King of fields and forests in ancient Rome. Roman goddesses: names, list, meaning, myths and legends

Hades - God is the ruler of the realm of the dead.

Antey- the hero of myths, a giant, the son of Poseidon and the Earth of Gaia. The earth gave her son strength, thanks to which no one could cope with him.

Apollo- the god of sunlight. The Greeks portrayed him as a beautiful young man.

Ares- god of perfidious war, son of Zeus and Hera

Asclepius- the god of medical art, the son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis

Boreas- the god of the north wind, the son of the titanides Astrea (starry sky) and Eos (morning dawn), brother of Zephyr and Nota. Depicted as a winged, long-haired, bearded, powerful deity.

Bacchus One of the names of Dionysus.

Helios (Helium ) - the god of the Sun, brother of Selena (goddess of the moon) and Eos (morning dawn). In late antiquity, he was identified with Apollo, the god of sunlight.

Hermes- the son of Zeus and Maya, one of the most ambiguous Greek gods. The patron of wanderers, crafts, trade, thieves. Possessing the gift of eloquence.

Hephaestus- the son of Zeus and Hera, the god of fire and blacksmithing. He was considered the patron saint of artisans.

Hypnos- deity of sleep, son of Nikta (Night). He was depicted as a winged youth.

Dionysus (Bacchus) - the god of viticulture and winemaking, the object of a number of cults and mysteries. He was depicted either as a fat elderly man, or as a young man with a wreath of grape leaves on his head.

Zagreus God of fertility, son of Zeus and Persephone.

Zeus- the supreme god, the king of gods and people.

Zephyr- god of the west wind.

Iacchus- the god of fertility.

Kronos - titan , the youngest son of Gaia and Uranus, the father of Zeus. He ruled the world of gods and people and was overthrown from the throne by Zeus ..

Mom- the son of the goddess of the Night, the god of slander.

Morpheus- one of the sons of Hypnos, the god of dreams.

Nereus- the son of Gaia and Pontus, meek sea god.

Note- the god of the south wind, depicted with a beard and wings.

Ocean - titan , son of Gaia and Uranus, brother and husband of Tethys and father of all the rivers of the world.

Olympians - supreme gods the younger generation of Greek gods, led by Zeus, who lived on the top of Mount Olympus.

Pan- the forest god, the son of Hermes and Dryopa, a goat-legged man with horns. He was considered the patron saint of shepherds and small livestock.

Pluto- God underworld, often identified with Hades, but unlike from him, who owned not the souls of the dead, but the riches of the underworld.

Plutus- the son of Demeter, the god who gives people wealth.

Pont- one of the older Greek deities, the offspring of Gaia, the god of the sea, the father of many titans and gods.

Poseidon- one of the Olympian gods, brother of Zeus and Hades, ruling over the sea element. Poseidon was also subject to the bowels of the earth,
he commanded storms and earthquakes.

Proteus- sea deity, son of Poseidon, patron of seals. Possessed the gift of reincarnation and prophecy.

satires- goat-footed creatures, demons of fertility.

Thanatos- the personification of death, the twin brother of Hypnos.

Titans- the generation of the Greek gods, the ancestors of the Olympians.

Typhon- a hundred-headed dragon, born of Gaia or a Hero. During the battle of the Olympians and the Titans, he was defeated by Zeus and imprisoned under the volcano Etna in Sicily.

Triton- the son of Poseidon, one of the sea deities, a man with a fish tail instead of legs, holding a trident and a twisted shell - a horn.

Chaos- infinite empty space from which at the beginning of time arose ancient gods Greek religion - Nikta and Erebus.

Chthonic gods - deities of the underworld and fertility, relatives of the Olympians. These included Hades, Hecate, Hermes, Gaia, Demeter, Dionysus, and Persephone.

cyclops - giants with one eye in the middle of the forehead, children of Uranus and Gaia.

Evre (Eur) god of the southeast wind.

aeolus- lord of the winds.

Erebus- the personification of the darkness of the underworld, the son of Chaos and the brother of the Night.

Eros (Eros)- god of love, son of Aphrodite and Ares. IN ancient myths- a self-arisen force that contributed to the ordering of the world. Depicted as a winged youth (in the Hellenistic era - a boy) with arrows, accompanying his mother.

Ether- deity of the sky

Goddesses of ancient Greece

Artemis- Goddess of hunting and nature.

Atropos- one of the three moira, cutting the thread of fate and cutting off human life.

Athena (Pallas, Parthenos) - the daughter of Zeus, born from his head in full combat weapons. One of the most revered Greek goddesses, goddess of just war and wisdom, patroness of knowledge.

Aphrodite (Kythera, Urania) - Goddess of love and beauty. She was born from the marriage of Zeus and the goddess Dione (according to another legend, she came out of the sea foam)

Hebe- daughter of Zeus and Hera, goddess of youth. Sister of Ares and Ilithyia. She served the Olympian gods at feasts.

Hecate- the goddess of darkness, night visions and sorcery, the patroness of sorcerers.

Hemera- the goddess of daylight, the personification of the day, born of Nikto and Erebus. Often identified with Eos.

Hera- the supreme Olympic goddess, sister and third wife of Zeus, daughter of Rhea and Kronos, sister of Hades, Hestia, Demeter and Poseidon. Hera was considered the patroness of marriage.

Hestia- Goddess of the hearth and fire.

Gaia- mother earth, mother of all gods and people.

Demitra- Goddess of fertility and agriculture.

Dryads - lower deities, nymphs that lived in trees.

Diana-goddess of the hunt

Ilithyia- patron goddess of childbirth.

Irida- winged goddess, assistant to Hera, messenger of the gods.

calliope- the muse of epic poetry and science.

Kera- demonic creatures, children of the goddess Nikta, bringing misfortune and death to people.

Clio- one of the nine muses, the muse of history.

Clotho ("spinner") - one of the moira, spinning the thread of human life.

Lachesis- one of the three moira sisters, who determines the fate of each person even before birth.

Summer- Titanide, mother of Apollo and Artemis.

Mayan- a mountain nymph, the eldest of the seven pleiades - the daughters of Atlanta, the beloved of Zeus, from whom Hermes was born to her.

Melpomene- muse of tragedy.

Metis- the goddess of wisdom, the first of the three wives of Zeus, who conceived Athena from him.

Mnemosyne- mother of nine muses, goddess of memory.

moira- the goddess of fate, the daughter of Zeus and Themis.

Muses- patron goddess of the arts and sciences.

naiads- nymphs-guardians of waters.

Nemesis- the daughter of Nikta, the goddess, personifying fate and retribution, punishing people in accordance with their sins.

Nereids- fifty daughters of Nereus and the oceanides of Dorida, sea deities.

Nika- the personification of victory. Often she was depicted with a wreath, a common symbol of triumph in Greece.

nymphs- the lowest deities in the hierarchy of the Greek gods. They personified the forces of nature.

Nikta- one of the first Greek deities, the goddess - the personification of the primordial Night

Orestiades- mountain nymphs.

Ory- the goddess of the seasons, tranquility and order, the daughter of Zeus and Themis.

Peyto- the goddess of persuasion, the companion of Aphrodite, often identified with her patroness.

Persephone- daughter of Demeter and Zeus, goddess of fertility. The wife of Hades and the queen of the underworld, who knew the secrets of life and death.

polyhymnia- the muse of serious hymn poetry.

Tethys- the daughter of Gaia and Uranus, the wife of the Ocean and the mother of the Nereids and Oceanids.

Rhea- the mother of the Olympian gods.

Sirens- female demons, half-woman half-birds, capable of changing the weather at sea.

Waist- muse of comedy.

Terpsichore- Muse of dance art.

Tisiphone- one of the Erinyes.

quiet- the goddess of fate and chance among the Greeks, companion of Persephone. She was depicted as a winged woman standing on a wheel and holding a cornucopia and ship's steering wheel in her hands.

Urania- one of the nine muses, the patroness of astronomy.

Themis- Titanide, goddess of justice and law, second wife of Zeus, mother of mountains and moira.

Charites- the goddess of female beauty, the embodiment of a kind, joyful and eternally young beginning of life.

Eumenides- another hypostasis of the Erinyes, revered as goddesses of benevolence, preventing misfortunes.

Eris- daughter of Nikta, sister of Ares, goddess of discord.

Erinyes- goddesses of vengeance, creatures of the underworld, who punished injustice and crimes.

Erato- Muse of lyrical and erotic poetry.

Eos- Goddess of the dawn, sister of Helios and Selena. The Greeks called it "pink-fingered".

Euterpe- the muse of lyrical chanting. Depicted with a double flute in her hand.

Gods for all occasions. In addition to the great gods, the Romans had a huge number of smaller ones, each of which patronized one particular business. There were so many of these deities that the Romans did not even know exactly who to pray to in this or that case. Therefore, a resident of Rome often began a prayer with these words: “God or goddess, by this or some other name you should be called ...” If it were necessary to write down the names of gods and goddesses, the list would make up a whole book! After all, even a child just born was patronized by several dozen gods! One gave the child life, the other taught him to see the light, the third to feel; the god Vagitan helped the child to make the first cry; there were goddesses who taught the child to suck milk, eat and drink, walk back and forth, leave the house and come back. Three gods helped to keep the child on his feet at once: Statin, Statina and Statilin!

Genius

Geniuses. And every Roman had his own special, personal god. He was called a genius and accompanied a person from the cradle to the grave, prompting everything that a person did on his own. life path. It was sometimes believed that a person has two geniuses, good and evil, the first prompts him to good deeds, and the second to bad deeds. As the Romans thought, a genius watched a person, helped him in life as best he could, and in a difficult moment it was useful to turn to him as the closest intercessor. Therefore, the Romans brought gifts to the genius on the day of their birth and celebrated with sacrifices all important events own life. After the death of a man, his genius remained on earth and stayed near the grave.

Among women, such a deity was called juno, as was the main patroness of women in heaven. If geniuses were the embodiment of masculine power, then the junos were the embodiment of femininity.

Penates and lares. There were gods in every Roman family, in every house. Good domestic gods, guarding unity and prosperity, the Romans called penates. They were sacrificed at every joyful event in the family, and the images of these gods were placed in a closed cabinet next to the hearth, where all the household members gathered.

Lar

The guardians of the dwelling were lares, good spirits who never left the house (in this they differed from penates, which could be taken with them when moving to another place). Images of lares were also kept in a special locker called a lararium. On the birthdays of family members, food and drink were placed in front of it, it was decorated with flowers. When the boy put on men's clothes for the first time, he sacrificed to the Lares a medallion that protected him from the action of evil forces, which he wore around his neck as a child. Laram was also sacrificed by a young wife when she entered her husband's house for the first time. The Romans greatly revered the Lares, who not only took care of the house, but also guarded each family member during travels and military campaigns.

Last way. What will happen to a person after the death of the Romans was not very interested. For a long time they were not afraid of death and did not think about it. When a person died, his soul fell into the world of Orc, the lord of the underworld (sometimes called Greek name Pluto). The funeral was run by the goddess Libitina, whose priests were engaged in funeral rites.

The dead were usually burned, and then the urn with the ashes was placed in the family tomb. Friends, relatives, and ancestors accompanied the body to the funeral pyre. The fact is that wax busts or masks of ancestors were kept in the house of every noble Roman. On the day of the funeral, they were taken out and carried after the deceased to the very fire. After performing the funeral rites, the duty was fulfilled, and then the dead were commemorated once a year, in Parentalia - the anniversary of death, decorating their graves and making sacrifices to the gods.

mana. The souls of people after death became manas - the spirits of their ancestors. Mans were good patrons of people, and so that they would not change their mercy to anger, they celebrated the holiday of Feralia dedicated to them three times a year. These days, a deep pit was opened on the Palatine, covered with a stone, which was called mundus and was considered the entrance to the underworld. It was believed that through it the shadows of the dead come to the ground and collect the victims left on their graves.

Roman with
busts of their
ancestors

The Romans believed that small offerings were enough for manas - shards entwined with wreaths, handfuls of grain, grains of salt, violet petals, a piece of bread dipped in wine. After all, these deities are not greedy, and honor is dear to them, and not the cost of the offering. But if the descendants forgot to honor their ancestors, the mana became angry in earnest. Somehow, in the turmoil of wars, this happened - and here the ancestors who rose from the graves moaned and cried along the streets of the city, and along all the roads, terrifying travelers, howled crowds of incorporeal shadows. And all this lasted until the sacrifices were finally made.

Lemurs. In addition to good mana, there were also evil dead - the spirits of people who committed some kind of crime during their lifetime. They were called lemurs or larvae and were depicted as skeletons. They roam the earth at night and harm people in every possible way, but they are especially dangerous in Lemuria - the nights of May 9, 11 and 13. In these ominous days, all the temples were closed, they did not start any business, they did not celebrate weddings. In each house, its owner performed ancient magical rites at midnight to protect himself and his loved ones. He had to barefoot, making a sign with his fingers to prevent meeting with a shadow, wash his hands with running water, and then throw black beans behind his back nine times, repeating: “I throw these beans to protect myself and my people from you!” After that, he hit the copper basin nine times, calling on the ghosts to go home. The performance of this rite, as the Romans believed, guarantees complete security.

Roman sacrifice

How did the Romans treat the gods? So, we met some of the Roman gods. One cannot help but be struck by how different ideas about them are from Greek myths! IN Greek myths people meet the gods, converse with them, look them in the face. The Romans thought this was impossible. No mere mortal person can or should see a deity. Therefore, when a Roman prayed, he covered his face with clothes so as not to accidentally see the god he was addressing. Only a few Romans were honored to communicate with the deity. These were those from whom the Roman people went and who created the Roman state: Aeneas, Rhea Silvia, Romulus, Numa Pompilius.

The Greeks did not have such a veneration of the gods, just as there was no word denoting it - religion. Of course, the Romans in this sense are superior to the Greeks and their gods are devoid of those vices that are characteristic of the Greek gods. At the same time, the Romans would not have been Romans, a religious, heroic people, but very practical and prudent, if everything was limited to this veneration. Of course not! They didn't have that slightly naive, half-childish admiration for the gods. Everything here was built on a sober calculation - after all, the basis of the relationship to the deity was the words “do, ut dez” - “I give so that you give”! Not out of a sense of admiration and admiration, the Romans brought their sacrifices to the gods, but seeking something from them. Moreover, they believed that any foreign god could be lured to Rome by promising him great sacrifices, and it happened that the Roman generals in front of the walls of besieged cities performed a ceremony called evocation, luring foreign gods with generous promises. So if the Greeks lacked religious reverence for the gods, then the Romans clearly lacked Greek warmth and love in these respects.

In ancient times, the Romans represented the gods in the form of some invisible forces that accompany a person throughout life and even after it.

Gods of Ancient Rome

To systematize knowledge, we will create a list and description of the gods ancient rome, which are the main ones.

During the closer relationship between Rome and Greece, the Roman gods from an inexplicable substance acquired a human image.

Rice. 1. The Roman god Jupiter.

	It is the chief of all gods. Protector of the sky and thunder. He guards the world order, is the highest deity. He is accompanied by an eagle, and uses lightning bolts as a weapon.
	Jupiter's wife and sister. She was the protector of girls, taking care of their marriages and maintaining innocence before entering into it. She certainly had a scepter in her hands, and a golden diadem covered her head.
	Father of Romulus and Remus. Mars guarded the fields, but then transformed into the god of war. The month of March is named after him. The shield and spear are his permanent weapons.
	God of sowing and harvest. taught people agriculture and life in peace and harmony. The feast of Saturnalia was held in his honor.
	God of winemaking and entertainment. In honor of him, the Romans sang songs and staged performances.
	He was a god with two heads, looking forward and backward at the same time. He was the god of any beginning or undertaking. Temples in his honor were in the form of city gates. They were opened in wartime and closed in peacetime.
Mercury	He was the messenger of the gods. He brought dreams to people and led the dead to the realm of the dead. Mercury patronized thieves and merchants. In his hands he always had a purse with money and a caduceus wand.
	Goddess of wisdom, patroness of all Roman cities. She is the protector of poets, teachers, actors and writers. Her weapons are a shield, a helmet and a spear. Near it there is certainly a snake or an owl.
	Apollo was the overseer of the execution of the will of Jupiter. He struck the disobedient with arrows or diseases, and bestowed various blessings on others. He is also the god of divination and creativity. Depicted with a bow in his hands and a quiver of arrows behind his back or in the form of a singer holding a lyre.
	This is the god of the water world. He controls the storms and sends the calm. His rage knows no bounds. His weapon is a trident.
	He is the god of the underworld and the owner of vast underground wealth.
	He was the god of blacksmithing and fire. Protected people from fire and was the patron of blacksmiths. Lived in the depths of the Sicilian volcano Etna.
	Goddess of beauty. The patroness of spouses and an unusually beautiful woman. Considered a distant ancestor of Julius Caesar
Cupid (Cupid)	A young man in charge of affairs of love. With his bow and arrows, he struck the souls of lonely people, kindling in them love for each other. It is also capable of killing love between a man and a woman.
	Responsible for agriculture and grain productivity. Depicted with a sheaf of grain ears in her hand.
Victoria	Roman goddess of victory.
	Goddess of the hearth and the flames within it. Vesta had her own servants in the temple - Vestal Virgins. They worshiped only her and kept their innocence throughout their lives.
	The patroness of the forest and its inhabitants. She is a hunter and assistant to pregnant women during childbirth. Protector of the plebeians and slaves. Her weapon is a bow, and her doe accompanies her.
	According to the beliefs of the Romans, Quirinus is Romulus, the founder of the city of Rome. After death, he was reborn, having received a divine beginning.

Introduction

Like the Bible, myths and legends of antiquity had a huge impact on the development of culture, literature and art. Even in the Renaissance, writers, artists, sculptors began to widely use the plots of the legends of the ancient Romans in their work. Therefore, myths gradually became an integral part of European culture, as, in fact, the masterpieces created based on them. “Perseus and Andromeda” by Rubens, “Landscape by Polyphemus” by Poussin, “Danaë” and “Flora” by Rembrandt, “Meeting of Apollo and Diana” by K. Bryullov, “Abduction of Europe” by V. Serov, “Poseidon rushing across the sea” by I. Aivazovsky and others

I. What did the Romans believe?

Ancient Roman religion was fundamentally different from Greek. The sober Romans, whose poor imagination did not create a folk epic like the Iliad and the Odyssey, also did not know mythology. Their gods are lifeless. These were indefinite characters, without a pedigree, without marital and family ties, which united the Greek gods into one large family. Often they did not even have real names, but only nicknames, as if nicknames that define the boundaries of their power and actions. They didn't tell any legends. This lack of legend, in which we now see a certain lack of creative imagination, was regarded by the ancients as the virtues of the Romans, who were reputed to be the most religious people. It was from the Romans that the words went and subsequently became widespread in all languages: religion - the worship of imaginary supernatural forces and cult - meaning figuratively “honor”, ​​“appease” and involving the performance of religious rites. The Greeks were struck by this religion, which did not have myths that discredit the honor and dignity of the gods. The world of the Roman gods did not know Kronos, who mutilated his father and devoured his children, did not know crimes and immorality.

The most ancient Roman religion reflected the simplicity of hardworking farmers and shepherds, wholly absorbed in the daily affairs of their modest lives. Lowering his head to the furrow plowed by his wooden plow, and to the meadows in which his cattle grazed, the ancient Roman did not feel like turning his gaze to the stars. He did not honor either the sun or the moon, or all those celestial phenomena that excited the imagination of other Indo-European peoples with their secrets. There were enough secrets from him, contained in the most everyday, everyday affairs and in the immediate environment. If one of the Romans went around ancient Italy, he would see people praying in groves, altars crowned with flowers, grottoes decorated with greenery, trees decorated with horns and animal skins, whose blood irrigated the ant growing under them, hills surrounded by special reverence , stones anointed with oil.

Some kind of deity seemed to be everywhere, and it was not for nothing that one of the Latin writers said that in this country it is easier to meet a god than a man.

According to the Roman, human life in all, even the smallest manifestations, was subject to the power and was under the care of various gods, so that a person at every step depended on some higher power. Along with such gods as Jupiter and Mars, whose power was increasing more and more, there was an innumerable number of less significant gods, spirits, guarding various actions in life and economy. Their influence concerned only certain points in the cultivation of the land, the growth of cereals, the cultivation of livestock, beekeeping and human life. The Vatican opened the baby's mouth for the first cry, Cunina was the patroness of the cradle, Rumina took care of the baby's food, Potina and Edusa taught the baby to drink and eat after weaning, Cuba watched the transfer from the cradle to bed, Ossipago made sure that the baby's bones healed correctly , Statan taught him to stand, and Fabulin taught him to speak, Iterduka and Domiduka led the child when he left the house for the first time.

All these deities were completely faceless. The Roman did not dare to claim with complete certainty that he knew the real name of the god, or that he could discern whether it was a god or a goddess. In his prayers, he also maintained the same caution and said: "Jupiter the Most Benevolent Greatest, or if you like to be called by some other name." And when he offered a sacrifice, he said: “Are you a god or a goddess, are you a man or a woman.” On the Palatine (one of the seven hills on which Ancient Rome was located) there is still an altar on which there is no name, but only an evasive formula: “To God or goddess, husband or woman”, and the gods themselves had to decide to whom the sacrifices offered on this altar belong. Such an attitude towards the deity was incomprehensible to the Greek. He knew perfectly well that Zeus was a man, and Hera was a woman, and he did not doubt it for a second.

The Roman gods did not descend to earth and did not show themselves to people as willingly as the Greek ones. They kept away from a person, and even if they wanted to warn him about something, they never appeared directly: in the depths of the forests, in the darkness of temples, or in the silence of the fields, sudden mysterious exclamations were heard, with the help of which God gave a warning signal. There has never been closeness between God and man.

Odysseus bickering with Athena, Diomedes fighting Aphrodite, all the quarrels and intrigues of the Greek heroes with Olympus were incomprehensible to the Roman. If during a sacrifice or prayer a Roman covered his head with a cloak, he probably did this not only in order to concentrate more, but also out of fear of seeing a god if he chose to be nearby.

In ancient Rome, all knowledge about the gods was essentially reduced to how they should be honored and at what moment to ask them for help. A thoroughly and accurately developed system of sacrifices and rituals constituted the entire religious life of the Romans. They imagined gods like praetors (Praetor is one of the highest officials in Ancient Rome. The praetors were in charge of judicial affairs.) and were convinced that, like the judge, they lost the case, who did not understand official formalities. Therefore, there were books in which everything was provided for and where one could find prayers for all occasions. The rules had to be strictly observed, any violation nullified the results of worship.

The Roman was always in fear that he had performed the rites not in the right way. It was enough for the slightest omission in prayer, some unprescribed movement, a sudden hitch in a religious dance, damage to a musical instrument during a sacrifice, so that the same rite was repeated anew. There were times when everyone started over thirty times, until the sacrifice was performed flawlessly. When making a prayer containing a request, the priest had to be careful not to omit any expression or pronounce it in an inappropriate place. Therefore, someone read, and the priest repeated after him word for word, the reader was given an assistant who monitored whether everything was read correctly. A special servant of the priest watched that those present kept silent, and at the same time the trumpeter blew with all his might on the trumpet so that nothing could be heard except the words of the prayer being said.

Just as carefully and carefully they made all kinds of fortune-telling, which the Romans had great importance in public and private life. Before each important matter, the will of the gods was first recognized, manifested in various signs, which the priests called augurs were able to observe and explain. Thunder and lightning, sudden sneezing, the fall of an object in a sacred place, an epileptic seizure in a public square - all such phenomena, even the most insignificant, but which happened at an unusual or important moment, acquired the meaning of a divine omen. The most favorite was divination by the flight of birds. When the senate or consuls had to take any decision, to declare war or to proclaim peace, to promulgate new laws, they first of all turned to the augurs with the question whether the time was right for this. The augur offered sacrifice and prayed, and at midnight he went to the Capitol, the most sacred hill in Rome, and, turning his face to the south, looked at the sky. Birds flew by at dawn, and according to which side they flew, what they were like and how they behaved, the augur predicted whether the planned business would succeed or fail. Thus fastidious chickens ruled a mighty republic, and military leaders in the face of the enemy had to submit to their whims.

This primitive religion was called the religion of Numa, after the second of the seven Roman kings, who was credited with establishing the most important religious provisions. She was very simple, devoid of any pomp, did not know any statues or temples. In its pure form, it did not last long. She was penetrated religious performances neighboring peoples, and now it is difficult to recreate its appearance, hidden by later layers.

Foreign gods easily took root in Rome, since the Romans had a habit, after conquering a city, to move the gods of the defeated to their capital in order to earn their favor and protect themselves from their wrath.

This is how, for example, the Romans invited the Carthaginian gods to themselves. The priest proclaimed a solemn incantation: “You are a goddess or a god who extends guardianship over the people or state of the Carthaginians, you who patronize this city, I offer prayers to you, I pay honors to you, I ask you for mercy to leave the people and the state of the Carthaginians, to leave their temples to be gone from them. Come to me in Rome. May our temples and city be more pleasant to you. Be merciful and supportive to me and the people of Rome and to our soldiers in the way we want it and understand it. If you do so, I promise that a temple will be erected to you and games will be established in your honor.

Before the Romans directly confronted the Greeks, who had such an overwhelming influence on their religious conceptions, another people, closer territorially, showed their spiritual superiority to the Romans. These were the Etruscans, a people of unknown origin, whose amazing culture has been preserved to this day in thousands of monuments and speaks to us in an incomprehensible language of inscriptions, unlike any other language in the world. They occupied the northwestern part of Italy, from the Apennines to the sea, - the country

fertile valleys and sunny hills, running down to the Tiber, the river that connected them with the Romans. Rich and powerful, the Etruscans from the heights of their fortress cities, standing on steep and inaccessible mountains, dominated vast expanses of land. Their kings dressed in purple, sat on chairs lined with ivory, and were surrounded by honorary guards armed with bunches of rods with axes stuck in them. The Etruscans had a fleet and for a very long time maintained trade relations with the Greeks in Sicily and southern Italy. From them they borrowed writing and many religious ideas, which, however, they altered in their own way.

Little can be said about the Etruscan gods. Among a large number their trinity stands out above the others: Tini, the god of thunder, like Jupiter, Uni, the goddess-queen, like Juno, and the winged goddess Menfra, corresponding to the Latin Minerva. This is, as it were, the prototype of the famous Capitoline Trinity. With superstitious piety, the Etruscans revered the souls of the dead as cruel creatures, thirsting for blood. On the graves, the Etruscans performed human sacrifices, later adopted by the Romans, gladiator fights were at first among the Etruscans part of the cult of the dead. They believed in the existence of a real hell, where Harun delivers the souls - an old man of a half-animal appearance, with wings, armed with a heavy hammer. On the painted walls of Etruscan graves, a whole string of similar demons passes: Mantus, the king of hell, also winged, with a crown on his head and a torch in his hand; Tukhulkha, a monster with an eagle's beak, donkey ears and snakes on his head instead of hair, and many others. In an ominous string they surround the unfortunate, frightened human souls.

Etruscan legends report that once, in the vicinity of the city of Tarquinia, when the peasants were plowing the land, a man came out of a wet furrow with the face and figure of a child, but with gray hair and a beard like an old man's. His name was Tages. When a crowd gathered around him, he began to preach the rules of divination and religious ceremonies. The king of those places ordered a book to be compiled from the commandments of Tages. Since then, the Etruscans believed that they knew better than other peoples how to interpret divine signs and predictions. Fortune-telling was done by special priests - haruspices. When an animal was sacrificed, they carefully examined its insides: the shape and position of the heart, liver, lungs - and, according to certain rules, predicted the future. They knew what each lightning meant, by its color they recognized which god it came from. The haruspices turned a huge and complex system of supernatural signs into a whole science, which the Romans later adopted.

Jupiter (lat. Iuppiter) - in ancient Roman mythology, the god of the sky, daylight, thunderstorms, the father of the gods, the supreme deity of the Romans. Husband of the goddess Juno. Corresponds to the Greek Zeus. The god Jupiter was revered on the hills, the tops of the mountains in the form of a stone. The days of the full moon - ides - are dedicated to him.

The temple of Jupiter stood on the Capitol, where Jupiter, along with Juno and Minerva, was one of the three main Roman deities.

Janus

Janus (lat. Ianus, from lat. ianua - "door", Greek Ian) - in Roman mythology - the two-faced god of doors, entrances, exits, various passages, as well as the beginning and end.

One of the oldest Roman Indiget gods, along with Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, occupied a prominent place in Roman ritual. Already in antiquity, various religious ideas about him and his essence were expressed. So, Cicero associated his name with the verb inire and saw in Janus the deity of entry and exit. Others believed that Janus personifies chaos (Janus = Hianus), air or the vault of heaven. Nigidius Figulus identified Janus with the sun god. Initially, Janus is a divine gatekeeper, in the hymn of the Salii he was called under the name Clusius or Clusivius (closing) and Patulcius (opening). As attributes, Janus had a key with which he unlocked and locked the gates of heaven. A staff served as a gatekeeper's weapon in order to drive away uninvited guests. Later, probably under the influence of Greek religious art, Janus was depicted as two-faced (geminus).

Juno

Juno (lat. Iuno) - the ancient Roman goddess, the wife of Jupiter, the goddess of marriage and birth, motherhood, women and female productive power. First of all, she is the patroness of marriages, the guardian of the family and family decrees. The Romans were the first to introduce monogamy (monogamy). Juno, as the patroness of monogamy, is among the Romans, as it were, the personification of a protest against polygamy.

Minerva

Minerva (lat. Minerva), corresponding to the Greek Athena Pallas - Italian goddess of wisdom. The Etruscans especially revered her as the lightning goddess of mountains and useful discoveries and inventions. And in Rome ancient times Minerva was considered the goddess of lightning and warlike, as indicated by the gladiatorial games during the main festival in honor of her Quinquatrus.

Diana

Diana - goddess of flora and fauna, femininity and fertility, obstetrician, personification of the Moon; corresponds to the Greek Artemis and Selene.

Later, Diana also began to be identified with Hekate. Diana was also called Trivia - the goddess of three roads (her images were placed at crossroads), this name was interpreted as a sign of triple power: in heaven, on earth and underground. Diana was also identified with the Carthaginian heavenly goddess Celeste. In the Roman provinces, under the name of Diana, local spirits - "mistresses of the forest" were revered.

Venus

Venus - in Roman mythology, originally the goddess of flowering gardens, spring, fertility, growth and flowering of all the fruitful forces of nature. Then Venus began to be identified with the Greek Aphrodite, and since Aphrodite was the mother of Aeneas, whose descendants founded Rome, Venus was considered not only the goddess of love and beauty, but also the progenitor of the descendants of Aeneas and the patroness of the Roman people. The symbols of the goddess were a dove and a hare (as a sign of fertility), from plants poppy, rose and myrtle were dedicated to her.

Flora

Flora - an ancient Italian goddess, whose cult was widespread among the Sabines and especially in Central Italy. She was the goddess of flowers, blossoming, spring and field fruits; in honor of her, the Sabines named the month corresponding to April or May (mese Flusare = mensis Floralis).

Ceres

Ceres (lat. Cerēs, genus n. Cereris) - the ancient Roman goddess, the second daughter of Saturn and Rhea (in Greek mythology, she corresponds to Demeter). She was portrayed as a beautiful matron with fruits in her hands, for she was considered the patroness of the harvest and fertility (often together with Annona, the patroness of the harvest). The only daughter of Ceres is Proserpina, born from Jupiter.

Bacchus

Bacchus - in ancient Roman mythology, the youngest of the Olympians, the god of winemaking, the productive forces of nature, inspiration and religious ecstasy. Mentioned in the Odyssey. In Greek mythology, Dionysus corresponds to him.

Vertumn

Vertumn (lat. Vertumnus, from lat. vertere, turn) - the ancient Italian god of the seasons and their various gifts, so he was depicted in different types, mainly in the form of a gardener with a garden knife and fruits. Every year sacrifices were made to him on August 13 (vertumnalia). Later Roman mythology made him an Etruscan god; but, as the etymology of this name shows, Vertumnus was a real Latin and at the same time common Italic god, akin to Ceres and Pomona, goddesses of cereal plants and fruits.