The Roman Gods Flashcards
Olympians
12
Where did they live
Mount Olympus
North Greece
Gods were
Immortal
Ageless
Jupiter
- Fatherly figure-> patriarchal head
- Healthy middle age
- ‘Father of the gods and king of men’
- Iov pater -> Etruscan
- Jove
- sky and weather god, travellers
- thunderbolt, sceptre (politics), throne
- Zeus
Apollo
- Ever in youthful manhood- beautiful, short curly hair
- god of music, the arts, education, health and disease, prophecy, archery and the sun
- carried a lyre and a quiver full of arrows
- Phoebus (epithet- shining)
- ludi Apollinares -> 8/9 days in the middle of July
Jupiter and Juno
Siblings
Married
epithet
An adjective to describe the specific section of life looked after
Jupiter Pluvius
Rain giver
Jupiter Optimus Maximus
The Best and Greatest - sovereign power
Jupiter Lapis
God of oaths
Regina
Juno - queen of the gods
Lucina
Juno - goddess of childbirth
Moneta
Juno the advisor - protector of the roman mint
Pronuba
Juno - patron of marriage
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus
At the start of every year, the new consuls went there to perform a sacrifice
The senate always held the first meeting of the year there
The Capitoline Triad
Jupiter, Juno, Minerva
Neptune
- based on Etruscan sea god Nethuns
- Poseidon
- brother of Jupiter
- god of the sea, god of earthquakes
- trident, dolphin
- closely associated with horses & bulls (races)
Vulcan
- Hephaestus
- god of fire and metal-working, artisans
- turn rock into bronze weapons or fine jewellery
- Romans relied production of iron
- lived under Mt Etna
- married to Venus
- Vulcanalia -> 23rd August
- anvil and hammer
Mars
- father of Romulus
- all descendants
- second only in importance to Jove
- god of agriculture (Maris)- responsible for the defence and protection of Catt me, field and farmers
- Ares- war
- Campus Martius -> training ground for soldiers
- armour
Mercury
- Hermes
- winged sandals, winged helmet
- carried caduceus (herald’s staff entwined with 2 snakes)
- god of travellers, god of traders and commercial profits
- escorted the souls of the dead down to the Underworld
Juno
- oversaw both marriage and childbirth
- 1st March- Matronalia
- peacock
Ceres
- goddess of the crops and harvest
- 496BC- Demeter adopted from Sibylline books to drive away famine. Temple of Acentine Hill
- Cerealia - between 12th and 19th of April (associated with plebeian classes)
- flower, fruit and grain
Venus
- fertility and procreation, love and beauty
- Aphrodite
- mother of Aeneas
- Mother of Cupid by mars
- sea shell
Minerva
- Menvra (goddess of wisdom, war, art, schools and commerce)
- Athena
- born from the head of Jupiter
- goddess of wisdom, goddess of war, weaving and handicrafts, school and children
- owl, aegis (goatskin shield imprinted with the image of a gorgon’s head)
- important to artisans and women working in the household
Diana
- hunting, the moon (Phoebe)
- Artemis
- twin brother Apollo
- hunting dress, deer, quiver of arrows
- worshipped BT poor and spaces
Vesta
- goddess of the hearth
- protector of the state
- Vestalia - between 7th and 15th June
- originally one of the 12 Olympians, gave up her space for Bacchus in order to tend the sacred fire on Mt Olympus
Dionysus
- god of wine and theatre, revelry
- Bacchus
- Liber (early roman god of fertility, wine and growth)
- Bacchanalia -> mystery cult
- thyrsus, vines, ivy, animal skins
Janus
- specifically Roman
- god of gates and doorways, beginnings and endings
- protector of a house
- two heads looking in opposite directions
- January
Pluto
- ruler of the Underworld, god of the dead
- Dis Pater
- pomegranate
Emperors could be deified
After their death
Genius (guardian spirit) could be worshipped while living
First emperor to be deified
Julius Caesar - 42BCE
divus Iulius
Augustales
college (21) of priests who served the cult of the emperor
Normal drawn from the ranks of freedmen (barred from holding any other political or religious posts)
