Roman Deities: Mars, Venus, and Apollo PDF

2 ROMAN DEITIES: MARS, VENUS, AND APOLLO  INTRODUCTION As the father of twin sons, Romulus and Remus, Mars became one of the immortal ancestors of the Roman 1 people. He gained popularity after the myth about the founding of Rome by Romulus became widely known. Venus’ sta...

2 ROMAN DEITIES: MARS, VENUS, AND APOLLO  INTRODUCTION As the father of twin sons, Romulus and Remus, Mars became one of the immortal ancestors of the Roman 1 people. He gained popularity after the myth about the founding of Rome by Romulus became widely known. Venus’ status also became important to the Roman people because she was the mother of Aeneas, who founded Lavinium. Originally, Venus was patroness of gardens and vineyards and was worshipped as goddess of love and beauty. Her exalted position as goddess of motherhood and marriage was initiated by Julius Caesar, who built a temple for her in 46 B.C. and claimed the 2 goddess as one of his ancestors. Although most of the gods and goddesses adopted by the Romans from the Greeks were given Latin names, Apollo was one of the few gods who was “Apollo” to both the Greeks and the Romans. The Romans worshipped him as god of power and healing prophecies—the god who taught them about medicine. Legends tell of Apollo’s birth in Asia Minor in present-day Turkey, the birthplace of Aeneas. Because the Romans believed that their ancestors came from Asia Minor, Apollo’s origins made him important to the Romans. Like the Greeks, the Romans began to consult the oracles of Apollo at a temple in Delphi situated on the spur of Mount Parnassus in southern Greece. They believed that Apollo could foretell the future and that his oracle, or prophecy, could be obtained from an old priestess who kept watch over his temple there. Romans sought Apollo’s advice during the many wars they fought to control their empire. Other oracles of Apollo existed on the island of 41  Roman Mythology Delos; in other parts of Greece; and in Anatolia, in present- day Turkey. During Aeneas’ journey in search of the Trojans’ ancestral homeland, he sought the advice of a priestess who lived in a cave beneath Apollo’s temple on Delos. The oracle at Delphi, however, was considered the 3 most important of them all. 42  ROMAN DEITIES: MARS, VENUS, AND APOLLO Mars By the fourth century B.C., Mars, the Roman god of agriculture, had already assumed the form and shape of a warrior. He was portrayed wearing armor and a crested helmet and carrying a shield. In preparation for war, Roman soldiers practiced vigorous drilling exercises on the Campus Martius, or “field of Mars,” located beyond the city walls next to the Tiber River. Mars was worshipped on the Capitol in a temple that he shared with Jupiter and Quirinus, another god of war. The Roman army would gather at the site of the temple Mars Gradvisu before leaving for war. Still another temple—one that he shared with Venus—was built on the Forum Augustus. This temple was known as Mars Ultor (“The Avenger”). There were several festivals held in honor of Mars. The most notable festival was the Armilustrium, which was celebrated in October when the military weapons of the soldiers were ritually purified and then stored away for winter. Wars were often begun or continued in spring; thus, the month of March (Martius) was named after the god Mars. Mars became identified with Ares, the Greek god of war. Unlike Mars, however, Ares was cruel and vain. Mars 43  Roman Deities: Mars, Venus, and Apollo was said to have been the husband of Bellona, a serpent- haired goddess who represented conflict as well as peace. Bellona was sometimes described as being the feminine side of Mars. Venus After the Romans began to identify Venus with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, Venus’ mythology became much the same as Aphrodite’s. She was believed by some to be the daughter of Jupiter, and by others to have sprung from the foam of the sea. As the daughter of Jupiter, she was protected by her father, who believed all the gods wanted to take her hand in marriage. So Jupiter arranged for his daughter to marry Vulcan, the god of volcanic fire, who was the most steady and reliable of the gods—and 3 one of the ugliest. There are two legends associated with the god Vulcan. The first is that he was born weak and crippled, and that his mother, Juno, unable to look at him, threw him off Mount Olympus, the legendary home of the Greek gods. Seven days later, Vulcan landed in the sea, where he was rescued by nymphs. They took him to the island of Lemnos in the northern Aegean and cared for him. The second legend claims that Vulcan took his mother Juno’s side during a family argument and that his father, Jupiter, threw him off Mount Olympus. In this version, too, Vulcan fell for seven days, but this time he landed directly on the island of Lemnos. Regardless of Vulcan’s beginnings, he was thrilled to have been given Venus’ hand in marriage. Vulcan wanted so much to please his new wife that he fashioned beautiful gold jewelry for her and even made her a finely woven gold girdle to wrap around her thin young waist. The gold girdle, however, only made Venus more irresistible to men. 45  Roman Mythology Vulcan became perpetually jealous of his beautiful wife and was always accusing her of adulterous affairs. His jealousy was not unfounded. Venus spent a great deal of time with other men, and her favorite lover was the god Mars. One day, Vulcan sneaked up on his wife, who was lying in the arms of Mars, and threw a finely woven net over them so that they could not get free. The angry husband took the illicit lovers to the Olympian gods and asked that they be punished for their affair. The gods, however, laughed at the sight of the embarrassed couple wrapped in each other’s arms and set them free. Paris, a Trojan prince, awarded Venus a golden apple, 46  Roman Deities: Mars, Venus, and Apollo the prize for the most beautiful goddess. Jupiter had been asked to choose the most beautiful goddess from among Juno, Minerva, and Venus, but he had feared the wrath of the losers. So, he asked the mortal Paris to give the award. Paris had a difficult time trying to decide among the goddesses until, finally, they volunteered to help him. Each goddess agreed to offer him a gift, and the gift of his choice would name the winner. Minerva offered him great wisdom and great luck in war. Juno offered him all of Asia and great power. Venus offered to give him the most beautiful woman in the world. Because Paris adored beautiful women, he chose 47  Roman Mythology Venus’ gift and asked for Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Greece. Venus helped Paris abduct Helen from Sparta, and the Greek world went to war over the incident—it caused 4 the Trojan War. Apollo Apollo was a god of many things and was one of the most worshipped of the Greek and Roman gods. He was god of the shepherds, god of light and truth, god of healing, god of prophecy, god of music, and god of archery. His most important daily task was to harness his four horses to his chariot and drive the sun across the sky. Apollo was the son of Jupiter and the goddess Latona, known as the “hidden one.” Apollo’s twin sister was the goddess Diana. Apollo and Diana were very protective of their mother and quick to defend her. One day, Queen Niobe of Thebes, the principal city in Boeotia, an early Greek territory, bragged to Latona that she was a superior woman because she had given birth to fourteen children and Latona had only given birth to twins. Angered by the queen’s smugness, Apollo and Diana decided to make the queen childless so that their own mother would be the better woman. The queen had seven boys and seven girls—so Apollo killed the boys, and Diana killed the girls. Although Apollo was known to have had many romances, some legends say that he never married. He was, however, one of the first gods to fall in love with a member of the same sex—a handsome Spartan prince named Hyacinthus, who was also loved by Favonius, god of the west wind. Hyacinthus returned Apollo’s love, but he would not return the affection of Favonius. So one day when Apollo and Hyacinthus were out in a field throwing the discus, Favonius blew the discus toward Hyacinthus’ head. It struck the young prince in the skull and killed him. 48  Roman Deities: Mars, Venus, and Apollo In the pool of blood that formed beside his head, Apollo made a flower spring forth from the earth: a hyacinth. Other legends claimed that Apollo loved a beautiful young woman named Daphne, who would not return his love. Daphne, in fact, became irritated by the god’s persistent attentions. When Apollo refused to leave her alone, she asked her father, the river god Peneus, for help. Because water gods always had the power of transformation, Peneus transformed his daughter into a beautiful laurel tree. Apollo then claimed the laurel tree as his own, and laurel leaves became his symbol. According to another legend, Apollo eventually married a nymph named Larissa. The couple was very happy, and Apollo believed that, at last, he had found true love. But one day his favorite bird, the crow (who, at that time, had pure white feathers), came to him and told him that his beautiful wife had been unfaithful to him. Apollo flew into a rage and shot Larissa with one of his sharp arrows. Although he had not intended to kill her, Larissa was fatally injured and Apollo could not make her return to life. Angry that he had lost the woman he loved, Apollo turned on the crow that had delivered the news and changed his white feathers into black. Then, he forbade 5 the crow to ever fly among other birds. Apollo’s symbols are a lyre, which represents harmony, and a bow, which represents his power to destroy. Apollo was known to be kind and forgiving, but mean and vicious, as well. 49  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Q: Was Apollo a Greek or Roman god? A: Apollo was initially a Greek god who was basically adopted as a Roman god. “Apollo” is the name used by both the Greeks and the Romans. Q: Name three places where people went to learn of the oracles of Apollo. A: They went to Delphi in Greece, Anatolia in present-day Turkey, and the island of Delos in the Aegean Sea. Q: Mars was the Roman god of agriculture. With what Greek god did he become associated? A: Mars later became associated with Ares, the Greek god of war. Q: Venus was the Roman patroness of gardens and vineyards. With what Greek goddess did she become associated? A: Venus acquired the mythology of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Q: How did Apollo and his sister, Diana, protect their mother? A: They murdered the fourteen children of Queen Niobe of Thebes because she had bragged that, because she had more children, she was a better woman than their mother. Apollo killed the queen’s seven boys and Diana killed her seven girls. Q: Who were Apollo’s lovers? A: He loved a Spartan prince named Hyacinthus, a young woman named Daphne, and a nymph named Larissa. 50  Roman Deities: Mars, Venus, and Apollo Q: Why is the month of March associated with the god Mars? A: Spring was the time of year when wars began or were continued. Q: Describe the Greek god with whom Mars came to be identified. A: He became associated with Ares, the Greek god of war, who was mean and cruel. Q: Name the god who won Venus’ hand in marriage. A: Vulcan, the god of volcanic fire, whom Jupiter believed to be the steadiest and most reliable of the gods. Q: Why did Paris award Venus the golden apple, proclaiming her the most beautiful goddess? A: Venus promised to give Paris the gift of the world’s most beautiful woman if she were awarded the golden apple. She was competing against Juno, queen of the goddesses, and Minerva, goddess of wisdom and war, whose gifts the Prince did not choose to accept. 51  EXPERT COMMENTARY The origins of Mars were obscured after his association with Ares, the Greek god of war: “Mars was the Roman god of war but he also has agrarian attributes. His festivals fell mostly within the month, which still bears his name. As the ‘off-season’ for both war and agriculture was the same in antiquity, namely from autumn 6 to spring, his dual role is perfectly logical.” In the “Calendar of Roman Religion,” the Feast of the Tiber reveals some interesting information about the campus of Mars that was located outside the walls of the city close to the Tiber River: One June 7th, the Romans held the games of Tiber on the Campus Martius. As noted elsewhere, the River had received its Roman name from the Alban King Tiberinus [legendary eighth king of Alba Longa] who had drowned in its waters, it having been previously known as Albula [meaning white]. Both names make clear the connection to the settlement at Mt. Alba. The color white being an attribute of the goddess Ceres and of divinity in general, the White Mountain and the White River are obviously sacred, and they reinforce the Roman idea that they themselves 7 had a divine source. Romans did not change the name of the Greek god Apollo after he joined their pantheon of gods. He was known by the same name to both Greeks and Latins, and for good reason: [Apollo] arrived as the result of a pestilence, and his temple was dedicated in 431 B.C., two years after the Sibylline books had been consulted... [H]e was never as prominent at Rome as he was in the Greek world. He was worshipped originally as Apollo Medicus (corresponding to his Greek title of Paean, the 8 Healer). 52