1. THE ROMAN GODS
BY: MS. MARFE N. NIQUE

2. ROMAN GODS
 Jupiter - King of the Gods  Vulcan - The Smith God
 Juno - Queen of the Gods  Bacchus - God of Wine
 Neptune - God of the Sea  Saturn - God of Time
 Pluto - God of Death  Vesta - Goddess of the Home
 Apollo - God of the Sun  Janus - God of Doors
 Diana - Goddess of the Moon  Uranus and Gaia - Parents of
 Mars - God of War Saturn
 Venus - Goddess of Love  Maia - Goddess of Growth
 Cupid - God of Love  Flora - Goddess of Flowers
 Mercury - Messenger of the Gods  Plutus - God of Wealth
 Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom Monsters
 Ceres - The Earth Goddess  Cerberus - Dog of the Underworld
 Proserpine - Goddess of the  Gorgon - Turns you to stone
Underworld

3. JUPITER
 Title: King of the gods
Greek name: Zeus
Day of the Week: Thursday
Solar system: planet Jupiter
Wonder of the World: Statue at
Olympia
 Relations:
 Son of Saturn
Grandson of Uranus
Husband of Juno
Brother of Neptune Brother of
Pluto
Many children

English words: Jovial means
jolly.

4. JUPITER
 Jupiter was king of the Gods. The eagle was his
messenger. His weapon was the Thunderbolt
(thunder and lightning). All other gods were terrified of
him, although he was a little scared of his wife Juno!
Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto were the three sons of
Saturn. They divided up the world between
themselves. Jupiter took the air, Neptune had the sea
and Pluto ruled under the earth, the home of the
Dead.
 Jupiter means Father Jove (Father in Latin is "pater").
There was a big temple on the Capitol in Rome
dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus (which means
Jupiter Best and Greatest). The Romans thought that
Jupiter guarded their city and looked after them.

5. JUNO
 Title: Queen of the
gods
Greek name: Hera
Month: June
 Relations:
 Wife of Jupiter
Mother of Mars
Mother of Vulcan

English word
Junoesque means a
large beautiful
woman.


6. NEPTUNE
 Title: God of the sea
Greek name: Poseidon
Solar system: planet
Neptune
 Relations:
 Son of Saturn
Grandson of Uranus
Brother of Jupiter Brother of
Pluto
Many children

English words: Jovial
means jolly.

7. NEPTUNE
 Neptune was the god of the sea. He carried a trident, which had
three prongs. He rode a dolphin or a horse. When the sea is
rough enough to show white tops to the waves, these are called
sea horses. On the right, the back half of the seahorse is a fish.
 It may seem strange that Neptune was not a more important
god, since the Roman Empire was based on the Mediterranean.
But the Romans were poor sailors. When Julius Caesar invaded
Britain, it was considered an astounding adventure, even though
he was just crossing the English Channel.

 Neptune was the god of earthquakes. He was called the Earth-
shaker. He was also the god of horses and horse-racing. The
Romans loved watching horse-racing and had great race tracks
for chariot racing, such as the Circus Maximus. You can see the
ruins of the Circus Maximus in Rome today, see left.

8. PLUTO
 Title: God of Death
Greek name: Hades
Solar system: dwarf
planet Pluto
 Relations:
 Son of Saturn
Brother of Jupiter
Brother of Neptune
Husband of Proserpine

English word Plutonium

9. PLUTO
 Pluto was the god of the Dead. Romans were afraid to say Pluto's real name
because they were afraid he might notice them and they would die.
 Pluto sometimes got confused with the Greek god, Plutus, the god of wealth.
This is not surprising, since the names sound alike, and also wealth, like
gold, silver or jewels, are found underground, where Pluto ruled.
 The metal Plutonium is radio-active. It was discovered soon after the planet
Pluto. It is not only used for nuclear bombs, it is deadly by itself. It deserves to
belong to the god of Death!

 When someone died, they travelled down to the Underworld. First, they had to
cross the River of the Dead, called the Styx. Everyone was buried with a coin, to
pay the ferryman, Charon. Then they had to get past Cerberus, a fierce dog with
three heads, which would only let the Dead through. Finally they had to come
before the Judges of the Dead. The only living man to fight Cerberus was
Hercules, the strongest man in the world. He had to bring Cerberus back from
the Underworld. (He let it go afterwards.)
 The moon of planet Pluto is called Charon, after the ferryman over the Styx.

10. APOLLO
 Title: God of the sun
Greek name: Apollo is a
Greek name
Day of the Week: Sunday
Solar system: Sun
 Relations:
 Son of Jupiter
Brother of Diana

Wonder of the World:
Colossus at Rhodes

11. APOLLO
 Apollo was the god of the sun. Each day he drove his chariot of fiery
horses across the sky to give light to the world. Apollo had a son called
Phaethon, who was human. Phaethon nagged at Apollo to let him
borrow the sun chariot and fly across the sky. Finally Apollo agreed.
Phaethon proudly drove the sun chariot up into the sky, but then he lost
control of the horses. The sun chariot dived towards the earth, burning
everything. Finally Jupiter had to stop him with a thunder bolt.
 Apollo was also the god of music, and played the lyre.
 His most famous temple was at Delphi in Greece, see right. There, his
priestess would prophesy the future. But she wasn't easy to understand.
One day, a great king asked the priestess if he should invade a nearby
kingdom. She said, "If you do this, a great kingdom will be destroyed."
He thought that she meant he would be successful, and so started the
war. He lost disastrously. It was his own kingdom that got destroyed!


12. DIANA
 Title: Goddess of the
moon
Greek name: Artemis
Day of the Week:
Monday
Solar system: Moon
 Relations:
 Son of Jupiter
Sister of Apollo

Wonder of the World:
Temple at Ephesus

13. DIANA
 Diana was the goddess of the moon. Her twin
brother Apollo was the god of the sun.
 Diana carried a bow and arrows. She was the
goddess of hunting. Once she was bathing in a
forest pool. A hunter called Actaeon spied on
her. So Diana turned him into a stag and he was
chased by his own hunting dogs.
 She helped women in child-birth, because her
mother Leto gave birth to her and her twin
brother so easily.

14. MARS
 Title: God of war
Greek name: Ares
Month: March
Day of the Week: Tuesday
 Relations:
 Son of Jupiter
Father of Romulus and Remus

English word: Martial means
warlike.
Solar system: planet Mars

15. MARS
 The Romans were great soldiers and thought Mars, the god of
War, was very important. They said that he was the father of
Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. When Romulus and
Remus were babies, they were left to die. But they were found by
a mother wolf, who suckled them. Romulus gave his name to
Rome.
 The Campus Martius or field of Mars, was next to the river Tiber
in in ancient Rome. It was used to train soldiers and hold horse
races. March was called after Mars because that was when the
soldiers started fighting again after winter.

 Here is a painting of Mars and Venus. Mars is fast asleep. The
little fauns with goats legs are playing with his armour. One of
them is just about to blow his horn very loud in Mars's ear. I
wonder what will happen next!

16. VENUS
 Title: Goddess of love
Greek name: Aphrodite
Day of the Week:
Friday
 Relations:
 Daughter of Jupiter
Mother of Cupid

Solar system: planet
Venus

17. VENUS
 Venus was born in the sea and first came to shore at
Cyprus, floating on a scallop shell.
 There was a Golden Apple with "For the Fairest" written on the
side. Venus, Juno and Minerva all wanted it. They decided to let a
man, Paris, judge between them. They were all so beautiful that
he couldn't make his mind up. So Juno said she would make him
powerful. Minerva said she would make him wise. Venus offered
him Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. He chose
Venus, and Helen. Unfortunately Helen was married to someone
else, and when Paris carried her off to his home at Troy, her
husband came with his allies to get her back. Paris and all his
family were killed and Troy was destroyed. One of the few Trojans
to survive the Trojan War was Aeneas, the son of Venus. He went
to Italy, and was the ancestor of the Romans.
 What would you choose from Power, Wisdom and Love? (I'd
choose Wisdom.)

18. CUPID
 Title: God of love
Greek name: Eros
 Relations:
 Son of Venus

English word: Cupidity
means greediness.

19. CUPID
 Cupid was the mischievous little god of love. His weapon was a
bow, and anyone hit by one of his arrows fell madly in love.
 Cupid once scratched himself with one of his own arrows by
mistake. He was looking at a woman called Psyche, and fell in
love with her. He knew that his mother Venus would be angry, so
he hid Psyche away and told her that she must never try to look
at him. Psyche thought that she had been captured by a hideous
monster, and, of course, couldn't resist taking a peep. She was
enchanted by the first sight of her handsome husband, and while
playing with his arrows, scratched herself as well. So now they
were both desperately in love with each other, see right. Venus
drove Psyche away, and she had many adventures before she
was allowed to stay with Cupid, and Venus became reconciled to
being a mother-in-law!

20. MERCURY
 Title: Messenger of the gods
Greek name: Hermes
Day of the Week: Wednesday
Solar system: planet Mercury
 Relations:
 Son of Jupiter
Son of Maia

 English words:
 Mercury or Quicksilver is a
liquid metal.
Mercurial means light-hearted
and active.

21. MERCURY
 Mercury was the god of travellers. He had a winged hat
and sandals, so he could fly. He carried a staff which also
has wings and two snakes winding round it.
 He was also the god of thieves. When he was only a few
days old, he stole the cows of Apollo. Mercury made
special shoes for the cows and made them walk
backwards, so no-one could follow their tracks. Eventually
Apollo noticed that Mercury was playing a new musical
instrument called a lyre, strung with cow-gut and worked
out that Mercury had stolen his cows. Apollo was furious
with Mercury, but thought the lyre was wonderful. So they
agreed that Mercury could keep the cows and Apollo
would get the lyre.
 Mercury was also the god of science and business. I think
that he's the god of the Internet as well!

22. MINERVA
 Title: Goddess of
wisdom
Greek name: Athene
 Relations:
 Daughter of Jupiter

23. MINERVA

 Minerva was the goddess of wisdom. Her symbol was the owl. Her Greek name
was Athene, and Athens was her city.
 She had a strange birth. One day, Jupiter had a bad headache. Nothing would
cure it. Eventually Vulcan split open Jupiter's head. Out jumped Minerva in
armour with shield and spear! Jupiter felt much better afterwards. Don't try this
at home.

 Minerva was the goddess of arts and crafts. She was particularly good at
weaving. Once a woman called Arachne wove a beautiful picture. Minerva tried
to find something wrong with it. When she couldn't, she tore it up and turned
Arachne into a spider. The spider still weaves beautiful webs.
 Minerva helped the hero Perseus to kill the gorgon Medusa, who was a monster
with snakes instead of hair. Anyone who looked at a gorgon turned to stone! But
Minerva told Perseus to look at Medusa's reflection in a polished shield. That
way he could cut the head off without looking directly at the gorgon. He gave the
head to Minerva, who put it on her shield, so it would turn her enemies to stone.

24. SATURN
English word: Saturnine means serious and gloomy.
Title: God of timeRelations:
Son of Uranus and Gaia
Greek name: Cronos Father of Jupiter
Father of Pluto
Day of the Week: Father of Neptune
Saturday
Solar system: planet
Saturn

25. SATURN
 Saturn was god of Time and his weapon was a
scythe. He is called Old Father Time.
 Saturn ruled the gods before Jupiter. Jupiter, Neptune
and Pluto were his children. They represent
Air, Water and Death, the three things that Time
cannot kill.
 The Romans had a mid-winter festival in honour of
Saturn, called the Saturnalia. It lasted seven
days, and there was much merrymaking. Public
business was suspended and schools were closed.
Parents gave toys to their children and there was a
public banquet. That is why we eat so much at
Christmas, give presents and go to parties.

26. CERES AND PROSERPINE
CERES PROSERPINE

27. CERES AND PROSERPINE
 Ceres breakfast cereal
 Proserpine  Title: goddess of the
 Title: the Earth Underworld
goddess
Greek name:
Greek name: Demeter Persephone
 Relations:
Relations: Mother of  Daughter of Ceres
Proserpine Wife of Pluto
English word:

28. CERES & PROSERPINE
 Ceres was the Earth goddess and goddess of corn. She
carried the cornucopia, a horn full of vegetables and fruit.
Her daughter was Proserpine.
 Pluto fell in love with Proserpine, and carried her off to the
Underworld. Ceres searched everywhere, but couldn't find
her. Eventually Ceres refused to let the plants grow any
more, and everyone begun to die of hunger. So Pluto
admitted he had Proserpine, but said she could only go
back home if she had eaten none of the food of the Dead.
Proserpine had eaten almost nothing, as she was so sad
at being kept underground, but she had eaten six seeds
from a pomegranate. This means that she could go
home, but had to return to her husband for six months
every year. When this happens, Ceres stops everything
growing, and winter comes.

29. VULCAN
Vulcan was the smith of the
gods, and made Jupiter's
thunderbolts. His smithy was in
the volcano Etna, in
Sicily, where you can see fire
from his forget. Once, he made
Jupiter angry, and Jupiter threw
him out of Heaven. Vulcan fell
to Earth and broke both
legs, which made him lame.
This picture from a Greek vase
shows him in a sort of winged
wheel-chair.
He made women of gold to help
him in his smithy - possibly the
first robots!

30. BACCHUS
BACCHUS MAENAD

31. BACCHUS
 Bacchus was the god of wine. He was accompanied
by Maenads, or wild dancing women, see right. They
carried the thyrsus, a staff of giant fennel, covered
with ivy leaves, with a pine cone on top. There is a
wonderful description of a Bacchanalia, or feast in
honour of Bacchus, in Prince Caspian, one of the
Narnia books, by C.S.Lewis.
 Bacchus was also the god of the theatre, since the
first plays in Greece were performed in his honour.
There were tragedies, serious stories about heroes
and gods, and comedies, which laughed at politicians
and were often very rude!

32. JANUS
 Title: God of doors
Month: January
 Janus kept the gate of Heaven, so he
became the god of doors and gates. He
was very important, because a house is
only as strong as its doors.
 His temple in Rome had its doors thrown
open in times of War, and closed in times
of Peace. They were usually open! The
Emperor Augustus closed the doors of
the temple, since he brought peace to
the Roman Empire.
 Janus had two faces, one looking
forwards and one looking back, since a
door can let you in, or let you out. The
first month of the year is named after
him. In January, we look back at the last
year, and forward to the next.

33. URANUS AND GAIA
 Title: Uranus was god of
the sky and Gaia was
goddess of the earth
Greek name: Uranus
and Gaia are Greek
names
Solar system: planet
Uranus
 Relations: Parents of
Saturn
English word: Uranium

34. URANUS AND GAIA
 Uranus was a shadowly figure right at the start
of time. He came before Saturn, who came
before Jupiter. He was not worshipped by the
Romans, so there is no picture of him.
 Uranus was the sky, and his wife Gaia was the
earth. They had many children, including giants.
They had a violent argument and split up. Ever
since the earth and sky have been apart.
 Uranium is a radio-active metal used for nuclear
power. It was called after the planet Uranus, as
it was discovered about the same time.

35. MAIA
 Title: Goddess of
growth
Month: May
 Relations: Mother
of Mercury
English word:
May is the
hawthorn in flower.

36. MAIA
 On the right, this is a picture of Flora, the
goddess of flowers, rather than Maia, the
goddess of Growth, but they were similar
goddesses.
 In the Middle Ages, people went out Maying on
the first of May. They would go to the fields and
woods, collecting flowers and enjoying the
sunshine. This might have been in honour of
Maia, the goddess of May, or Flora, the goddess
of flowers. Today, we still have the first Monday
in May as a holiday. Sometimes people dance
round a maypole.

37. PLUTO
 Title: God of Death
Greek name: Hades
Solar system: dwarf
planet Pluto
 Relations: Son of
Saturn
Brother of Jupiter
Brother of Neptune
Husband of Proserpine
English word
Plutonium

38. PLUTO
 Pluto was the god of the Dead. Romans were afraid
to say Pluto's real name because they were afraid he
might notice them and they would die.
 Pluto sometimes got confused with the Greek
god, Plutus, the god of wealth. This is not
surprising, since the names sound alike, and also
wealth, like gold, silver or jewels, are found
underground, where Pluto ruled.
 The metal Plutonium is radio-active. It was
discovered soon after the planet Pluto. It is not only
used for nuclear bombs, it is deadly by itself. It
deserves to belong to the god of Death!

39. PLUTO
 When someone died, they travelled
down to the Underworld. First, they had
to cross the River of the Dead, called
the Styx. Everyone was buried with a
coin, to pay the ferryman, Charon. Then
they had to get past Cerberus, a fierce
dog with three heads, which would only
let the Dead through. Finally they had to
come before the Judges of the Dead.
The only living man to fight Cerberus
was Hercules, the strongest man in the
world. He had to bring Cerberus back
from the Underworld. (He let it go
afterwards.)
 The moon of planet Pluto is called
Charon, after the ferryman over the
Styx.