Verified Document

Greek And Roman Deities In Ancient Times Term Paper

Greek and Roman Deities In ancient times traditions, histories and other elements of society were passed down by the way of stories told from one generation to another. Ancient Greek culture predates Roman culture. As the two cultures developed there was a certain degree of interaction between the peoples. The myths of these two cultures reflected many of the ethical issues that were important in that time. It is not surprising considering their close geographic proximity that there was a certain degree of mixing of cultures and consequently mythology as well. This research will explore the similarities and differences between Green and Roman deities.

The first ancient Greek writings date to around 600 BC. However, the oratory tradition of the myths dates from a much earlier time. Greek mythology centered on the idea that a group of immortals were responsible for the creation of the world as it is today. Many of the traditions center on the creation of the earth, which resulted from the interactions and conflicts between these immortal creatures. Greek mythology centered on the idea that Mt. Olympus was the center of the universe and that this is where the immortals lived. The immortals seldom interacted with mortals.

Roman mythology was based primarily on the various beliefs and rituals associated with a very ancient religion. The Roman Empire eventually...

The Romans were exposed to many other cultures and belief systems. Inevitably these belief systems found their way into Roman religion and mythology. The Roman deities are based on a set of ancient deities largely tied to the cycles associated with agriculture. Romans worshipped these deities in a cyclical fashion, each god or goddess associated with a certain ritual and certain type of agricultural activity.
The Roman deities were a part of every day life and were thought to interact with humans on a regular basis. Their worship acted as a type of calendar to keep track of the seasons. This is a key difference between Greek and Roman deities. Roman deities were a part of everyday life and ritual. Whereas Greek deities seldom interacted in the human realm and were there actions had little to do with daily activities.

There are many equivalent gods and goddesses in Greek and Roman Culture. The names are different, but the purpose of he characters is the same. For instance the Greek Goddess Aphrodite is essentially equivalent to the Roman Goddess Venus. Both represent love and feminine qualities. Roman deities were considered to be a personification of a quality or something in the natural world. For instance the Roman God Vesta was the equivalent of the Greek God Hesta. Vesta, the guardian of the domestic hearth and was the…

Sources used in this document:
References]

Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinche's Mythology. 2000. http://www.bulfinch.org/Accessed February, 2003.

The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume B: 100 to 1500 (Second Edition).

Lawall, Sarah and Mach, Maynard (eds.). W.W. Norton & Company; 2001. pp.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Greek Roman Empire
Words: 818 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Greek and Roman History The Greek and Roman civilizations each played an important part in shaping the history of today. It is interesting to look at these two cultures and the major contributions of each. Greek History The Greek civilization was defined in the 5th century BC by the Golden Age. Athens was home at this time to "statesmen such as Pericles, Solon and Lycourgos. Pericles, who lived from 495 to 429 B.C., was responsible

Roman Religion in Antiquity
Words: 2623 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

Roman Religion in Antiquity There are few topics today as hotly debated and as historically violent as religion. In ancient times the shift from polytheism to monotheism in terms of the way in which the world worshiped gave rise to events such as the Inquisition and the Crusades in the name of converting the world to a single religion. In the name of other monotheistic religions, people have imposed upon themselves

Ancient Civilizations Contributions to Modern
Words: 2072 Length: 6 Document Type: Research Paper

Another notable development and contribution of ancient from Greek is the Olympics. The event was begun in Greek as an entertainment session but later evolved into an international event. Additional invention of Greek is the architecture. The Greek were immensely talented in art and, therefore, the exemplary architectural inventions and developments in the modern world today. They all can trace the history of the building system in this ancient

Ancient Art Flora: Goddess, Mother,
Words: 1265 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

According to the Roman historian Pliny, in his Natural History, in 238 BC, at the direction of an oracle in the sibylline books, a temple was built to honor Flora, an ancient goddess of flowers and blossoming plants. (Pliny, XVIII.286) the temple was dedicated on April 28 and the Floralia instituted to solicit her protection for the city. Although the Floralia originated as a "moving festival," after a period with bad

Greek Mythology Is a Collection
Words: 2211 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

There were many other gods and goddesses and other supernatural beings in both mythologies (Meeks 2002). There were godlings, demigods, river nymphs and tree dryads and other mythical creatures, such as satyrs, comprising the entire belief systems. These systems were polytheistic as well as animistic. The system held that every tree, river and every part of nature had a spirit or energy behind it. Hercules was a famous demigod (Meeks).

Romans 2 Greeks Cultures Economics Geographical Terrain
Words: 866 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Romans 2 Greeks CULTURES ECONOMICS GEOGRAPHICAL TERRAIN GOVERNMENT TRADE PRACTICES RELIGIOUS BELIEFS PHILOSOPHY It was seen in history that a number of beliefs and the practices Romans adopted were from Greeks. In a nut shell the roman had adopted many of the things from Greeks related to their philosophies, culture, etc. (Ancient history Tran, 2010) Art and ARCHITECTURE Romans have adopted the art from Greeks. Roman art has a variety of work. Painting, sculpturing and architecture were the famous forms of

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now