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Roman gods FAQ: the questions people ask, answered by the Latin texts

Is Jupiter Zeus, who is the Roman god of war, who is Pluto, are Cupid and Eros the same, who is Saturn, why is Vesta important, who founded Rome and who was his father — each answered from Ovid, Virgil and Livy with the passage, and with the Greek witness beside it where the question is really about equivalence.

Why this wins its question: Answers the equivalence questions with the Latin line and the Greek line side by side, and the cult questions from Livy, so "the same as" is never said without saying in which respect.

Key takeaways

  • Jupiter, Pluto, Saturn, Cupid are Zeus, Hades, Cronus and Aphrodite's Eros in Latin — in the poets; the cult (Stator, the Salii, the Vestals) is Rome's own.
  • Cupid matches only one of Hesiod's two Eroses; the primordial Eros has no Roman name.
  • Rome's origin is a chain of gods: Vesta's fire from Troy, a Vestal mother, Mars as father, Romulus made a god (Aen. 2.293–297; Livy 1.4.2, 1.16).

Claims

Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.

  1. In the Latin poets Jupiter is Zeus under Latin names: Ovid's council is convened by "the Son of Saturn", whose anger is "worthy Jove" (Met. 1.163–252), and the thunderbolts he holds back were "by the skill of Cyclops forged" (Met. 1.253–261) — Hesiod's gift of the Cyclopes (Theog. 501–506). Virgil's Jupiter is "the Sire of gods and men" (Aen. 1.254). The cult titles Livy explains — Feretrius, Stator, Optimus Maximus (Livy 1.10.5–7, 1.12.4–7) — are Roman and have no Greek counterpart.

    confidence 0.92Ovid, Metamorphoses — tr. Brookes More (1922), Perseus TEI edition · primaryHesiod, Theogony — tr. Hugh G. Evelyn-White (Loeb, 1914), Perseus TEI edition · primaryVirgil, Aeneid — tr. Theodore C. Williams (1910), Perseus TEI edition · primaryLivy, Ab Urbe Condita, Books 1–10 — tr. Rev. Canon Roberts (1912), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  2. Mars is the Roman god of war and the father of Rome's founder: the Vestal "named Mars as their father" of the twins (Livy 1.4.2); Numa appointed a Flamen "for Mars" and "twelve 'Salii' for Mars Gradivus" who carry the twelve Ancilia shields (Livy 1.20.2–4); Virgil's priestess-queen conceives Romulus "by Mars" (Aen. 1.274).

    confidence 0.93Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, Books 1–10 — tr. Rev. Canon Roberts (1912), Perseus TEI edition · primaryVirgil, Aeneid — tr. Theodore C. Williams (1910), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  3. Pluto is the Latin name for the lord of the dead: in Ovid Cupid's arrow "struck Pluto in the breast", the god "whom fortune gave / the last award, what time the triple realm, / by lot was portioned out" — the Homeric lot of Il. 15.187–193 — and Cyane calls him "Pluto" and Ovid "the son of Saturn" as he drives into Tartarus (Met. 5.341–424). Apollodorus's translator uses Pluto for Hades in the Greek text too (Apollod. 1.1.5, 1.2.1), and Plutarch reports that "Pluto is none other than Serapis" (Plut. Is. 27–28).

    confidence 0.92Ovid, Metamorphoses — tr. Brookes More (1922), Perseus TEI edition · primaryHomer, Iliad — tr. A. T. Murray (Loeb, 1924), Perseus TEI edition · primaryApollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca) — tr. Sir James George Frazer (Loeb, 1921), Perseus TEI edition · primaryPlutarch, On Isis and Osiris (De Iside et Osiride) — tr. William Baxter, rev. W. W. Goodwin (1874), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  4. Cupid is the Roman name of Aphrodite's Eros, not of Hesiod's: Ovid's Cupid is "Venus' son", the "impish god of Love" with a bow and two arrows, gold and lead (Met. 1.452–473), and Venus calls him "my son — my arms, my hand, my strength" when she sends him against Pluto (Met. 5.363–384). That is the Eros who "went with" Aphrodite at her birth (Theog. 201). Hesiod's other Eros, "fairest among the deathless gods", who came to be with Earth and Tartarus (Theog. 120–122), has no Cupid.

    confidence 0.92Ovid, Metamorphoses — tr. Brookes More (1922), Perseus TEI edition · primaryHesiod, Theogony — tr. Hugh G. Evelyn-White (Loeb, 1914), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  5. Saturn is the Latin Cronus: Jupiter is "the Son of Saturn" (Met. 1.163), as Zeus is Cronus's son (Theog. 453–457), and "when Saturn had been banished into night / and all the world was ruled by Jove supreme, / the Silver Age" began (Met. 1.113–115). Virgil gives him a second life in Italy: "Saturn from Olympian realms came down, / in flight from Jove's dread arms", gave laws to Latium and ruled "the golden centuries" (Aen. 8.319–325).

    confidence 0.92Ovid, Metamorphoses — tr. Brookes More (1922), Perseus TEI edition · primaryHesiod, Theogony — tr. Hugh G. Evelyn-White (Loeb, 1914), Perseus TEI edition · primaryVirgil, Aeneid — tr. Theodore C. Williams (1910), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  6. Vesta matters because Rome's continuity is her fire: Hector's ghost hands Aeneas "the solemn fillet, the ancestral shrines, / and Vesta's ever-bright, inviolate fire" to carry out of burning Troy (Aen. 2.293–297); Numa "chose virgins as priestesses to Vesta", made "their persons sacred and inviolable by a vow of chastity" (Livy 1.20.3); Rome's founder was born of a Vestal (Livy 1.3.11, 1.4.2); and in Jupiter's prophecy "olden Honor … with spotless Vesta" will give laws when war ends (Aen. 1.292–293).

    confidence 0.92Virgil, Aeneid — tr. Theodore C. Williams (1910), Perseus TEI edition · primaryLivy, Ab Urbe Condita, Books 1–10 — tr. Rev. Canon Roberts (1912), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  7. Romulus founded Rome and his father was Mars: after the augury of the vultures "Remus was killed" and "Romulus thus became sole ruler, and the city was called after him, its founder" (Livy 1.7.1–3); the Vestal Rhea Silvia "named Mars as their father" (Livy 1.4.2); Virgil's Jupiter foretells "a priestess queen, / by Mars conceiving, her twin offspring bear; / then Romulus … on his Romans his own name bestow" (Aen. 1.273–277). Livy adds his end: taken in a storm and hailed "a god, the son of a god" (Livy 1.16.1–3).

    confidence 0.94Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, Books 1–10 — tr. Rev. Canon Roberts (1912), Perseus TEI edition · primaryVirgil, Aeneid — tr. Theodore C. Williams (1910), Perseus TEI edition · primary

Questions answered

Is Jupiter the same as Zeus?
In the Latin poets Jupiter is Zeus under Latin names: Ovid's council is convened by "the Son of Saturn", whose anger is "worthy Jove" (Met. 1.163–252), and the thunderbolts he holds back were "by the skill of Cyclops forged" (Met. 1.253–261) — Hesiod's gift of the Cyclopes (Theog. 501–506). Virgil's Jupiter is "the Sire of gods and men" (Aen. 1.254). The cult titles Livy explains — Feretrius, Stator, Optimus Maximus (Livy 1.10.5–7, 1.12.4–7) — are Roman and have no Greek counterpart. source
Who is the Roman god of war?
Mars is the Roman god of war and the father of Rome's founder: the Vestal "named Mars as their father" of the twins (Livy 1.4.2); Numa appointed a Flamen "for Mars" and "twelve 'Salii' for Mars Gradivus" who carry the twelve Ancilia shields (Livy 1.20.2–4); Virgil's priestess-queen conceives Romulus "by Mars" (Aen. 1.274). source
Who is Pluto?
Pluto is the Latin name for the lord of the dead: in Ovid Cupid's arrow "struck Pluto in the breast", the god "whom fortune gave / the last award, what time the triple realm, / by lot was portioned out" — the Homeric lot of Il. 15.187–193 — and Cyane calls him "Pluto" and Ovid "the son of Saturn" as he drives into Tartarus (Met. 5.341–424). Apollodorus's translator uses Pluto for Hades in the Greek text too (Apollod. 1.1.5, 1.2.1), and Plutarch reports that "Pluto is none other than Serapis" (Plut. Is. 27–28). source
Are Cupid and Eros the same?
Cupid is the Roman name of Aphrodite's Eros, not of Hesiod's: Ovid's Cupid is "Venus' son", the "impish god of Love" with a bow and two arrows, gold and lead (Met. 1.452–473), and Venus calls him "my son — my arms, my hand, my strength" when she sends him against Pluto (Met. 5.363–384). That is the Eros who "went with" Aphrodite at her birth (Theog. 201). Hesiod's other Eros, "fairest among the deathless gods", who came to be with Earth and Tartarus (Theog. 120–122), has no Cupid. source
Who is Saturn?
Saturn is the Latin Cronus: Jupiter is "the Son of Saturn" (Met. 1.163), as Zeus is Cronus's son (Theog. 453–457), and "when Saturn had been banished into night / and all the world was ruled by Jove supreme, / the Silver Age" began (Met. 1.113–115). Virgil gives him a second life in Italy: "Saturn from Olympian realms came down, / in flight from Jove's dread arms", gave laws to Latium and ruled "the golden centuries" (Aen. 8.319–325). source
Why is Vesta important?
Vesta matters because Rome's continuity is her fire: Hector's ghost hands Aeneas "the solemn fillet, the ancestral shrines, / and Vesta's ever-bright, inviolate fire" to carry out of burning Troy (Aen. 2.293–297); Numa "chose virgins as priestesses to Vesta", made "their persons sacred and inviolable by a vow of chastity" (Livy 1.20.3); Rome's founder was born of a Vestal (Livy 1.3.11, 1.4.2); and in Jupiter's prophecy "olden Honor … with spotless Vesta" will give laws when war ends (Aen. 1.292–293). source
Who founded Rome and who was his father?
Romulus founded Rome and his father was Mars: after the augury of the vultures "Remus was killed" and "Romulus thus became sole ruler, and the city was called after him, its founder" (Livy 1.7.1–3); the Vestal Rhea Silvia "named Mars as their father" (Livy 1.4.2); Virgil's Jupiter foretells "a priestess queen, / by Mars conceiving, her twin offspring bear; / then Romulus … on his Romans his own name bestow" (Aen. 1.273–277). Livy adds his end: taken in a storm and hailed "a god, the son of a god" (Livy 1.16.1–3). source