Artemis was a virgin goddess associated with purity and was considered the Greek goddess of the hunt and wilderness and the patroness of wild animals and nature. Despite her chaste nature, she is also associated with childbirth and the care of children, as well as disease and healing. Artemis was sometimes considered the personification of... Continue Reading →

Between the 1st century BCE and the 4th century CE, the cult of Mithra thrived around the Roman Empire. Some sources suggest that it could have been a rival religion to Christianity until it was stamped out through Christian persecution. The Persian God Mithra Persian depiction of Mithra from the 4th century BCE Mithraism centered... Continue Reading →

Jupiter, a sky god and lightning bearer, was the principal god of the Roman state for almost a millennium from the time of the legendary Roman kings, throughout the Republic, and until the Empire converted to Christianity. He was also considered a caring deity, as Cicero called him a “helping father,” and his alternative name,... Continue Reading →

Minerva was one of Rome’s most important gods, considered a goddess of war, wisdom, and the arts. While she is often described as the equivalent of Athena, and she certainly has many parallels with her sister Greek goddess, Minerva was a unique goddess in many ways. She was also arguably more important in Rome than... Continue Reading →

The Roman goddess Juno is considered the equivalent of the Greek goddess Hera, with many Roman deities borrowing Greek mythology. But Juno was much more in Rome than Hera was in Greece. Juno Regina, alongside Jupiter Optimus Maximus and Minerva, was part of the Capitoline Triad. These were some of the most important deities in... Continue Reading →

Hera was the queen of the gods in the Greek pantheon. The wife of Zeus, she was the queen of the 12 Olympians. She was widely worshipped by the ancient Greeks, even if she is less well-known today than Aphrodite and Athena. She was known as Juno among the Romans. Hera Basilis - Queen of... Continue Reading →

Athena may be the most well-known of the Greek goddesses, associated with war, wisdom, and many crafts. Closely related to the Roman goddess Minerva, her many epithets reveal aspects of the goddess. Likely, Athena was originally an Aegean goddess linked to the palace who presided over household crafts and protected the king. She is mentioned... Continue Reading →

Zeus was the sky god in Greek mythology who carried the mighty lightning bolt. He was also the father of most of the gods, making him a mighty progenitor and leader, giving him authority over areas such as fate and justice. His central role in Greek religion as the leading Olympian god is clear from... Continue Reading →

According to the Greek creation story as told in Hesiod’s Theogony, in the beginning, there was a great emptiness called Chaos. From Chaos, Gaia, a goddess and the earth itself, emerged, as did Tartarus. The goddess Nyx, night and darkness, may also have emerged at this time, representing what remained of Chaos. A similarly complex... Continue Reading →

The ideas of night, sleep, and dreams were intimately connected in ancient Greek mythology. Night represented the chaos of nothingness, and sleep and dreams existed within the night, making them dangerous and powerful ideas. Dreams were believed to be divinely sent and were used in ancient Greek medicine to diagnose and treat illness. Nyx –... Continue Reading →