Roman

Mythology
SO
WHY STUDY ON
GREEK AND
ROMAN
MYTHOLOGY?
The Capitoline Triad (Credit: CC by 3.0, Sailko)

SO
The three main Roman gods,
known as the Capitoline
SO
Jupiter, Juno
Triad, are
and Minerva.
 Jupiter
SO Greek Mythology:
Zeus
 Jupiter
SO Supreme King of
the gods, god of the
sky and thunder,
and patron god of
Rome.
 Juno
SO
Greek Mythology:
Hera
 Juno
Queen of the gods.
SO Saturn’s daughter
Juno was the wife
and sister of Jupiter,
and sister of Neptune
and Pluto. She was
the mother of
Juventas, Mars and
Vulcan.
 Minerva
Greek Mythology:
SO
Athena
 Minerva
Goddess of wisdom,
arts, trade and strategy.
SO
Minerva was born of
the head of Jupiter after
he swallowed her
mother Metis, having
been told that the child
he had impregnated
her with could be more
powerful than he.
 Neptune
Greek Mythology:
SO
Poseidon
 Neptune
Brother of Jupiter, Pluto

SO
and Juno, Neptune was
god of freshwater and the
sea, along with
earthquakes, hurricanes
and horses. Neptune is
often depicted as an older
man with a trident,
sometimes being pulled
across the sea in a horse
drawn chariot.
 Venus
Greek Mythology:
SO Aphrodite

*Fresco of Venus and Mars from

which the House of Venus and Mars
in Pompeii takes its name
 Venus
Mother of the Roman

SO
people, Venus was the
goddess of love, beauty,
fertility, sex, desire and
prosperity, equal to her
Greek counterpart
Aphrodite. She was also,
however, goddess of
victory and even
prostitution, and patron
of wine.
 Mars
Greek Mythology:
SO
Ares
 Mars
According to Ovid, Mars

SO
was son of Juno alone, as
his mother sought to
restore balance after Jupiter
usurped her role as mother
by giving birth to Minerva
from his head. Famously
god of war, Mars was also
guardian of agriculture and
the embodiment of virility
and aggression.
 Apollo
Greek Mythology:
SO
Apollo
 Apollo
The Archer. Son of
SO
Jupiter and Latona,
twin of Diana. Apollo
was god of music,
healing, light and truth.
Apollo is one of only a
few Roman gods who
kept the same name as
his Greek counterpart.
 Diana
Greek Mythology:
SO
Artemis
 Diana
Daughter of Jupiter and

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Latona and twin of Apollo.
Diana was goddess of the
hunt, the moon and birth.
To some Diana was also
considered to be goddess of
lower classes, especially
slaves, for whom her
festival on the Ides of
August in Rome and Aricia
was also a holiday.
 Vulcan
Greek Mythology:
SO
Hephaestus
 Vulcan
God of fire, volcanoes,

SO
metal work and the forge;
maker of the weapons of
the gods. In some
mythology Vulcan is said
to have been banished
from the heavens as a child
because of a physical
defect. Hidden in the base
of a volcano he learnt his
trade.
 Vesta
Greek Mythology:
SO
Hestia
 Vesta
Goddess of hearth, home

SO
and domestic life. Vesta
She was enshrined in the
sacred and perpetually
burning fire of the Vestal
Virgins (all female and
Rome’s only full-time
priesthood).
 Mercury
SOGreek
Hermes
Mythology:
 Mercury
Son of Maia and Jupiter;
SO
god of profit, trade,
eloquence,
communication, travel,
trickery and thieves.
Mercury was a roman
psychopomp, tasked
with guiding the souls
of the dead to the
underworld.
 Ceres
SOGreek Mythology:
Demeter
 Ceres
The Eternal Mother.
SO
Ceres is the daughter
of Saturn and Ops.
She was goddess of
agriculture, grain,
women, motherhood
and marriage; and
the lawgiver.
WHY STUDY ON
GREEK AND
ROMAN
MYTHOLOGY?
 Roman
Mythology
SO