Roman Myths

Despite all their similarities, The Greeks and Romans engaged in substantive culture differences. Their religions derived from a complex set of gods and goddesses, called deities, who were seen as regulating human life. Since the Romans embraced culture from the Greeks, many traditions were the same. However, the Greek and Roman culture, although similar, are very different and appealing. For instance, the Greeks did not acknowledge an all-powerful god; they believe that deities controlled everything that transpired on earth. In other words, the Greeks sought religious cults to explain the forces that shape the world (Bentley et al, 2008 p.143).

In both Greek and Roman civilizations, mythology played an important part in their empire’s success. Both of these civilizations were polytheistic religions. Likewise, they had major and minor gods and goddesses as part of their religion as well. However, since the Roman Empire conquered many cultures including the Greeks, their gods blended with many similarities with the gods that the Ancient Greeks worshipped.

It has been known that the Romans and the Greeks have had many interactions with each other, whether it would be due to trading or just plain traveling, the stories of their myths have crossed each other in one way or another. This is may be the reason why there are many similarities between Greek and Roman Mythology. Even though a Greek god or goddess may have a different name in Roman Mythology they still performed similar tasks and were worshiped for similar reasons. I will compare and contrast Greek gods with their Roman equivalences to see how similar they truly are to each other. Probably the most famous Greek god, Zeus, was the god of all gods. Born to Cronus and Rhea, he was the ruler of the sky, and had

The birth of the Aztec and Roman religion was influenced in different ways. As polytheistic civilizations, they both had many gods, each having special abilities. Both the gods of the Aztecs and the Romans could help or harm people. Although contrary to popular belief, the Romans were first animistic, believing that spirits inhabited everything and everyone around them. But as Rome grew, the beliefs of those who were conquered slowly influenced the Roman culture and religion. However, the line between religion and myth was blurred due to the presence of Greek colonies on the Lower Peninsula as many of the Greek gods were adopted. The

Greek and Roman mythology is well know. The people of that time period were passionate about the gods and did everything in their power to please them. Like most religions the goal is be like one of the gods in order to achieve good fortune or to gain everlasting life. One of the most interesting characteristics about the Greek and Roman Gods is how the gods are not perfect in that they make the same mistakes that the average human would make. These characteristics were put into place to allow ancient Greeks and Romans to effectively relate to the gods making them more believable. This is unlike other religions where the god(s) are shown as the all perfect character making no mistakes. These characteristics relate back to the family and

Greek mythology and Roman mythology both have an importance in both ancient history and the modern world. People often confuse the two and mistake them for each other. They may be similar on paper but they are very different. Greek mythology is more original, had a bigger influence on the ancient people, and has a bigger influence on the modern world.

     The earliest Romans believed that gods and goddesses had power over agriculture and all aspects of daily life. During the 300’s B.C., the Romans came info increasing contact with Greek ideas. They then began to worship Greek gods and goddesses. They gave them Roman names and built temples and shrines in their honor.

Ancient Greek and Rome started out as small city-states they both grew into large empires. From the similar roles they agree on religion, both ancient civilizations approach quite successful. Ancient Greek and Roman admit being polytheistic, adoration of many gods and goddesses. Devotions to all the gods increase importance of recognition of their honorable deeds when they were alive. Donald L. Wasson said, “At the end of the day were concerned with the relationship between the gods and humans, differing in this regard from fairytales and folktales.” They thought that performing sacrifices and rituals would satisfy their gods they would gain protection from the bad vibes.

Greco-Roman mythology is rich in names, characters, and events. Dozens of gods, goddesses, and mortal women and men participate in a variety of activities that reflect or exemplify behaviors and power relations in Greek and Roman societies. A wealth of literature was written about the relationships between mortals and immortals in Greco-Roman mythology. Much was written and said about the place humans occupy in the complex mythical hierarchies. However, the role and place of women remain the topic of the hot literary debate. In Greco-Roman mythology, the image of woman is always

Throughout the history of Rome, from the monarchy to the late empire, religion had played a great role in it's society and was involved in almost every aspect of the life of the Roman citizen. It was common for each house to have it's own patron god/gods and ,on special occasions, the head of the house would make a sacrifice to the personal gods of the family. Also, great festivals were usually held in honor of certain gods and would include spectacles like chariot races and Gladiatorial fights.

First of all; values, morals, traditions, and concerns are the kind of things that myths emulate about a culture. On some occasions the myths provided the people with moral instruction, while at other times the myths’ primary purpose was entertainment. Encompassed by images of and writings about Greek mythology, people who lived in Greek city-states during the Classical Period were constantly made aware of these stories. These myths were to the Greeks what the Bible is to Christians. Explaining the origin of life and the relationship between humanity and the divine, Greek myths were an essential part of Greek culture. Acknowledged as national epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey were taught in schools by the fifth century B.C.E. By the sixth century B.C.E., the Theogony of Hesiod, the explanation of the conception of the universe and the generations of the gods, was to the Greeks as the biblical book of Genesis was to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Another example of the vast influence these myths had on Greek culture is

Ancient Roman civilization was impacted and influenced by Greek culture. One area of influence from the Greeks was Roman religion or mythology. They used many of the Greeks myths and legends and adapted them to fit within Roman society. Their system was based on a trust between them and the gods. This involved the need for them to try to secure the goodwill and peace of the gods.

Although Western society at large has been the heir of Greek culture and civilization, Rome was an heir of Greek culture even more so. (Find citation)For example, Roman inherited many of Greco-Hellenistic forms religion, philosophy, and law. Despite the fact that Roman household religion was influenced by Etruscan religion, the well known Roman gods are merely the Greek Olympian gods and “slightly adjusted areas of responsibility. ”1 During imperial Rome, as during Hellenistic times, Roman emperors were divinized as gods.2 Moreover, Roman philosophy was based on Hellenistic philosophy.

It is a common misconception that Roman and Greek mythology is the same thing, but with different names. This starts in the origin of Roman mythology. When the Romans took over the Greeks they allowed them to keep their beliefs and customs. These beliefs spread to the Romans that lived nearby. When the Romans learned about these gods, they became the main gods of Rome with different names and personalities. (Ancient Civilizations through the Renaissance, p.332) However, in reality, the gods and the way they are worshipped are very different. One key area of the mythologies where this is evident is with the war gods Athena, Minerva, Ares, and Mars. Although they share many similarities, they are very different.

The Romans were polytheistic. The Roman religion believed in many gods. They had similar beliefs to the Greek gods, but also big differences. The Roman mythology was to consist of twelve to thirteen main gods. Each of the gods has a function in the life of an everyday Roman that would require some sort of worshipping. The