Rome: Difference Between Greek And Roman Mythology
THE ROMAN RELIGION
As the Roman Empire grew, it came across several different religions. “As the empire expanded across the Balkans, Asia Minor and into Egypt, Roman religion absorbed many of the gods and cults of conquered nations, but the primary influence would always remain Greece” (Wasson, Donald). After the Romans conquered Greece, they adapted the gods the Greeks were worshipping. Most, if not all, of the Greek deities were renamed and given slightly different characteristics.
Not only were Greek gods added into the Roman religion, but also as Rome grew and expanded across the empire (see Fig.1.) they took ideas from other countries and their religions. “As the Romans extended their dominance throughout the Mediterranean world, their policy in general was to …show more content…
The Greeks often gave their gods human characteristics, while the Romans did not.
“Early forms of the Roman religion were animistic in nature, believing that spirits inhabited everything around them, people included” (Wasson, David). While the Roman gods were named after objects rather than having personality traits. The Greek gods, on the other hand, are based on human personality traits such as love, honor, hatred, and dignity (Guisepi, Robert A).
Almost every Roman myth is an adapted version of a Greek myth; the Romans took a majority of the gods’ myths and just changed the names. The Greeks also focused on life, while the Romans focused more on life after death. Romans could never get to heaven; that was a luxury reserved for only the gods. Even so, Greek mythology focused not only on their personality traits, but their physical appearance as well. They were typically represented with perfect bodies. Roman mythology did not act in the same way; the gods’ physical appearances were up to the imagination of the people (Greek Gods vs. Roman Gods).
As the Roman Empire grew, it came across several different religions. “As the empire expanded across the Balkans, Asia Minor and into Egypt, Roman religion absorbed many of the gods and cults of conquered nations, but the primary influence would always remain Greece” (Wasson, Donald). After the Romans conquered Greece, they adapted the gods the Greeks were worshipping. Most, if not all, of the Greek deities were renamed and given slightly different characteristics.
Not only were Greek gods added into the Roman religion, but also as Rome grew and expanded across the empire (see Fig.1.) they took ideas from other countries and their religions. “As the Romans extended their dominance throughout the Mediterranean world, their policy in general was to …show more content…
The Greeks often gave their gods human characteristics, while the Romans did not.
“Early forms of the Roman religion were animistic in nature, believing that spirits inhabited everything around them, people included” (Wasson, David). While the Roman gods were named after objects rather than having personality traits. The Greek gods, on the other hand, are based on human personality traits such as love, honor, hatred, and dignity (Guisepi, Robert A).
Almost every Roman myth is an adapted version of a Greek myth; the Romans took a majority of the gods’ myths and just changed the names. The Greeks also focused on life, while the Romans focused more on life after death. Romans could never get to heaven; that was a luxury reserved for only the gods. Even so, Greek mythology focused not only on their personality traits, but their physical appearance as well. They were typically represented with perfect bodies. Roman mythology did not act in the same way; the gods’ physical appearances were up to the imagination of the people (Greek Gods vs. Roman Gods).