1.6: Comparisons (and Contrasts) Within Greek and Roman Myths

Greek myths, especially those that focused upon heroes, usually underscored the hero’s individualism and his desire to achieve greatness and renown, which was a mortal’s only hope for lasting immortality. Except for the rare occasion when a hero accompanied another on an escapade, such as Herakles’ and Theseus’ visit to Hades, most heroes acted independently in order to capture the most fame and fix themselves as the central figure in their narrative. The most memorable heroes are born semi-divine, more often the child of Zeus from one of his numerous liaisons with comely mortal women. Of his heroic children, Herakles was a favorite, which positioned him in great peril from Hera’s jealousy. Zeus’ attentions to the child served to spotlight his special status, which further rankled Hera who, understandably, resented this living reminder of her husband’s brazen adultery and his callousness at naming the child after her. Herakles means “glory of Hera.” This tension provided brilliant opportunities for the infant to demonstrate his future greatness; hence, when Hera placed two venomous serpents in his cradle, the baby strangled each in his already mighty grip, playing with them as if they were inanimate toys. The outsized strength of Herakles served as a model of male superiority, both in physical might and in epic achievements. But even such brut and blunt power carried a human weakness, the need for sleep, and in this state, Hera had her final revenge in the form of a nightmare that caused the hero to unknowingly slaughter his wife and children while in the spell of sleep.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Herakles fighting the Nemean Lion, artwork upon a wine cup. Greek, from Athens, c. 550 BCE, terracotta. Black-figure kylix attributed to the Workshop of the Phrynos Painter. Getty Villa. (CC BY. photo by A. Murray 2023)

The Twelve Labors that followed his crime were his means of cosmic atonement, a way of earning his way back into the title of semi-divine hero, even further polishing his reputation. Though the hero occasionally uses the resources of others, such as temporarily taking Atlas’ burden of holding up the planet, to gain his help in gathering the apples of Hesperides, he later regains control of the narrative by tricking the Titan into shouldering the Earth again. Thus, it is his independent, muscular spirit that readers remember, and not the aid of others in helping him achieve his goals.

The epics of Homer accentuate not only the individualism of heroes, mortal and semi-divine alike, but also the competitive spirit the Greeks admired. Odysseus, a favorite of Athene for his tactical intelligence in the Trojan War, exhibits a high level of hubris at the start of the Odyssey, and is quickly humbled by the regular culling of his men at each episode. Yet, his ego, which should be off-putting, is what gains the loyalty of the audience. His willingness to engage a colossal, man-eating cyclopes, or a vengeful sea god, or deadly sirens in a series of challenges reflects the Greek appreciation for competition. The fact that his character evolves and matures with each engagement is an attractive feature for modern audiences, but would have been only of secondary interest for the ancient Greek audience.

The Romans, who were longtime admirers of Greek mythology and in the spirit of trans-Mediterranean trade, adopted the Greek myths, adding their own textures and flavors to establish a mythic foundation in Rome. Roman mythic tradition was both elastic and appropriative. The Roman poet Ovid, who lived during the time of Emperor Augustus (27 BCE-CE 14), penned the master text of Greco-Roman myths, Metamorphoses. Aptly titled, the work features both mortal and immortal characters undergoing physical change, perhaps a comment on the evolving place of Rome as it rose in power, eclipsing the waning power of Greece. The title of the work also refers to the way the Romans interpreted Greek myths, imbuing them with traditionally Roman values: “gravitas, or seriousness of purpose and devotion to duty (especially to the state); pietas, or duty to one’s parents, the state, and the gods of Rome; and frugalitas, or the idealizing of the simple life, free from the distractions of vanity and self-indulgence” (Harris and Platzner 837), values reflected in plot points such as the posthumous veneration of Emperor Julius Caesar. The work both played to and influenced the changing tastes of literate Romans, who craved Greek stories and who longed for a mythic tradition of their own to further legitimize the empire. Written in a sharp-witted voice, the myths appealed to his sophisticated audience of Roman peers. The epic starts in the early days of mythic lore, retelling the tale of creation, of gods, of heroes and their accomplishments, before ultimately resting upon the deification of Caesar.

Further binding Rome’s mythic connections to Ancient Greece, Virgil’s (alternately spelled Vergil) epic, the Aeneid [ee-NEE-id], follows the sole survivor from the house of Troy, Aeneas [ee-NEE-as], from the burning city on an epic journey towards Rome. As the semi-divine son of Aphrodite and the Trojan prince Anchises, Aeneas heroically carries his crippled father while simultaneously leading his young son and wife from the burning city, while his kinsmen fall to Achean (Greek) and Spartan arrows. When his wife falls behind, he valiantly returns to the conflagration and massacre only to find her fallen, another victim of the unrelenting Greek slaughter, but the action confirms his devotion to his wife, likewise his noble character. The hero finds his way across the sea and into a doomed affair with Carthaginian Queen Dido [DYE-doh], into the underworld, and ultimately to the shores of Italy where his descendents become the founders of Rome and the progenitors of Julius Caesar. The epic maintains strong roots in Homer’s Iliad, recounting the war, the sacrifices of its heroes and the inscrutable indifference of the gods who control their fate. The story also contains several parallels to the Odyssey, especially in Aeneas’ visit to the underworld to confront the shades of those he left behind in Troy and of the bereft Dido. Like Homer before him, Virgil seeks to maintain the themes of sacrifice, duty, and honor as the core qualities that signify a Roman hero, while lingering upon the very human loss that such choices inevitably lead to. Though readers may note that Aeneas is a survivor of the Trojan empire, and not a Greek by birth or blood, the Romans would have seen him as Greek by affiliation or proximity, much like the rest of the world sees Canadians and Americans as “North Americans.”

In crafting their own mythological heritage, the Romans transferred the names of the Greek gods into Roman names, many of which overcame the Greek original in popular use. Far more people use the Roman “Hercules” than the Greek “Herakles,” so students of mythology will benefit from being versed in all epitaphs of the gods. The chart below lists the gods in order of primacy.

Greek Name (transliterated)	Roman(Latin) Name	Anglicized Name	Purview
Gaia	Terra Mater	Gaea	The Primal Earth
Eros*	Cupid	Eros	Cosmic, romantic love
Ouranos	Caleum	Uranus	The Sky, the Heavens
Rheia, Kybele	Ops	Rhea	Mother of the Olympians
Kronos	Saturn	Cronus	Father of the Olympians
Helios	Sol, Phoebus	Helios	The (late afternoon, setting) Sun
Selene	Luna	Selene	The Moon
Hestia	Vesta	Hestia	The Hearth
Hades, Plouton, Aidoneus	Pluto, Dis	Hades, Pluto	The Underworld
Poseidon	Neptune	Poseidon	Oceans, tidal waves, earthquakes
Demeter	Ceres	Demeter	The Harvest, agrarian fertility
Here	Juno, Iuno	Hera	Women, marriage, childbearing
Zeus	Jupiter, Iovis	Zeus	The Sky, Olympus, justice, weather (lightning)
Aphrodite	Venus	Aphrodite	Passionate love, lust, beauty
Athene	Minerva	Athena, Athene	Wisdom, Victory in War (Military intelligence), Weaving
Hermes	Mercury, Mercurius	Hermes	Messenger of the gods
Phoibos Apollon	Phoebus Apollo	Phoebus Apollo	The (rising or moving) Sun
Artemis	Diana	Artemis	The Moon, hunting, virginity
Hephaistos	Vulcan, Vulcanus	Hephaestus	Smithy to the gods and heroes, (industrial) fire
Ares	Mars	Ares	War, rageful mania
Dionysos, Bakchos, Bromios	Bacchus, Liber	Dionysus, Bacchus	Wine, vines, liberation, music (song)
Eileithyie	Lucina	Eileithyia	Childbirth, Midwifery
Hebe	Juventas	Hebe	Youthful bloom, cupbearer in Olympus
Persephone, Kore	Proserpina	Persephone, Cora	The Underworld, (alternately) spring
Pan	Faunus	Pan	Flocks and shepherds

*In the earliest cosmologies, Eros is a divine force born from Chaos as a unifying element for the universe.

From the chart above, we can see the names of several planets taken from Roman gods, as well as root words that formed many of our modern words: liberation, prosperity, fawn, vulcanized, and cereal. From this we might deduce that the Romans sought to colonize, capture and revise all Greek gods and their myths in the ultimate act of literary imperialism. However, far from erasing the “Greekness” of the original myths, the Roman authors helped to fix Greek myths and their universal appeal into the Western consciousness and as foundational pillars of Western literature. We are reminded of this collaborative history each time we look to the heavens and see not only the Roman-named planets, but also the moons and constellations named for Greek deities and semi-divines.