Religion

It is important to remember that although today we refer to the religion of the Romans as mythology, it was very real to them. A mythology is simply a religion which is not followed any longer. Keeping this in mind, we will be looking at various mythological aspects which were, indeed, believed in ancient times.

First and foremost, we will examine some of the deities mentioned with Vergil's work. Certainly the goddess creating the most trouble for Aeneas is **Juno**. Juno is an angry goddess when crossed, full of jealousy and rage. Here is an example of her wrath in another context. This link is from Ovid's Metamorphoses. This is the English version, make sure to click on line 587 to get the beginning of the story. If you wish, this page also contains a link at the top for the entirety of book one in Latin. [|Juno and Io]

Another goddess, Aeneas' mother, **Venus**, must be researched. To get more of an idea of what Venus was like in other situations see this link which discusses Venus' behavior with [|Mars.] Be sure to start at line 167 for the beginning of the myth.


 * Jupiter** is mentioned within this text. To get a gist of his typical behavior, click [|here.] The story begins on line 177.


 * Mercury** is another god who plays a major role in the Aeneid. Here is a story from Ovid about this messenger [|god.] Line 708 begins this myth.

Many other deities and mythological figures are mentioned throughout the Aeneid. If you feel like you need further explanation about characters not mentioned above or more clarification about the deities mentioned on this wiki, see this [|site.]

Juno and Jupiter are shown below:

Venus is often shown like the following:

Finally, here is our messenger, Mercury, with his winged hat and sandals:

Here is a family tree of the Roman gods and goddesses: