Similiarity between greek and roman myths

Persephone

New Member
There are a lot of similarities between Greek and Roman Myths. Actually when studying you will find that the majority of it is the same. There may be a couple of name changes and such but I find it interested how close they are.
 

RLynn

Active Member
At some point the Romans began adopting Greek myths, renaming the characters. For example, Venus is Aphrodite, Mercury is Hermes, Ulysses is Odysseus, etc.
 

Poolshark

New Member
I think there is more to it than simply adopting Greek gods and renaming them. I believe many of the Greek and Roman gods were descended from an earlier Indo-European root, separated for a time and then reconnected. For example, while Zeus and Jupiter seem to be quite different names they are actually from the same root: Djevs. Which became "Zeus" for the Greeks "piter" I believe is the same as "pater" or father. This leaves only the "Ju" part of Jupiter and I think you can see how Zeus-Pater or Father Zeus could easily be related to each other. The Romans recognized the similarity between their own and the Greek gods. They believed that many gods and godesses of people they met must be the same gods that they themselves worshipped. I always thought it interesting that the Romans equated Odin with Mercury rather than Zeus. Does anyone know why?
 

Poolshark

New Member
Isn't that an odd thing to latch onto? I would have thought they would have thought "hey, king of the gods....must be Zeus" But to relegate Odin to the status of Mercury? Those crazy Romans.
 

RLynn

Active Member
I agree. Zeus would be the obvious association, but Mercury was not necessarily considered an inferior god. Julius Caesar thought that Mercury was the most popular god in Britain and Gaul. He's my favorite too.
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
I think there is more to it than simply adopting Greek gods and renaming them. I believe many of the Greek and Roman gods were descended from an earlier Indo-European root, separated for a time and then reconnected. For example, while Zeus and Jupiter seem to be quite different names they are actually from the same root: Djevs. Which became "Zeus" for the Greeks "piter" I believe is the same as "pater" or father. This leaves only the "Ju" part of Jupiter and I think you can see how Zeus-Pater or Father Zeus could easily be related to each other. The Romans recognized the similarity between their own and the Greek gods. They believed that many gods and godesses of people they met must be the same gods that they themselves worshipped. I always thought it interesting that the Romans equated Odin with Mercury rather than Zeus. Does anyone know why?
There is always a problem when people or cultures try to equate a god of one pantheon with a god from another; there are too many differences. Odin may be king of the Norse gods, but in many ways he is different than Zeus. For example: Zeus is associated with the thunderbolt. The god closest to Zeus in this regard would be Thor; not Odin.
I believe one of the reasons that Odin was equated with Mercury is that both gods had strong associations with intelligence. Mercury is seen as the most clever and wily of the gods, and Odin also had this clever, knowledge seeking temperment. Something else that complicates the matter is that Odin was recognized as the head god by the time Snorri wrote his Edda in the 13th century. Much earlier, possibly at the time of Rome's first contact with the Germanic tribes, he was not the greatest of the gods. That position went to Tiwaz: god of the sky and warfare. He is recognized in later writings as Tyr: the god of war and honor, who lost his hand while trying to bind Fenris wolf. This god went down in importance over time.
My favorite example of interpreting gods of one culture by another is the representation of Ogmios in Gaulish art. He is the Celtic god of speech and eloquence. But in his Romano-Celtic representations, he is a Hercules-type figure complete with club. This is because although Hercules was seen as the strongest figure in the ancient world, to the Celtic mind the power of speech and eloquence is far more powerful than physical strength. But to make Ogmios look strong, they made him look like Hercules.
 

Camma

New Member
I think there might also be a much simpler explanation - after all Greece, or Macedonia as it was then called, was an important part of the Roman Empire. The Greek lnaguage was a highly rated as classical Latin amongst the higher social echelons of Roman society. It could be that a lot of the religious tradition simply merged.
 

fibi ducks

Active Member
I once read that before the Romans imported a lot of Greek stories, they had a pantheon, and a lot of elaborate rituals that has to be carried out to the letter, but that there were no stories. They had iether been forgotten, or had never been in the first place. If this is true... isn't it interesting? That its possible to have a functioning religious set up and a pantheon - but no stories? Are the myths superfluous? Or was Roman religion atrophied and dying at that point? But this is just something I read - if its true I don't know.
 

Libros

Member
Native Roman religion was quite distinctive before it assimilated Etruscan and Greek elements. There were gods of forests, hearths, fire, pantries, children suckled by wolves, etc. Lots of it belonged intrinsically to the cultures that lived along the Po that would eventually become Rome.

But as Rome grew in power and became an urbanized military fortress of power, it assimilated religious values. The Etruscan civilzation had died out, the golden age of independent Greece was over, so Rome took their traditions upon itself. Keep in mind that they were all highly regarded as fantastic civilizations by Rome. It was an honour for a Roman noble to claim Etruscan descent, and for Romans to know Greek philosophy and arts. Their religious elements were no different.The Romans admired the structured Olympian pantheon the Greeks revered, and adopted it for themselves, because it gave order to the universe, complimenting the order the Romans were establishing on earth. Aeneas, the forefather of the founders of Rome, was a Trojan who survived the War to settle in Italy, as chronicled in the Aeneid. So the Romans claimed descent from Troy, a popular city from the Greek Iliad, as well.

But the fact that both cultures ultimately fell to Rome was the linchpin. Romans believed they had perfected the traditions of these failed foreign nations by making them a part of its civilization. The Vestal Virgin priesthood, for instance, was created by a combination of the assimilation of the Greek goddess Hestia after Rome came to power, and the tradition of a woman tending the spirit of a hearth fire before Rome came to power. The cults of Isis from Egypt and Mithras from Persia became very popular in Rome. Serapis, a synthesis of the Egyptian gods Osiris (Wesir/Asar) and Apis during the Greek rule of Egypt, also flourished in Rome.

The Romans knew the power of mythology probably better than anyone in the Western world. They knew from their own experience that religion can shape political power over a nation as much as military strength. Everywhere they went, not only did they absorb some traditions of the cultures they encountered, they also spread their own influence. Roman influence is very visible in Celtic nations, such as the springs of the healing goddess Sulis Minerva in Bath, England. If you go by past history, the Roman Minerva, inspired by Etruscan Menvra, then Greek Athena, and possibly the Minoan Athina Potinia, would have been responsible for this synthesis. The Romans knew this and were simply perpetuating the cycle with the Celts accepting Minerva alongside their Sulis.

As people have already pointed out, the connections between gods wasn't always so clear cut and varied according to the social attitudes of cultures contrasted to Rome's.

It's because of Romans' high regard for cultural assimilation that Classical, Egyptian and Celtic myth survived through history to today. Even the Christians followed this when it turned some Celtic figures into saints, preserving their pagan memory while attempting to stamp out their pagan influence.
 
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