roman gods

Roman Equivalents of Some Greek Gods

• Greek to Roman Correspondence:
  • Zeus → Jupiter/Jove
  • Hera → Juno
  • Poseidon → Neptune
  • Hades → Hades/Pluto/Dis
  • Demeter → Ceres
  • Persephone/Kore → Proserpina
  • Hestia → Vesta
  • Athena → Minerva
  • Helius → Sol
  • Apollo → Apollo
  • Selene → Luna
  • Artemis → Diana
  • Eros → Cupid
  • Aphrodite → Venus
  • Ares → Mars
  • Hermes → Mercury
  • Hephaestus → Vulcan
  • Dionysus → Bacchus

Some Roman Gods

• Cloacina:

  • Possibly an early goddess, Cloacina became an epithet of Venus as goddess of the cloaca, the sewer.

• Consus:

  • A god of the granary; had an important underground barn and altar in the Circus Maximus.
  • Occasionally identified with Poseidon due to his association with horses.
  • Clearly an agricultural deity, not a sea god.

• Ops:

  • A goddess of abundance, often associated with Saturn.
  • Frequently identified with the Greek goddess Rhea.

• Dis:

  • A contracted form of the Latin word dives, meaning "rich."
  • Identified with Hades; known as Dis Pater, Dives, Aidoneus, Orcus, and Pluto.
  • Rules the underworld with his consort Proserpina.

• Faunus:

  • A woodland god similar to Pan; associated with flocks and crops.

• Flora:

  • Goddess of fertility, especially in flowers.

• Fortuna:

  • Also known as Fors Fortuna; may have origins as a fertility goddess.
  • Associated with fate, chance, and luck.
  • Festivals throughout the year honored her in various manifestations.

• Janus:

  • God of doors, regularly depicted with two faces.
  • Marks beginnings and endings; the first month of the year was named after him.
  • Early Roman calendars began in March; with the establishment of a regular 12-month year, Janus took his place at the year's beginning.

• Pales:

  • God of shepherds and sheep; sex representation varies between male and female.
  • Festival of Pales on April 21st marks the traditional anniversary of Rome's founding.

• Picus:

  • Agricultural god with prophetic power, regularly represented as a woodpecker.
  • Associated with Mars.

• Pomona:

  • Goddess of fruit; juxtaposed with Flora, who is a goddess of flowers.
  • Wife of Vertumnus.

• Portunus:

  • God of harbors, originally a god of doors, though this function was almost entirely assigned to Janus.

• Quirinus:

  • War god of Sabine origin, usually identified with the deified Romulus.

• Robigus:

  • God of mildew and grain rust.

• Silvanus:

  • God of uncultivated land, especially woods (silva), often identified with the Greek god Pan.

• Stercutius/Sterculinus:

  • God of manuring.

• Terminus:

  • God of boundaries and boundary stones; his own boundary stone was in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitol.

• Tiberinus:

  • God of the River Tiber.

• Vertumnus:

  • God of orchards and fruit, as well as changes of seasons (vertere = to change); husband of Pomona.

• Virbius:

  • Forest god often identified with the Greek Hippolytus; regularly associated with Diana.