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Mythographia

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    Rome named its gods after Greek ones and then gave several of them a civic role, a festival, or a myth Greece never had. Pages here cover Greek gods beside their Roman counterparts and rivals of one cycle, and every page names the actual differences.

    20 pairs published

    Greek and Roman

    Every Greek and Roman pair compared, with the Roman name and the main difference
    Pair Roman name What differs
    Aphrodite vs. Venus Venus Aphrodite is a goddess of love with no political stake in any city, while Venus became the divine ancestor Julius Caesar's own family publicly claimed descent from.
    Ares vs. Mars Mars Ares is a disliked, secondary war god in Greek myth, while Mars ranks second only to Jupiter in Roman state religion and is the mythical father of Rome itself.
    Artemis vs. Diana Diana Artemis and Diana are the same virgin huntress by Roman adoption, but Diana carried two cults of her own - a federal Aventine temple and the violent priest-combat rite at Nemi - that Artemis never had.
    Athena vs. Minerva Minerva Athena and Minerva share wisdom and strategic war as domains, but Minerva also became Rome's civic patron of craftsmen and schoolchildren through a specifically Roman festival, the Quinquatrus.
    Demeter vs. Ceres Ceres Demeter and Ceres share the same abducted-daughter myth, but Ceres's Roman cult became the plebeian class's own political and legal institution in a way Demeter's never was.
    Dionysus vs. Bacchus Bacchus Dionysus and Bacchus are the same wine-god by Roman adoption, but Bacchus's cult produced a real historical crisis - a violent state suppression in 186 BCE - that Dionysus's Greek worship never triggered.
    Eros vs. Cupid Cupid Eros and Cupid are the same archer of love by Roman identification, but Hesiod counts Eros among the first beings, while Roman poets almost always make Cupid Venus's son and her instrument.
    Hades vs. Pluto Pluto Hades is a single, clearly defined ruler of the Greek underworld, while the Roman underworld role was split across three overlapping figures - Pluto, Dis Pater, and Orcus - and public cult avoided naming any of them directly.
    Hephaestus vs. Vulcan Vulcan Hephaestus is honored in Greek myth for his craft; Vulcan is worshipped in Rome mainly to keep his dangerous fire away from a city built of wood.
    Hera vs. Juno Juno Hera is defined mainly by jealousy toward Zeus's affairs, while Juno's Roman cult centered her instead on state protection and, as Juno Moneta, literally housed Rome's mint.
    Heracles vs. Hercules Hercules Heracles and Hercules are one hero by Roman identification, but Rome added its own episode, the killing of Cacus and the founding of the Ara Maxima, and made him a god of Roman cult.
    Hermes vs. Mercury Mercury Hermes and Mercury share the same messenger myths, but Mercury's Roman cult grew around a specifically commercial need: a merchant class that built and ran his temple itself.
    Hestia vs. Vesta Vesta Hestia and Vesta are the same hearth goddess by Roman identification, but Rome gave Vesta a state priesthood of virgins and a statueless round temple, while Hestia's worship centers on the household and each Greek city's own hearth-hall.
    Kronos vs. Saturn Saturn Kronos and Saturn are the same fallen king by Roman identification, but Hesiod's Kronos swallows his children while Virgil's Saturn gives Latium laws, and only Saturn has a Roman temple and festival.
    Persephone vs. Proserpina Proserpina Persephone and Proserpina are one queen of the dead by Roman identification, but Ovid moves the abduction to Sicily, adds Cupid as its cause, and splits the year evenly where the Homeric hymn gives her a third below.
    Poseidon vs. Neptune Neptune Poseidon is the sea god from the start of Greek myth, while Neptune entered Roman religion late and reached the sea mainly through the Greek equation, arriving with a horse-cult role borrowed from an older Italic god.
    Zeus vs. Jupiter Jupiter Zeus and Jupiter are the same sky-god by Roman adoption, but Jupiter carried a civic role as guarantor of oaths and treaties that Zeus never held in Greek religion.

    Rivals