let you out. The first month of the year is named after him. In January, we look back at the last year, and forward to the next.

MONSTERS OF ROMAN MYTHOLOGY

CERBERUS-The watchdog of the realm of Hades, generally described as being a three-headed dog with a serpent tail, and on his back innumerable snakes' heads. He is believed to be the son of Echidna and Typhon. Chained in front of the gates of the Underworld, he terrorizes souls upon their entering. You can catch a glimpse of him in Virgil's Aeneid, Book VI (Aeneas' journey into the underworld) and in Dante's Inferno. In other stories, Cerberus was bested by men such as Heracles and Orpheus.

MEDUSA-Once a beautiful woman, Medusa was the child of Phorcys and Ceto. Of the three "gorgons", Medusa was the only mortal. Their hair was a mass of serpents; they had huge tusks, hands of bronze, and golden wings enabling them to fly. Anyone who encountered their gaze was turned to stone immediately from a horrible fear and loathing. Poseidon was the only immortal not fearful of Medusa since he fathered a child with her. Medusa was defeated by Perseus, who managed to chop off her head by looking at her through a looking-glass, which was most likely a bronze shield. This story can be found in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Athena made use of Medusa's head by fixing it to the center of her shield or her aegis.

Echidna-Is the mixture of a serpent and a woman, a beautiful fair-faced nymph from the waist up, but a horrible serpent below. She grew up in her cave and used her beautiful head and torso to lure men but once they were trapped, her serpent nature took over and she ate them raw. Echidna mated with the storm god Typhon and gave birth to a great lot of famous monsters: Chimaera, the Hydra of Lernae, the dragons of Colchis and the garden of the Hesperides, the Gorgons, the eagle that eats Prometheus’ liver, Cerberus and its brother Orthrus. The hundred-eyed Argos kills Echida in her sleep to prevent her from eating him as she has eaten other travelers.

HecatoncheiresThe Hecatoncheires or the Hundred-Handed were offspring of Uranus and Gaea; they were brothers named Briareus, Cottus and Gyges. They had hundred hands and fifty heads. Their gigantic size and their ugliness frightened their father, Uranus, who was ruler of the universe. Uranus threw his sons into Tartarus, the deepest region of the Underworld. This caused great pain to Gaea. When Gaea gave birth to another set of ugly, giant sons, the Cyclops were met with similar fates as their elder brothers. The Cyclopes were also imprisoned in Tartarus. Only the Titans, who were fairer in looks, escaped the fates of imprisonment. Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, overthrown his father and became supreme ruler of the universe. Gaea had hoped that Cronus would release her sons who were imprisoned in Tartarus. Cronus refused to release them, so Gaea foretold that he would meet a similar fate as his father.War broke out between the Titans and the sons of Cronus, known as the Olympians. The Olympians were the younger gods, led by the younger brother Zeus. The Cyclops made weapons for the Olympians. The Titans and Olympians were evenly matched, until Zeus released the Hecatoncheires from Tartarus. With the help of the Hecatoncheires, Zeus and his brothers were able to throw Cronus and the other male Titans into prison. Zeus set the Hecatoncheires to watch and guard the Titans, who were imprisoned in Tartarus.

LamiaSomewhat vampirical, this was a female monster who was thought to steal children and drink their blood. She was thought to have a woman's head and breasts, but a serpent's body. In some accounts she was one of Zeus' lovers who bore him children. Hera, in fits of jealousy, caused each child that was born to die. In despair, Lamia became a monster jealous of mothers more fortunate than herself. So she devoured their children. Female spirits which attached themselves to children in order to suck their blood were also called Lamiae.

MinotaurThe Minotaur was a beast that had the body of a man and the head of a bull. Legend has it that King Minos of Crete tried to cheat Poseidon by begging for a beautiful white bull for sacrifice to the gods. However, when Minos got hold of this bull he put it in with his own herds. Very angry, Poseidon caused Minos' wife to fall in love with the bull and become its lover. The Minotaur was the result of this weird union. The Labyrinth was built in order to house the beast and each year he was fed with seven boys and seven girls who were the tribute exacted by Minos from Athens. Theseus was able to defeat the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne, King Minos' daughter. She gave him a skein of thread and a sword so that he might kill the monster and then retrace his steps back through the labyrinth.

ROMAN MYTHOLOG

YMAJOR GODS and

GODDESSESIncluding MONSTERS

By: Ulong, Mark Salahudin C.Lasin, Roland R.BSEd III- english

Summer class SY: 2012-2013