12/10/2023 0 Comments Hades roman name![]() While the people who would become the Greeks developed Poseidon relatively early because of their increased exposure to the sea, the ancestors of the Etruscans did know of the sea for much longer. Far from the sea, these people had no god to correspond to this unknown natural feature. While pre-Greek people moved along the eastern Mediterannean, the pre-Italic people originated in central Europe. For this reason, sea gods in Indo-European cultures tend to have more variation than other, more ancient, types. The sea gods of Indo-European cultures developed from either the gods of inland water, such as lakes or springs, or from chthonic Underworld types. As early Europeans spread out and encountered coastal regions, their religions developed gods to fit this new landscape. The early Proto-Indo-European religion is believed by some to have developed inland. While the Greeks came into contact with Semitic cultures and borrowed some aspects of their mythology from them, much of their tradition was rooted in prehistoric Indo-European ancestry. The association with inland freshwater is one of the few indicators in Roman mythology that Neptune was not taken exclusively from Greek mythology.īoth the Greeks and the Etruscans were descended from Indo-European peoples. Neptune, however, was a god of fresh water as well. The Greek Poseidon was almost exclusively associated with the sea. But there was one key difference between the two. Like Poseidon, Neptune was the brother of Jove ( Zeus) and Dis pater or Pluto (Hades).īoth were sea gods who wielded their tridents, caused earthquakes, and were associated with horses. Their mythologies were almost identical between the two cultures. In legend, the first gods to sit together and dine in Rome were Neptune, Mercury (Hermes), Hercules (Heracles), Diana (Artemis), Latona (Leto), and Apollo. ![]() Neptune was one of the earlier Greek gods to be assimilated into the Roman pantheon. While modern linguists point to a possible Indo-European root, the Romans themselves claimed the name came from the word nuptus, or “covering.” It is unclear exactly where the name Neptune came from. He came to be called Neptune by the people of Rome. The Greek god Poseidon was given a name that likely originated from an Italian language. One of these was that most of the gods had names taken from Etruscan, rather than Greek, tradition. Over time the Romans adopted Greek religion almost entirely, but certain details remained uniquely Italian. Instead, they found counterparts within the earlier beliefs of the Latins and Etruscans. When later Romans began to incorporate the mythology of Greece into their own, they did not take the names of most Greek deities. Through much of its early history, the land of the Latins had been controlled by their northern neighbors, the Etruscans. While the Romans themselves claimed to be descendants of Greek gods and heroes, their origins were in the Latin tribe of Italy. While the majority of Roman religion was based in that of Greece, there was still influence from earlier traditions of Italy. The Roman gods, however, were never exact duplicates of their Greek predecessors. While their language was different, they adopted the religion of Greece as their own from a relatively early time. The people of Rome considered themselves to be descendants of Greece, both literally and culturally. Roman mythology is known for the obvious ways in which it adopted the legends and pantheon of the Greeks. This singular difference, easily ignored in the retelling of ancient myths, hints at the pre-Roman origins of their sea god and how he had a very different beginning than the Greek Poseidon. While Poseidon was a god of the sea, Neptune ruled over both the Mediterannean and fresh water. One seemingly minor detail remained, however, that showed how different Neptune and Poseidon’s origins were. While the Romans named him Neptune, there are few obvious differences between their legends, personalities, or the way in which they were worshipped. Sometimes, though, the mythology and personality of a given god remained the same and all that changed was their name. Mars was gentler than Ares, Latona was more prominent than Leto, and Vesta had more major temples than Hestia. ![]() ![]() When the Greek gods were adopted by the people of Rome, they sometimes underwent some changes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |