THE ROMAN GODS BY: MS. MARFE N. NIQUE

ROMAN GODS

Jupiter - King of the Gods Juno - Queen of the Gods Neptune - God of the Sea Pluto - God of Death Apollo - God of the Sun Diana - Goddess of the Moon Mars - God of War Venus - Goddess of Love Cupid - God of Love Mercury - Messenger of the Gods Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom Ceres - The Earth Goddess Proserpine - Goddess of the

Underworld

Vulcan - The Smith God Bacchus - God of Wine Saturn - God of Time Vesta - Goddess of the Home Janus - God of Doors Uranus and Gaia - Parents of

Saturn Maia - Goddess of Growth Flora - Goddess of Flowers Plutus - God of Wealth

Monsters Cerberus - Dog of the

Underworld Gorgon - Turns you to stone

JUPITER

Title: King of the gods

Greek name: Zeus

Day of the Week: Thursday

Solar system: planet Jupiter

Wonder of the World: Statue at Olympia

Relations: Son of Saturn

Grandson of UranusHusband of JunoBrother of Neptune Brother of PlutoMany children

English words: Jovial means jolly.

JUPITER

Jupiter 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

Title: Queen of the gods

Greek name: Hera

Month: June Relations: Wife of Jupiter

Mother of MarsMother of Vulcan

English word Junoesque means a large beautiful woman.

 

NEPTUNE

Title: God of the sea

Greek name: Poseidon

Solar system: planet Neptune

Relations: Son of Saturn

Grandson of UranusBrother of Jupiter Brother of PlutoMany children

English words: Jovial means jolly.

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.

It may seem strange that Neptune was not a more important god, since the Roman Empire was based on the Mediterranean. But the Romans were poor sailors. When Julius Caesar invaded Britain, it was considered an astounding adventure, even though he was just crossing the English Channel.

  Neptune was the god of earthquakes. He was called the Earth-

shaker. He was also the god of horses and horse-racing. The Romans loved watching horse-racing and had great race tracks for chariot racing, such as the Circus Maximus. You can see the ruins of the Circus Maximus in Rome today, see left.

PLUTO

Title: God of Death

Greek name: Hades

Solar system: dwarf planet Pluto

Relations: Son of Saturn

Brother of JupiterBrother of NeptuneHusband of Proserpine

English word Plutonium

PLUTO

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!

  When someone died, they travelled down to the Underworld. First, they had to

cross the River of the Dead, called the Styx. Everyone was buried with a coin, to pay the ferryman, Charon. Then they had to get past Cerberus, a fierce dog with three heads, which would only let the Dead through. Finally they had to come before the Judges of the Dead. The only living man to fight Cerberus was Hercules, the strongest man in the world. He had to bring Cerberus back from the Underworld. (He let it go afterwards.)

The moon of planet Pluto is called Charon, after the ferryman over the Styx.

APOLLO

Title: God of the sun

Greek name: Apollo is a Greek name

Day of the Week: Sunday

Solar system: Sun Relations: Son of Jupiter

Brother of Diana

Wonder of the World: Colossus at Rhodes

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. His most famous temple was at Delphi in Greece, see right. There, his

priestess would prophesy the future. But she wasn't easy to understand. One day, a great king asked the priestess if he should invade a nearby kingdom. She said, "If you do this, a great kingdom will be destroyed." He thought that she meant he would be successful, and so started the war. He lost disastrously. It was his own kingdom that got destroyed!

 

DIANA

Title: Goddess of the moon

Greek name: Artemis

Day of the Week: Monday

Solar system: Moon Relations: Son of Jupiter

Sister of Apollo

Wonder of the World: Temple at Ephesus

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

Title: God of war

Greek name: Ares

Month: March

Day of the Week: Tuesday Relations: Son of Jupiter

Father of Romulus and Remus

English word: Martial means warlike.

Solar system: planet Mars

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.

  Here is a painting of Mars and Venus. Mars is fast asleep. The little

fauns with goats legs are playing with his armour. One of them is just about to blow his horn very loud in Mars's ear. I wonder what will happen next!

VENUS

Title: Goddess of love

Greek name: Aphrodite

Day of the Week: Friday

Relations: Daughter of Jupiter

Mother of Cupid

Solar system: planet Venus

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.

What would you choose from Power, Wisdom and Love? (I'd choose Wisdom.)

CUPID

Title: God of love

Greek name: Eros Relations: Son of Venus

English word: Cupidity means greediness.

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. So now they were both desperately in love with each other, see right. Venus drove Psyche away, and she had many adventures before she was allowed to stay with Cupid, and Venus became reconciled to being a mother-in-law!

MERCURY

Title: Messenger of the gods

Greek name: Hermes

Day of the Week: Wednesday

Solar system: planet Mercury Relations: Son of Jupiter

Son of Maia   English words: Mercury or Quicksilver is a liquid

metal.Mercurial means light-hearted and active.

MERCURY

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.

Mercury was also the god of science and business. I think that he's the god of the Internet as well!

MINERVA

Title: Goddess of wisdom

Greek name: Athene

Relations: Daughter of Jupiter

MINERVA

  Minerva was the goddess of wisdom. Her symbol was the owl. Her Greek name

was Athene, and Athens was her city. She had a strange birth. One day, Jupiter had a bad headache. Nothing would

cure it. Eventually Vulcan split open Jupiter's head. Out jumped Minerva in armour with shield and spear! Jupiter felt much better afterwards. Don't try this at home.

  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.

SATURN English word: Saturnine means serious and gloomy.

Title: God of time

Greek name: Cronos

Day of the Week: Saturday

Solar system: planet Saturn

Relations:Son of Uranus and GaiaFather of JupiterFather of PlutoFather of Neptune

SATURN

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.

CERES AND PROSERPINE

CERES PROSERPINE

CERES AND PROSERPINE

Ceres Proserpine Title: the Earth

goddess

Greek name: Demeter

Relations: Mother of Proserpine

English word: breakfast cereal

Title: goddess of the Underworld

Greek name: Persephone

Relations: Daughter of Ceres

Wife of Pluto

CERES & PROSERPINE

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 pomegranate. 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 forget. 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

BACCHUS MAENAD

BACCHUS

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!

JANUS

Title: God of doorsMonth: January

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.

URANUS AND GAIA

Title: Uranus was god of the sky and Gaia was goddess of the earth

Greek name: Uranus and Gaia are Greek names

Solar system: planet Uranus

Relations: Parents of Saturn

English word: Uranium

URANUS AND GAIA

Uranus was a shadowly figure right at the start of time. He came before Saturn, who came before Jupiter. He was not worshipped by the Romans, so there is no picture of him.

Uranus was the sky, and his wife Gaia was the earth. They had many children, including giants. They had a violent argument and split up. Ever since the earth and sky have been apart.

Uranium is a radio-active metal used for nuclear power. It was called after the planet Uranus, as it was discovered about the same time.

MAIA

Title: Goddess of growthMonth: May

Relations: Mother of Mercury

English word: May is the hawthorn in flower.

MAIA

On the right, this is a picture of Flora, the goddess of flowers, rather than Maia, the goddess of Growth, but they were similar goddesses.

In the Middle Ages, people went out Maying on the first of May. They would go to the fields and woods, collecting flowers and enjoying the sunshine. This might have been in honour of Maia, the goddess of May, or Flora, the goddess of flowers. Today, we still have the first Monday in May as a holiday. Sometimes people dance round a maypole.

PLUTO

Title: God of DeathGreek name: HadesSolar system: dwarf planet Pluto

Relations: Son of SaturnBrother of JupiterBrother of NeptuneHusband of Proserpine English word Plutonium

PLUTO

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!

PLUTO

When someone died, they travelled down to the Underworld. First, they had to cross the River of the Dead, called the Styx. Everyone was buried with a coin, to pay the ferryman, Charon. Then they had to get past Cerberus, a fierce dog with three heads, which would only let the Dead through. Finally they had to come before the Judges of the Dead. The only living man to fight Cerberus was Hercules, the strongest man in the world. He had to bring Cerberus back from the Underworld. (He let it go afterwards.)

The moon of planet Pluto is called Charon, after the ferryman over the Styx.