Roman vs Greek Mythology

Mythology is the history and beliefs of a people who were able to see the magic in the world all around them. “Today their alters are empty, their great temples in ruins. But the gods of the ancient Greeks and Romans live on in powerful myths that have borne retelling for countless generations.(Fandex 1)”. Greek mythology and its Roman counter part have fascinated people for ages. Despite their similarities Greek and Roman mythology has key differences: in the Gods names, what they are based off of, ideologies and stories of creation. Although these stories were told centuries ago, they can still relate to us today. The first point to realize is that Greek mythology came long before Roman mythology did. When the Romans conquered the Greeks they adopted many of their customs and most importantly their beliefs. The first and most noticeable difference between Greek and Roman mythology lies in the Gods and Goddess’s names. The Greek names tend to the ones people are the most familiar with: Zeus king of the gods, Aphrodite goddess of love and others. All of the Gods have a Roman counterpart, because it was the Greek

ones that came first. In Roman mythology Zeus is known as Jupiter, Aphrodite is known as Venus, and so on. Theses two mythologies also differed on ideology. The Greeks were a philosophical people; they valued individualism; poets and artists were held in the highest esteem. The Romans tended to place more value on honor and bravery and they in turn idolized warriors and heroes. The Greeks were a people who focused little on the afterlife. In their beliefs immortality was achieved by living a life that is remembered forever. The Romans were actually concerned with the afterlife. They tried to live good lives to be ensured their good standing after death took them. Another major area that these two mythologies differed was in their stories of creations (Delgado). In Greek mythology the world was created by a union between