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Dei Romani The gods and goddesses of Olympus. Olympic gods. Iuppiter omnipotens. Jupiter was the king of gods and mortals. He had many epithets. He was called fulminator because he hurled the thunderbolt to subdue his enemies. Zeus attacks a Titan.
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Iuppiter omnipotens Jupiter was the king of gods and mortals. He had many epithets. He was called fulminator because he hurled the thunderbolt to subdue his enemies.
Zeus attacks a Titan Zeus, the Greek equivalent of Jupiter, is about to hurl the thunderbolt at one of the Titans during the war between the Olympians and the Titans for supremacy on earth.
Jupiter was the youngest child of the Titans Saturn and Ops.
Iuppiter et Thetis Jupiter loved many mortal women, but not Thetis, who was destined to give birth to a child who would be more powerful than the father. Thetis eventually became the mother of Achilles but his father was Peleus, not Jupiter.
Zeus and Amalthea Zeus was nourished in his infancy with milk from the goat Amalthea.
Zeus’ oracle was at Dodona, in Greece. His oracles (predictions for the future) were revealed by the rustling of oak leaves. The oak tree was one of the symbols of the god.
Bird omens were very common among the Greeks and Romans. Many of the gods were associated with specific birds. The eagle was the bird of Jupiter.
Iuno was the queen of the gods, and both the wife and sister of Iuppiter.
Juno’s bird was the peacock, whose tail feathers were decorated with the eyes of Argus.
Juno, although she was the goddess of marriage, had a very unhappy marriage with Jupiter, who often had affairs with other goddesses and mortal women.
Ceres, another sister of Jupiter, was the goddess of grain and agriculture. Ceres was called Demeter by the Greeks.
Vesta, the oldest Olympic deity, was the sister of Jupiter and goddess of the hearth and home.
Vesta, or Hestia to the Greeks, was attended by six Vestal Virgins in the city of Rome. These priestesses were charged with guarding the sacred flame which represented the safety of the nation.
Vesta’s round temple housed this fire which was said to have been brought from Troy by Aeneas.
Pluto, or Hades to the Greeks, was Jupiter’s brother who was ruler of the Underworld, or Erebus. The souls of all mortals spent eternity in the Underworld.
Two of Pluto’s symbols were the three-headed guard dog Cerberus and the two-pronged pitchfork, the bident.
Neptunus, or Poseidon to the Greeks, was another of Jupiter’s brothers. He was assigned command over all waters after the Olympians defeated the Titans in their epic battle.
Neptune’s symbol was the trident, a three-pronged pitchfork used by its owner to cause earthquakes.
The six original Olympians were: Iuppiter, Iuno, Ceres, Vesta, Neptunus and Pluto.
The remaining Olympic gods were the children of Jupiter and his lovers.
Apollo Apollo and Diana were the twin children of Jupiter and Latona.
Phoebus was one of the epithets of Apollo who was the god of the sun. Phoebus means bright, shining.
Apollo was also the god of music, healing and truth. The lyre was one of his symbols.
In Greek lore Apollo slew a monster called the Python and established an oracle at this site. His priestess was called Pythia and the oracle was Delphi.
Apollo’s tree was the laurel, the existence of which was the result of an ill-fated love between the god and a nymph named Daphne.
Rather than be possessed by Apollo, Daphne chose the fate of being transformed into the laurel tree. Apollo forever wore a laurel wreath on his head to commemorate his love for Daphne.
Diana was the goddess of the moon. Her Greek counterpart was Artemis.
Diana was also worshipped as the goddess of the hunt and the protector of wild animals in the forest.
Diana was the goddess of childbirth because she assisted with the delivery of her twin brother Apollo immediately after her own birth.
Diana was called Luna because of her association with the moon and Cynthia because she was born on Mt. Cynthus on the island of Delos.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Athena, or Minerva to the Romans, was the child of Zeus and Metis.
Zeus swallowed Metis, whom he had changed into a fly after she became pregnant, and he alone gave birth to Athena when she sprang fully grown from his head.
Minerva was the goddess of wisdom and of the handicrafts of spinning and weaving. She was also the goddess of defensive warfare.
The city of Athens, Greece, was the center of worship of the goddess Athena, particularly on the Acropolis where the Parthenon, or Temple of Athena Parthenos, was located.
Mercurius, or Hermes to the Greeks, was the son of Jupiter and Maia, for whom the month of May is named.
Mercurius was the messenger of Jupiter and was worshipped by travelers and also by thieves.
Mercury’s symbols were his wand, the Caduceus; his winged hat, the Petasus; and his winged sandals, the Talaria.
Venus, or Aphrodite to the Greeks, was the daughter of Jupiter and Dione in Roman myth.
Aphrodite, in the Greek version, was born from the foam of the sea.
One of the world’s most famous paintings is the Birth of Venus by the Italian painter Alessandro Botticelli.
Venus was the goddess of love and beauty. Ironically, she was married to the only deformed deity, Vulcanus.
Venus, or love, was often found romantically involved with Mars, or war.
Vulcanus was the son of Jupiter and Juno. He was ugly at birth and thrown from Mt. Olympus by his mother. He landed on the island of Lemnos and remained crippled forever because of the fall.
