The Effect of Greek Mythology on Roman Mythology.
The Greeks and the Romans are two empires that had a tremendous affect on
modern beliefs, culture, and philosophy. When the Romans conquered the Greeks, the
two entities became intertwined as Greek thought and culture was spread throughout the
Roman empire. The Romans and the Greeks were heavily influenced by each other, and
the new culture formed by their merge is often called Greco-Roman culture. Although the
Romans physically conquered Greece, it was Greece that culturally conquered Rome.
The ideas of western society and democracy were adopted by the Romans, and much of
the Greek Mythology was adopted as well.
Roman Conquest
In the year 275 B.C., the Romans were fighting a war in Italy to conquer parts of
the Mediterranean. When Rome attempted to conquer the Carthaginians, Greek soldiers
rushed to the aid of the Carthaginians. The Romans defeated the Carthaginians, and were
angry at the Greeks for attempting to assist them. The Romans their conquest of Greece
because of this. The Romans successfully conquered Greece without much effort, but left
Greece alone for a while, but by 146 BC, the Romans had destroyed a city named Corinth
and forced Greece to become a province of the Roman Empire. The Greeks were not
affected much by the change in power, although they were not exactly thrilled. Their
culture continued to develop, and Greece continued to thrive under Roman rule.
Now that the Greeks were a part of the Roman Empire, the Greeks influenced Romans
even more drastically. Greek plays and Greek philosophy was interesting to the Romans,
and the Romans were influenced by these thought processes regularly in their lives. Many
Greeks traveled to other parts of Rome to become teachers. They spread the Greek
thought and culture even further as they taught Romans of the Greek way of acquiring
education. Other Greeks went to Rome as entertainers, and through education and
entertainment, the Romans learned more about Greece and Greek culture. As Greek
thought became more and more common throughout the Empire, Romans began traveling
directly to Greek schools, such as Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, which are
two of the most prominent colleges of the time period.
Original Greek Mythology
The religion of the Greeks, also known as Greek mythology, originated as creative
stories and poems that were written to explain the mysteries and unknown happenings of
the natural world. Greek mythology consists of stories of Gods, deities, heroes, weak men
and women fighting for good, monsters, and creatures. Greek mythology originated as
the worship of one omnipotent God, named Zeus. As the religion evolved, more and
more gods were invented by the Greeks, and the religion quickly became polytheistic.
The first generation of immortal beings to rule the earth were called the “primeval
gods”, or protogenoi. The primeval gods came into existence at the time of creation. They
are the basic elemental beings who the Greeks believe make up fabric of the universe.
These beings each have power over a specific element. Some of the primeval gods are:
Ananke, the goddess of necessity and destiny; Chaos, the goddess of the empty void from
which all things appear; Chronos, the god of time; and Uranus, the god of the heavens.
There are many other primeval gods as well.
The primeval gods Gaea and Uranus gave birth to twelve children, who became
known as the Titan gods. They include Oceanus, Coeus, and Crius. At the birth of the
Titans, Uranus was so disgusted at the sight of them, or perhaps so fearful of their great
strength and power, that he hid them away in the bowels of the earth. His wife, Gaea,
knew that her children were in pain, so she created a plan that would stop her husband
from creating any more children. She didn't want more children to be forced into the
bowels of the Earth. She needed help from one of her children, so she asked all of them
for help. Only the youngest of the children, Kronos, would help her. Gaea gave Kronos a
sickle to use as his weapon. Kronos hid out of sight from his parents. When Kronos went
to lie with Gaea, Kronos attacked his father and cut Kronos' genitals off. Uranus' blood
fell down to Earth, and from his blood the Furies, the Giants, and the Nymphs of the
manna ash trees were born. After Uranus was overthrown, Kronos married Rhea, and
they ruled the Earth. The Titans became the second generation of gods to rule the Earth.
Under the power of the Titans, there was a time of peace and harmony. This time period
was known as the “Golden Age”. During the Golden Age, people lived without greed and
violence, and there was no need for laws nor a need to toil the land for crops. But soon it
was fated that Kronos would be overthrown by one of his own children. Kronos didn't
want to be overthrown like he overthrew his father, so he swallowed each of his newborn
children, swallowing them whole. He retained them in his body so that they could not
harm him or the Titan dynasty.
The Olympians are the next generation of gods to rule the world. They live on a
mountain named Mount Olympus. There are twelve Olympian gods. They include Zeus,
god of the sky, lightning, and weather; Poseidon, god of the sea; Hades, god of the
Underworld; Hera is goddess of marriage, and was raised by Titan parents; and Hestia,
goddess of the Hearth. These six gods are all children of the Titans Kronos and Rhea.
They are all siblings of Zeus. Zeus married a few different goddesses in his life time, and
produced children with several of them. His children include Ares, Athena, Apollo,
Aphrodite, Hermes, Artemis, and Hephaestus. These children listed are also Olympian
gods. All of the Olympian gods are related to Zeus in some way, and Zeus is their leader.
Hera is not considered an Olympian god because she was raised by Titans, but she is
usually portrayed with them and is equally as powerful as the others. Zeus is often
considered the most powerful god, and Poseidon and Hades are often regarded as second
most powerful- most likely because they, too, are males who descended from Titan
parents.
The Olympians took power from the Titans when they rebelled against their
father, Kronos, for eating them. Rhea and Gaea teamed up to save Zeus from being eaten.
They wrapped a stone in Zeus' clothes, and told Kronos that the stone was the baby.
Kronos immediately swallowed the stone thinking that the stone was the child. Baby
Zeus was taken to a cave on Mount Dicte, and was raised by a divine goat named
Amaltheia. When Zeus had grown into a young man, he returned to his father so that he
could rescue his siblings. With the help of Gaea, Zeus caused Kronos to regurgitate the
five children that he had swallowed. Once they were freed, Zeus led the revolt against his
father, and the Olympians ended the dynasty of the Titans and took power over the Earth.
They locked the Titans in Tartarus, which is a pit of torture and despair in the depths of
the Underworld. The Olympic gods are the gods that the Romans predominantly have
allegiance to. They worship the Olympic gods frequently, and rarely worship the other
gods. Many of the gods who are not in the Olympic generation are considered as evil.
Original Roman Mythology
Originally, Roman Mythology consisted of thirty gods who had very minimal
powers. Among these included Ops, the goddess of fertility of agriculture; Janus, god of
gates and doorways; and Carna, goddess of door hinges and handles. The original Roman
gods were not as powerful as the Greek gods were. Each Roman god had his/her own
festival day. These gods are called the Di Indigete gods. After the Greeks and the Romans
assimilated, however, the Roman religion adopted many of the Greek gods.
Roman Mythology After Cultural Diffusion
After the Greeks joined the Roman Empire, the Roman religion was influenced
heavily by the Greeks and the gods that they believed in. Many Greek gods were adopted
into the Roman pantheon with new names. The Olympian gods were all named after
planets. The Roman Pantheon had gods and deities grouped similar to the way that the
Greeks grouped theirs. They still had the Di Indigete gods who were the original gods
listed in the official pantheon, but they also had other groups, such as the Dii Consentes
gods- also known as the Major Gods. The Di Indigete list was expanded to include other
minor gods that the Romans added after assimilating the Greeks. The new list contained
about 177 gods.
The Roman religion was not only influenced by Greeks. They also adopted gods
and goddesses from the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Etruscans, the Persians, the
Phrygians. Also, certain Roman emperors and family members of emperors were often
deified and made considered deities. These deities were called Imperial Cult deities.
Among these are Julius Caesar, Augustus, Septimius Severus, Livia, and Severus
Alexander. The majority of the emperors following Severus Alexander were also deified,
and it was considered by the Senate to be standard practice. This discontinued after the
Roman official religion shifted to monotheism when Christianity was introduced.
There aren't any differences between the Major gods of the two religions. The
Major gods of the Romans are the same gods of the Greeks, just with different names.
Even with their names being changed, the gods had the same powers. For the Greeks, the
Major (Olympian) gods are known as Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena,
Demeter, Dionysus, Hades, Haphaestus, Hera, Hermes, Hestia, Poseidon, and Zeus. For
the Romans, the same gods in the same order as above are known as Venus, Apollo,
Mars, Diana, Minerva, Ceres, Liber, Pluto, Vulcan, Juno, Mercury, Vesta, Neptune, and
Jupiter. Note that many of the Roman names are the names of planets. In both religions,
the gods have the same job as their counterparts, except the god Ares/Mars. In the Greek
faith, Ares is the god of War, and is a god who is completely brutal and hostile. In the
Roman faith, Mars (the Roman name for Ares) is the god of both War and Agriculture.
He is seen by the Romans as more benevolent and has a softer side.
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