Question about the Roman gods?

[Romanstudent19]

I haven't been to this board in ages, but I was just wondering, does anyone know if the Roman gods and Greek gods were actually the same, or were they different, as loads of people say their same (that Jupiter is the Roman name for Zeus, etc), but I've also been told that they are actually different, and I'd like to know if that's true.

 

How do the Roman gods differ, like what's their personality like, etc.

 

And, finally, does anyone know of any good books or sites on Roman deities, and their myths, as I'd like to learn more about them.

 

Thanks.

[Primus Pilus]

I haven't been to this board in ages, but I was just wondering, does anyone know if the Roman gods and Greek gods were actually the same, or were they different, as loads of people say their same (that Jupiter is the Roman name for Zeus, etc), but I've also been told that they are actually different, and I'd like to know if that's true.

 

How do the Roman gods differ, like what's their personality like, etc.

 

And, finally, does anyone know of any good books or sites on Roman deities, and their myths, as I'd like to learn more about them.

 

Thanks.

 

Rather than the Roman and Greek gods being the same, a better explanation may be that the Roman gods were adaptations of the Greek. Many of the traits and functions of the deities were similar but they may have also included traits of other cultures (Etruscan for instance). I am no expert on the subject though and I hope others will intercede.

[M. Porcius Cato]

What is the evidence of Etruscan influences on the Roman pantheon? It all seems Greek to me.

[Lost_Warrior]

I really don't know how to answer this from a historical standpoint. I for one believe, very strongly, that they are unique individuals; of course, that's from a religious standpoint, not from a historical or in any way scholarly standpoint. (and I really don't think that "UPG" religious discussion belongs here, but PM me and I'm more than willing to talk about it )

[Pantagathus]

What is the evidence of Etruscan influences on the Roman pantheon? It all seems Greek to me.

Chalcidian (& Corinthian) Greeks~~~~>Etruscans~~~~>Romans

 

A good example of this flow is the cult of Hercules. If Rome had adapted the cult directly from Cumae the name *should* have been more like the Oscan which was Herekleis. Instead we find in Rome an adaptation of the Etruscan name of Hercle.

 

What is puzzling however is how thoroughly the Etruscans embraced Greek myth & religion to express their own beliefs except for a few minor exceptions like the demoness Vanth.

 

If indeed the Etruscans had a familial link in prehistory with the Pelasgians as suggested via the linguistic connection with Lemnian, then perhaps the similar pantheon was already in place before contact with the Euboeans & Phoenicians in the Archaic. In that case it may not be that the Etruscans borrowed the Greek pantheon in the Archaic, just that they perhaps embraced the new artistic modes of expressing those beliefs via the plastic arts?

[georgious]

What is the evidence of Etruscan influences on the Roman pantheon? It all seems Greek to me.

Chalcidian (& Corinthian) Greeks~~~~>Etruscans~~~~>Romans

 

A good example of this flow is the cult of Hercules. If Rome had adapted the cult directly from Cumae the name *should* have been more like the Oscan which was Herekleis. Instead we find in Rome an adaptation of the Etruscan name of Hercle.

 

What is puzzling however is how thoroughly the Etruscans embraced Greek myth & religion to express their own beliefs except for a few minor exceptions like the demoness Vanth.

 

If indeed the Etruscans had a familial link in prehistory with the Pelasgians as suggested via the linguistic connection with Lemnian, then perhaps the similar pantheon was already in place before contact with the Euboeans & Phoenicians in the Archaic. In that case it may not be that the Etruscans borrowed the Greek pantheon in the Archaic, just that they perhaps embraced the new artistic modes of expressing those beliefs via the plastic arts?

Roman imperial culture adopted elements of the religious practices of its subject peoples.The Greek pantheon was romanized,

zeus=jupiter,aris=mars,aphrodite=venus,athena=minerva,ira=juno,hermes=mercury,haephestus=vulcan,estia=vesta(vestal virgins),dionysus=bacchus(whose cult was phohibited by the Senate through the senatus cosultum de bachanalibus),artemis=diana,poseidon=neptunus etc, the Latin names are the names through whom those names have passed in the english language.But I will not give an equivocal answer-in the roman religion elements from eastern religions were included-a ceremony is reproduced in an episode of the series Rome.It was a melting pot of religions.For ancient Roman religion I would suggest the book "Ancient Roman Religion" by Georges Dumezil- obviously at first the religion was stricter, purer, paternalistic and formalistic, expansion diluted its pristine purity.

[The Augusta]

Whilst I agree that the Roman Pantheon was adapted from Greek models - can anyone explain just why Apollo remained the same in both cultures? Of course, I know he had various Greek names, but is he alone in being the one god who was taken over by the Romans in his original guise? And if so - why? This has always interested me about Apollo. Perhaps one of our experts can enlighten us? How was he brought to Italy? Did the Etruscans, for instance, have their own version of the sun god? Does the retaining of his Greek name indicate that he was perhaps brought to Italy by the Greeks? Did his cult begin down in Campania?

 

Any help would be gratefully appreciated, guys and gals.

[Segestan]

<<<<<Whilst I agree that the Roman Pantheon was adapted from Greek models - can anyone explain just why Apollo remained the same in both cultures? Of course, I know he had various Greek names, but is he alone in being the one god who was taken over by the Romans in his original guise? And if so - why? This has always interested me about Apollo. Perhaps one of our experts can enlighten us? How was he brought to Italy? Did the Etruscans, for instance, have their own version of the sun god? Does the retaining of his Greek name indicate that he was perhaps brought to Italy by the Greeks? Did his cult begin down in Campania?

 

Any help would be gratefully appreciated, guys and gals.>>>>

 

 

The Greek deities were taken up in Rome from the 5th century onward as the result of Alliances , emergencies , and propitiation

[Nephele]

I believe Apollo's introduction into the Roman religion actually preceded that of the other Greek gods, and this was through the Greek colony of Cumae at the Bay of Naples.

 

Perhaps because the Romans had such an early and intimate acquaintance with Apollo through his priestess, the Sybil of Cumae (whose dealings with the last King Tarquin involved some hard-nosed haggling over the price of the oracular Sybilline Books), Apollo therefore retained the identity and characteristics that were his originally and he was thus adopted into the Roman religion intact.

 

-- Nephele

[docoflove1974]

And wasn't Apollo one of the few 'borrowed' deities whose importance and true characteristics were about the same in Roman and Greek mythology? For instance, Zeus seems more 'omnipotent' than Jupiter, Hera is more active than Juno, and Athena much more involved in Greek mythology than Minerva. Wasn't it the case that, for example, whereas Athena's role in combat was important, yet Minerva wasn't so much thought as being part of the art of combat? (I'm thinking of Athena's role in The Illiad, and can't think of Minerva in the same role in Roman myth.

 

Also, I believe that I had read somewhere in the past (please don't ask me where) that for Romans the 'local' deities and familial spirits played more of a role than did the major Pantheon. Is this true?

[Nephele]

Also, I believe that I had read somewhere in the past (please don't ask me where) that for Romans the 'local' deities and familial spirits played more of a role than did the major Pantheon. Is this true?

 

Yes, it's my understanding, too, that the rural, agricultural deities of the Romans were most popular with (and important to) the farming population. And of course Roman families revered their old household deities.

 

But the Roman farmers and common folk weren't the ones writing great epics about the gods. Certainly not the way the Greeks of old had written about their own deities. Which is perhaps another reason why the more sophisticated Roman classes, particularly Roman poets, found it so appealing to adopt characteristics of the great Greek deities for their own deities, and to incorporate the richness of Greek legends and literature into their own literature.

 

-- Nephele

[Pantagathus]

Whilst I agree that the Roman Pantheon was adapted from Greek models - can anyone explain just why Apollo remained the same in both cultures? Of course, I know he had various Greek names, but is he alone in being the one god who was taken over by the Romans in his original guise? And if so - why? This has always interested me about Apollo. Perhaps one of our experts can enlighten us?

In the religion of the early Romans there is no trace of the worship of Apollo. The Romans became acquainted with this divinity through the Greeks, and adopted all their notions and ideas about him from the latter people. There is no doubt that the Romans knew of his worship among the Greeks at a very early time, and tradition says that they consulted his oracle at Delphi even before the expulsion of the kings. But the first time that we hear of the worship of Apollo at Rome is in the year B. C. 430, when, for the purpose of averting a plague, a temple was raised to him, and soon after dedicated by the consul, C. Julius. (Liv. iv. 25, 29.) A second temple was built to him in the year B. C. 350. One of these two (it is not certain which) stood outside the porta Capena. During the second Punic war, in B. C. 212, the ludi Apollinares were instituted in honour of Apollo. (Liv. xxv. 12; Macrob. Sat. i. 17; Dict. of Ant. s. v. Ludi Apollinares; comp. Ludi Sweculares.) The worship of this divinity, however, did not form a very prominent part in the religion of the Romans till the time of Augustus, who, after the battle of Actium, not only dedicated to him a portion of the spoils, but built or embellished his temple at Actium, and founded a new one at Rome on the Palatine, and instituted quinquennial games at Actium. (Suet. Aug. 31, 52; Dict. of Ant. s. v. Aktia; Hartung, die Reliyion der R

[The Augusta]

Thanks for these informative replies. But can I now set you another challenge? We know that the worship of the sun god in various guises is extremely ancient. Do we have any evidence that the pre-Roman Italians (Etruscans excepted) worshipped a sun god? I did a quick internet search but as Wikipedia is somewhat unreliable, I would defer to the greater wisdom of our members. For instance, in the southern areas such as Bruttium, do we know anything at all of a pre-Roman - even Pre-Greek - religion?

[Ursus]

The Romans "imported" deities from the neighbors, but they often emphasised different aspects of the god than those assigned by the surrounding civilizations. Apollo was many things to the Greeks, and one of the most important deities. To the Romans, however, he was chiefly a god of healing. It was in this aspect his cult was brought to Rome during a time of plague. Apollo was not even so much a god of oracles, as the Sybilline prophecies were housed in the temple of Jupiter before Augustus. Indeed, Apollo come to prominence in Roman society only when Augustus declared him his patron deity and symbol of his new order, and built for Apollo a splendid new temple which then housed the Sybilline prophecies, and instituted the "secular games."

 

 

 

Also, I believe that I had read somewhere in the past (please don't ask me where) that for Romans the 'local' deities and familial spirits played more of a role than did the major Pantheon. Is this true?

 

Indeed: http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-domestic-cult.php

 

 

 

What is the evidence of Etruscan influences on the Roman pantheon? It all seems Greek to me

 

The Roman Republic's "holy trinity" of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva seems to be modeled on an earlier "holy trinity" of comparable Etruscan deities. In the Hellenic world there are less direct examples of said trinities.

 

The Roman reverence for augury also has few Greek parallels, and is generally deemed to be an Etruscan influence.

[Ursus]

I haven't been to this board in ages, but I was just wondering, does anyone know if the Roman gods and Greek gods were actually the same, or were they different,

 

Both.

 

The Greeks and Romans had the same Indo-European origins, and it is not therefore surprising certain things were already in common. The Indo-European Deus becomes Zeus in Greece and Jupiter in Rome. Westa the hearth goddess becomes Hestia in Greece and Vesta in Rome.

 

But after they split, things diverged a bit. Because of their geography and maritime contacts, the Greeks were considerably influenced by West Asian/Near Eastern influences. New cults were added, existing cults took on different flavors. An amazing body of folk lore, later called mythology, developed.

 

This influence was then channeled back to Rome during contact with the Hellenic and Etruscan civilizations. The Romans, however, emphasized aspects of the gods they found most useful to their society.