Mythology on Roman Culture Major Gods and Goddesses Picture Greek Roman What they do Aphrodi te Venus Goddess of Love Apollo Apollo God of Light Ares Mars God of war Artemis Diana Goddess of hunting Athena Minerva Goddess of wisdom Demeter Ceres Goddess of crops Dionysu s Bacchus God of wine Hades Pluto God of underworld Hephaes tus Vulcan God of fire Helios Sol The sun God Greek Mythology consisted of stories that ancient Greeks invented to explain the laws of nature, as well as misfortunes and victories in their lives. These stories consisted of Gods, heroes, and warriors. . It was a part of the Greek Religion, according to which, Greek Gods lived on the Mount Olympus and ruled the world from there. Greeks wanted to keep the Gods happy, because angry Gods meant troubles and misfortunes. Greeks worshiped their Gods by building temples, performing ritual scarifies in their honor, and organizing Olympic games to demonstrate their skills and devotion to Gods. Great Influence of Greek Mythology on Roman Culture: Greek Mythology influenced Roman culture in the most profound way. Roman Mythology was derived directly from Greek mythology (you can see from the table, how similar they are) and it completely penetrated the fabric of Roman life. It was mainly their religion and how they believed they came to be. Mythology helped Romans make sense of the events around them. If they couldn't explain something in mortal terms, like a drought or famine, they assumed it was the workings of a God or Goddess. What they couldn't explain they just turned into religion different name: Latin for the Roman Gods, Greek for the Greek Gods. Some of the Roman and Greek Gods and Goddesses, like Apollo for example, have only the one name for both. Both Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses were based on human personality traits such as Love (Aphrodite/ Venus), and Wisdom (Athena/ Minerva) as well as their roles in life determined by what they were Gods of, like: Zeus (Jupiter): King of the Heavens, controls sky and weather, Hades (Pluto): King of the Underworld, controls the dead souls, Poseidon (Neptune): King of the Sea, controls water. Some deities were named after objects rather than their area of influence or human personality traits: Ex. Dionysus (Bacchus) – God of Wine. Although, most Greek and Roman Gods were very similar, some of the Gods’ personality traits changed to reflect Roman beliefs. For example, the unpopular and feared Greek God of war Ares was greatly revered and admired in Rome under the name Mars. Also the roles of mortals varied in Greek in Roman mythology. In Greek Mythology the mortals were almost as important as Gods Nikky Nemzer 11/30/12 Pd. 2