on mythology and religion of the Romans was strongly influenced by neighboring peoples - the Etruscans and the Greeks.But at the same myths and legends of ancient Rome have their own identity.
Limbo Roman mythology
date of the religion of ancient Rome is difficult to determine.It is known that at the end of II - beginning I millennium BC.e.migration of Italians took place (so named the peoples who inhabited the peninsula before the formation of the Roman state on it), which for several centuries settled in Italy and then assimilated by the Romans.They had their own culture and religion.
In 753 BC, according to legend, Rome was founded.VIII-VI centuries.BC.e.It lasted royal period when the foundations were laid for the state and the socio-religious life of the empire.The official pantheon of gods and myths of ancient Rome developed around this period.Although it should be noted immediately that the Roman conquest of new territories, they readily included in their mythology and religion of the foreign gods and heroes, so the list of deities and legends constantly replenished.
The characteristics of the religion of ancient Rome
As in Greece, there was no strict organization dogma.Gods and myths of ancient Rome were partly borrowed from neighboring countries.Unlike Roman religion from the same Greek it was significant.
If the Greek deity - is first and foremost a person with quite human, character traits, the Romans never imagined the gods as anthropomorphic creatures.At the beginning of the formation of their religion, they could not even name their sexual identity.The Greeks were a pantheon of divine powers as a big family, which constantly occur between relatives scandals and disagreements occur.For the Greeks, the gods - a person endowed with supernatural powers and has the ideal qualities.So they created a halo around myths.
Drinking Roman deities was different.Peace in their view, was inhabited by hostile or supportive to the world of humans beings.They are everywhere and constantly accompany the person.The myths of ancient Rome say to the older boy or girl were under the protection of a large number of divine beings.It was the cradle of the god, the first steps, hope, sanity, and others.As they get older one person left the deity, while others, on the contrary, took him under his wing - a six gods of marriage, good luck and health, wealth.Dying was accompanied on his last journey as much as the higher beings that at birth: depriving light bleeding soul, bringing death.
Another distinguishing feature of Roman religion - its close relationship with the state.Initially, all the religious ceremonies associated with the life of the family, made her head - the father.Later, many family and tribal festival acquired national importance and have become official events.
different and the situation of priests.If in ancient Greece, they include a specific population group, the Romans were civil servants.There are several colleges of priests: Vestal, pontiffs and augurs.
Religion and myths of ancient Rome were mixed.Base - a native Roman deity.In the pantheon of gods were borrowed characters from Greek and Etruscan religion and personalized concept appeared much later.These include, for example, Fortuna - happiness.
pantheon of Roman gods
The Romans originally had a special relationship to the gods.They were not related to family relationships, as the Greek deities, they are not composed of myths.Residents of Rome for a long time refused to give their gods traits and appearance.Some stories about them in the end, was borrowed from the Greeks.
Rome Ancient myths say that the list of the Roman gods was very extensive.These included Chaos, Tempus, Cupid, Saturn, Uranus, ocean and other deities, and their children - the Titans.
third and fourth generation were the main and in the pantheon of 12 gods were represented.They are aligned with the Olympians to the Greeks.Jupiter (Zeus) - the personification of thunder and lightning, Juno (Hera) - his wife and patroness of marriage and family, Ceres (Demeter) - the goddess of fertility.Minerva and Juno were borrowed from the Etruscan religion.
in the Roman Pantheon and were personified beings become gods:
Victoria - Victory;
Fate - Fate;
Libertas - Freedom;
Psyche - soul;
Mania - madness;
Fortuna - Luck;
Juventas - Youth.
most important to the Romans were agricultural and tribal deity.
Influence Greek mythology
myths of ancient Greece and Rome are very similar, because much of the gods the Romans learned from its nearest neighbor.The process of borrowing of Greek mythology begins at the end VI - beginning of V centuries.It is wrong is the view that the 12 main gods of Olympus were taken Rome and received new names.Jupiter, Vulcan, Vesta, Mars, Saturn - a native Roman deity, then correlated with the Greek.The first gods borrowed from the Greeks, began to Apollo and Dionysus.In addition, the Romans included in their pantheon of Hercules and Hermes, as well as the Greek gods and the titans of the first and second generations.
The Romans had many gods, which they divided into old and new.Later, they created a pantheon of major gods, based on a host of Greek higher powers.
myths of ancient Rome: a summary.Gods and Heroes
Since the mythological fantasy of the Romans was poor, many tales are borrowed from the Greeks.But there were originally Roman myths and later displaced Greek.These include the story of the creation of the world God Janus.
He was an ancient Latin divinity, the gatekeeper of Heaven, the personification of the sun and the beginning.He was considered the god of gates and doors, and represented two-faced, because it was thought that a Janus face turned to the future, and the other - in the past.
Another ancient Roman myth tells of the origin of people from the oak.Like the Greeks, the Romans revered the forest and the trees, and created grove dedicated to the gods, in which religious rites were performed.Sacred trees are the fig tree (according to legend, a she-wolf nursed beneath Romulus and Remus) and the oak of the Capitol, which Romulus brought the first spoils of war.
Ancient myths of Rome have also been devoted to animals and birds: the eagle, the wolf and the woodpecker.The latter is particularly revered and it was dedicated to the ritual of the festival Lupercalia fertility and purification.The Romans attributed to wolves mystical power and believed that a person can turn into an animal.
With the development of the Roman state religion, new gods and new legends about them, taken from the Greeks, the Romans are processed for yourself.Ancient myths of Rome replaced the pre-existing primitive stories about the creation of the world and people.It formed the idea that the gods destined state power over the world.This led to the cult of Rome.Therefore, the mythology of this ancient country is divided into three groups: the myths about the gods and their deeds, legends of heroes and legends about the origin and development of Rome.
myth of the founding of Rome
This is one of the most famous legends in the world.As the great Hercules, the myth of the brothers who founded Rome, known in many countries.He talks about how the illegal seizure of power Amulius worried that in the future Numitora son decides to dispute the right of the throne, and his nephew killed in hunting.Numitor's daughter, Rhea, he ordered the priests to announce the chosen one of Vesta, as the Vestal had to remain unmarried.So he wanted to protect themselves from the descendants of Numitor, who could join him in the fight for the throne.
But the gods have in store for other Rhea fate.She became the wife of the god Mars.A year later, her twin boys were born.Although unhappy claimed that their father - god, it came as a vestal virgin to violate the ban.Daughter Numitora immured in the dungeon, and children Amulius ordered to throw into the river Tiber.
Servants spared kids and put them in a trough, which set sail on the river.High standing water in it and dropped trough hit the beach under the fig tree.Heard cries of children who lived nearby with his brood wolf and began to feed babies.This spectacle once saw a shepherd Favstul and took the children to his home.
When they grew up, the adoptive parents told his brother about their origin.Romulus and Remus went to Numitor, who immediately recognized them.By bringing with it a small detachment, brother killed Amulius and declared king his grandfather.As a reward, they were asked to land on the banks of the Tiber, where they found their salvation.It was decided to establish the capital of a future kingdom.During the dispute for whose name it will bear, Romulus killed Remus was.
heroes Roman myths
Most legends but borrowed from the Greeks, talk about characters who performed feats or sacrificed themselves for the sake of prosperity of Rome.This Romulus and Remus, the brothers Horace, Lucius Junius, Muzio Scaevola and many others.Roman religion was subordinated to the state and civic duty.Many myths were epic heroes and glorify emperors.
Aeneas Aeneas - the founder of the Roman state.The son of the goddess Aphrodite, a friend of Hector, the hero of the Trojan War - the young prince escaped with his son and his father after the fall of Troy and was in unknown country, inhabited by Latins.He married Lavinia, daughter of the local king of Latina, and together they began to manage the Italic land.The descendants of Aeneas, Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome began.
myths of ancient Rome for kids - the best books for young readers
Despite the abundance of books to find a decent literature on the study of the myths of ancient peoples is difficult.Apart here is the product, which was established exactly 100 years ago and is still the standard.NA Kun "Myths of ancient Greece and Rome" - this book knows a great number of readers.It was written in 1914 specifically for the pupils and all judges of the mythology of ancient peoples.Collection of myths written very simple and at the same time a living language, and is perfect for a children's audience.
AA Neukhardt was an interesting book "Legends and tales of ancient Rome," which gives concise information on the Roman gods and heroes.
Conclusion
Because the Romans borrowed the Greek gods and myths, these stories have survived.By creating on the basis of their artistic works, Roman writers have preserved for posterity the beauty and epic Greek and Roman mythology.Virgil created the epic "Aeneid", Ovid wrote "Metamorphoses" and "fast".Through their works of contemporary people now has the opportunity to learn about the religious beliefs and two great gods of the ancient states - Greece and Rome.
