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Post by Melissa Foxworthy on Dec 1, 2007 18:54:20 GMT -5
Romans eventually worshipped the same gods as the Greeks, except they were renamed to suit the Romans. These are some of the legends.
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Post by Melissa Foxworthy on Oct 12, 2015 8:30:29 GMT -5
THE AENEID AND AENEAS
While the true origin of Rome varies from source to source, historical as well as fictional, one of the earliest to relate the story (reminiscent of Homer’s Odyssey) was Virgil (Vergil) in his Aeneid, a tale that related the travels of its hero, the Trojan warrior Aeneas. The Aeneid has been said to exhibit the most complete expression of Roman mythology.
In the story, our hero, with the assistance of his mother, the goddess Venus (his father was a mortal named Anchises), escaped Troy with his father and a number of his fellow soldiers before the city completely succumbed to the Greeks. This story and its connection to the Trojan War gave the Romans a link to the ancient Trojan culture. It should be noted that the story of the Trojan horse comes from Virgil, though mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. With Venus’s assistance, the defeated Trojans leave the fallen city and set sail for Italy, where it has been foretold that Aeneas would found a city. They traveled first to Greece and then, as in Homer’s tale, are blown off course. Jupiter’s wife Juno constantly interferes with Aeneas throughout the story. They land at the African city of Carthage where our hero meets the beautiful Queen Dido, and of course, love follows, and he soon forgets his true purpose.
Ultimately, the god Mercury intervenes and reminds Aeneas of his destiny, causing him and his men to reluctantly leave Africa and sail away; tragically, Queen Dido commits suicide over the loss of her beloved by throwing herself on a burning pyre. Upon landing at Cumae, Aeneas consults Sibyl, an oracle, who leads him into Hades where he not only encounters his fallen enemies and Queen Dido but also meets his recently deceased father who tells him of the great city his descendants would establish. Later, after reaching the mouth of the Tiber, the wayward Trojans enter into a war with King Turnus of the Rutuli (more of Juno’s handiwork). Venus appeals to Vulcan (the Roman version of the Greek Hephaestus) to make Aeneas new armor and weapons as he had done for Achilles. Turnus was finally defeated and killed in a duel. A peace is ultimately reached with Aeneas marrying the king’s daughter; supposedly Jupiter had convinced Juno to end her war with Aeneas.
ROMULUS & REMUS
Aeneas’s descendants became the founders of the city of his destiny: Rome.
According to the legend, Romulus and Remus were the sons of the war god Mars and Rhea Silvia, daughter of the true king of Alba Longa, Numitor. In a coup, Amulius overthrew his brother and, to safeguard his claim to the throne, forced Rhea to join the Vestal Virgins. One day, Mars spied the young Rhea in the sacred woods and raped her. She bore two sons who, by order of King Amulius, were thrown in the Tiber. A recent flood caused them to drift ashore at Ficus Ruminalis. They were rescued by a she-wolf, the sacred animal of Mars (the wolf was supposedly aided by a woodpecker, another sacred animal of Mars). Later, the boys were adopted by a local herdsman named Faustulus and his wife Acca Larentia.
Years pass and the two future founders of the city become leaders in their community, with Remus ultimately landing in the king’s dungeon. Romulus rescued his brother, and with the assistance of Numitor, deposed Amulius. Of course, by this time the boys had learned of their true identity. Together they founded a city; however, in a dispute over the naming rights to the city, Remus is killed in a fit of jealousy, and the city becomes Rome. In one version of the dispute, the boys agreed to watch for omens in a flight of birds. Romulus won the naming rights and Remus was killed (Romulus was supposedly favored by the gods). Romulus would rule Rome for forty years.
ROMAN GODS & GODDESSES
Roman mythology, like that of the Greeks, contained a number of gods and goddesses, and because of the early influence of Greece on the Italian peninsula and the ever-present contact with Greek culture, the Romans adopted not only their stories but also many of their gods, renaming a number of them.
One exception to this practice is the god Apollo, the only god whose name is common to both cultures. Originally, before their association with the Greeks, many of the Roman gods were more closely associated with cults rather than myths (as was the case with the Greek hero Heracles who became the Roman champion Hercules). Much of this change came, however, when the Romans turned from farming to war.
Early in the development of Roman mythology, there was Saturn, equivalent to the Greek god Cronus. His temple at the foot of Capitoline Hill included the public treasury and decrees of the Roman Senate. The triad of early Roman cult deities were recreated as Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva; the latter was the patron saint of craftsmen and goddess of school children (later associated with Athena). Jupiter, the sky-god, became more akin to the Greek Zeus. Jupiter influenced every aspect of a Roman’s life; his temple on Capitoline Hill was the final destination of many victorious military commanders who would leave a portion of their booty as an offering to Jupiter. His wife (and sister) Juno became reminiscent of Hera, presiding over every facet of Roman women’s life, and in the case of Aeneas, vindictive against those she disliked.
Similarly, the love-goddess Aphrodite became Venus, born from the foams of the sea, while the brothers of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, became Pluto and Neptune respectively. The Greek Artemis was renamed Diana, the goddess of the hunt, while Ares, the war god, was now Mars who originally had been an agricultural god associated with spring, a time of regeneration (March is named for him). Roman commanders would always make a sacrifice to him before a battle. And lastly, one must not forget Hermes, the messenger, who turned into Mercury, a minor deity who had at one time been the god of trading and profit and, as mentioned, Hercules, the Roman version of Heracles.
As in Greece, Roman cities often adopted their own patron deity and built temples and performed rituals to honor that god. And, while the influence of the Greeks is vast, the Romans had a number of original gods of their own such as Janus, the two-faced god of doorways and gates (the city gates were open during the time of war and closed during the time of peace). Similar to the Etruscan god Culsans, Janus could see both the future and the past. Valued for his wisdom, he presided over the beginnings of all events. There was also Vesta, daughter of Saturn and the goddess of the hearth and family life, whose followers were called the Vestal Virgins. Though linked to the goddess Hestia of the Greeks, she took on her own distinct personality in Roman mythology. Numa, the second king of Rome, founded a cult dedicated to Vesta. Lastly, there was Faunus, the god of nature; he was worshipped as the protector of crops with a festival in December.
There were also a number of water gods, vitally important to the farmers, as every river and spring had its own deity (Juturna was the goddess of springs and water). Farmers had to appease these gods through a series of offerings. Tiberius was the god of the Tiber, and every May 27th straw dummies were thrown into the Tiber to pacify him. This is reminiscent of the ancient Roman belief in spirits --- supernatural forces that inhabited everything around them including people. Every May (9, 11, and 13) the festival of Lemuria was celebrated where the spirits of the dead were exorcized. Many Romans believed they were constantly watched over by the spirits of their ancestors.
While many people only think of the Greeks when the topic of mythology is considered, the Romans had a rich and vibrant mythology of their own. We all have heard, in some form, the story of the she-wolf and her saving the brothers Romulus and Remus and, in this same way, many other Roman myths have become a part of our culture in the present day. To the Greeks and the Romans, myths explained who they were as a people and gave them a sense of national pride, an understanding of valor and honor, and insight into their destiny.
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Post by Melissa Foxworthy on Oct 12, 2015 8:37:45 GMT -5
Raising the SunOne of Rome's most worshiped goddesses received little literary attention. According to legend, Angerona knew a magical spell to raise the sun in midwinter. Her festival occurred on December 21, the shortest day of the year, when she was believed to say the words that would cause the days to lengthen and spring to return. Even more important, Angerona guarded the secret name of the city of Rome. The gods knew this name, but Rome would be doomed if people ever learned it. Statues of Angerona showed her mouth covered with her hands or a gag so that the secret name could not slip out. One myth connected with the war between the Romans and the Sabines says that a high-ranking Roman woman named Tarpeia caught sight of Tatius and fell in love with him. Tarpeia betrayed Rome to the Sabine army, but Tatius slew her for her treachery. The myth became part of the city's geography—a rocky outcropping from which the Romans cast murderers and traitors to their deaths was called the Tarpeian Hill. Other legendary figures from Rome's early history include the virtuous wife Lucretia and the A famous Roman myth tells of the she-wolf that cared for Romulus and Remus in a cave. Romulus later killed Remus and founded the city of Rome on the spot where they had met the she-wolf. brave soldier Horatius, both of whom appear in tales about the downfall of the monarchy and the founding of the republic. By the late years of the republic, Romans had adopted a powerful new myth about their state's origins. This account is most fully told in the Aeneid. It revolves around Aeneas, a Trojan* prince who fled from his ruined homeland because the gods told him that he was fated to establish a "new Troy" After wandering around the Mediterranean, Aeneas landed in Italy with some Trojan followers. There he married the daughter of the local Latin king; Aeneas's son Ascanius founded a settlement called Alba Longa. This version of Roman history emphasized the idea that the gods had always meant for Rome to rule the world. Romulus and Remus became sons of a princess of Alba Longa, descendants of Aeneas—a perfect example of Roman willingness and ability to piece together different myths. Myths arose linking many deities with key events in Roman history. The twin wind gods Castor and Pollux, together called the Dioscuri, appear in both Greek and Roman mythology as inseparable brothers who form the constellation Gemini. In the Roman version, the Dioscuri fought on the side of the Roman army in a battle in the 490s B.C. , and they brought word of the Roman victory back to the city. The myths and legends about Roman history celebrate the virtues that Romans especially prized: duty, self-sacrifice, honor, bravery, and piety. Roman deities, too, tended to represent virtues, without the all-too-human weaknesses and vices of the Greek gods. A Greek historian named Dionysius of Halicarnassus recognized this difference when he wrote that the Roman deities were more moral than the Greek deities because the Romans had taken only what was good from the old stories and left out all the disgraceful parts. Read more: www.mythencyclopedia.com/Pr-Sa/Roman-Mythology.html#ixzz3oMPnRMQq
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