Ties Between Greek And Roman G Essay — страница 2

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was also the god of war, it would seem that he would rather prevent war rather than start it because war would be hazardous to a Rome s agriculture. The Greek goddess Aphrodite and the Roman goddess Venus were very similar. They have very few differences. Aphrodite was the goddess of erotic love and Venus was the goddess of love or queen of pleasure. (Encyclopedia of the Greek Mythology, Aphrodite) Aphrodite married the god of fire Hephaestus and had an affair with Ares while Venus married the god of metal work Vulcan and had an affair with Mars. Both goddesses were very unfaithful to their husbands and had many affairs with many other gods and mortals. A difference that I have found is that Venus had many other names like Juno. According to the Roman Mythological Characters

website, Venus Genetrix, was worshiped as the mother of the hero Aeneas, the founder of the Roman people; as Venus Felix, she was the bringer of good fortune; as Venus Victrix, she was the bringer of victory; and as Venus Verticordia, she the protector of feminine chastity. The Romans also associate Venus with nature, and the arrival of spring. This may be because everything is fertilized and starts to grow in spring. The website also wrote that Venus really had no myths of her own but was so closely identified with the Greek Aphrodite that she took over Aphrodite’s myths. This probably explains why there are very close similarities between the two goddesses. In the many affairs of Zeus, Maia bore him the messenger of the gods, Hermes. His symbol of office was a caduceus or a

herald s wand. He used it to guide the dead souls into Hades and in rare occasions to guide them out. He was also known as the patron of merchants and seamen, of good luck, and of thieves and pickpockets, and was very well known for his mischief. He is often seen with winged helmet and a pair of sandals. Some say that his sandals had wings as well, which helped him fly around the heavens. Mercury, his Roman counterpart, was the son of Jupiter and Maia. He was the messenger of Jupiter and the god of merchants and trading. Much like Hermes, he was often seen with the caduceus, winged hat, winged sandals and a purse. Like Hermes, he protected the merchants. The root word of his name merx means merchandise. Not too many differences between these two characters. This could possibly

mean that this is one of the characters that Greeks and Romans may have shared. It is hard to tell whether or not the Greeks came up with Hermes first or if the Romans came up with Mercury first. Athena was the virgin goddess of crafts and the domestic arts and war. Also known as the patron of Athens, she was born from Zeus’s head. She was known to have aided the heroes Perseus, Jason, Cadmus and Heracles in their quests. Minerva, her Roman equivalence, was the patroness of the arts and crafts. (Tripp, Pg. 380) Much like Athena, she was also born from Jupiter s (Zeus) head. Much like Hermes and Mercury, Athena and Minerva are very identical to each other. It would also be hard to define whether or not Minerva was established before Athena. It can be assumed that these two

figures were made by a compilation of both Greek and Roman myths. With these examples in mind, we can see that Greek gods and Roman gods have many similarities. In the cases of Hermes, Mercury, Athena, and Minerva, they are so similar that they might as well be called the same name. With the comparisons of Hera, Ares, and their Roman counterparts, we can see that everything is the same except for their attitudes. Hera seems to be more of a mean goddess than Juno because humans actually offer praises to Juno and actually expect Juno to help her. Hera was too busy causing harm towards Zeus mistress. Ares was just the meaner and more aggressive version of Mars. Venus may as well have been Aphrodite because it was believed that her myths were borrowed from Aphrodite. Zeus and Jupiter

were similar, but were written in different times, suggesting a heavy coincidence that the Greeks and the Romans were on the same page. Overall, Greek gods and Roman gods are indeed very similar. If they do have differences, they are always fairly petty and do not affect their general purpose within mythology. The interactions between the Greeks and Romans have definitely tied each other s myths together so close that a story from Greek mythology can easily be interchangeable with a story from Roman Mythology.