Greek & Roman ReligionWorld History I, Spring

2013

Essential Question: What was the role of religion in Greek and Roman life?

The Role of ReligionGreek Religion Roman ReligionGreek mythology provided

explanations of natural phenomena, human qualities, and life events.

Greeks did not fear their gods, but saw them as superhuman: powerful but with flaws.

Do you think that Greek gods and goddesses still remain part of our cultural knowledge and understanding?

Evolved from Etruscan nature worship

Most worship was private

Roman families normally worshipped ancestral spirits and house godsE.g. Vesta, goddess of

the hearth

GodsZeus/Jupiter

Ruler of the Olympian Gods

God of the SkyHad a bad habit of

turning himself into animals and taking human loversE.g. Hercules was the

demigod son of ZeusJupiter was an Etruscan

god that the Romans gave Zeus’s characteristics

GodsPoseidon/Neptune

God of the Sea & Earthquakes

Along with Athena, vied for the patronage of Athens, but lost.

GodsAthena/Minerva

God of Wisdom, War, and Weaving

Virgin goddess who never consorted with mortals

Sprang from the head of Zeus

Patron goddess of Athens

Greek GodsHera/Juno

Married to ZeusGod of marriage

Also a child of Kronos and sister of Zeus

Did not like Zeus’s affairs with mortal women and often took this out on the child of that union, e.g. Hercules

Greek GodsApollo/Apollo

Son of ZeusGod of Music,

Poetry, the Sun, and Prophecy

The Oracle at Delphi was given her power by Apollo

Greek GodsArtemis/Diana

Twin sister of ApolloGod of childbirth,

hunting, and animals

Maiden divinity who never marriedDevotees to this

goddess took vows of chastity

Greek GodsAphrodite/Venus

Daughter of ZeusGod of Love and

BeautyAphrodite was born

out of sea foam that had mingled with the mutilated parts of the Titan Ouranos

Married to Hephaestus, but quite promiscuous

SourcesFarah, Mounir, and Andrea Berens.

Karls. World History, the Human Experience: The Early Ages. New York, NY: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, C2003., 2002. Print. chapters 4 and 5

Athena and Neptune story:http://151.12.58.141/virtualexhibition/contest.h

tmlInformation on the gods:

http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/olympian-gods.html