Ancient Roman Mythology

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Ancient Roman Mythology

• By Kristyn, Misha, and Selina

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How did the Gods come to be?

• In the begining there was a deep nothingness
  known as Chaos. The out of this dark, empty
  space, two powerful beings slowly emerged
• Gaia (motherly goddes of earth)
• Tartarus (Ruler of the underground)
• Eros (god of love) emerged next and created a
  hunsband for Gaia Uranus
• Gaia and Uranus had many children
• 12 3 Cyclopes, 3 monsters

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How did the Gods come to be?

• Uranus hated the sight of his children
• Cronus one of the 12 titans overthrew him and
  beame the new ruler of the earth and sky
• Cronus married Rhea
• He had been told that of of his children would
  kill him so he decided to kill all of his
  children at birth
• Rhea asked her mother Gaia for help
• Gaia took Rhea and to the island of crete where
  the baby was born

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• Rhea gave Cronus a bundle of rocks which he ate
  convinced it was his last child, Jupiter.

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How did the Gods come to be?

• Jupiter learned of his father and when old enough
  decided to take revenge
• Jupiter posioned him
• Cronus began to choke then clutched his stomach
  and roared
• He vomited up first a massive stone, then the
  rest of his children
• Poseidon, Pluto, Juno, Vesta, and ceres (the new
  gods with zeus as their leader)
• Jupiter created a kingdom on top of Mount
  Olympus. The olympians also included gods
  Apollo, Mars, Mercury, Minerva, Diana and Venus

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The Gods of Rome

• Jupiter
• Master of the gods
• God of the sky (thunder and lightning)
• Symbols Thunderbolt, Eagle, Oak

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The Gods of Rome

• Juno
• Queen of the Gods
• Goddess of women and childbirth
• Symbols Pomegrante, Peacock

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The Gods of Rome

• Mars
• God of war
• Agricultural guardian
• Second in command to Zeus
• Symbol

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The Gods of Rome

• Venus
• Goddess of love and beauty
• Mother of Cupid
• Symbol

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The First Humans

• Zeus tried to make humans 4 times
• The Golden Age Did absolutely nothing,
  eventually died but spirits live on
• The Silver age Men more like animals --gt
  destroyed by Jupiter
• The Bronze age Smart but loved fighting. Killed
  each other off

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The First Humans

• The Heroic Age SUCESSFUL!
• Jupiter refused to humans them fire in fear they
  would become too powerful
• Prometheus worked on the side of the humans
  Fire, Animal Sacrifice
• He was punished for these deeds with endless
  tourcher
• Humans punished with the creation of The Women
  (Pandora)

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Pandoras Box

• Jupiter gave pandora a golden box and told her
  never to open it since she has given everything
  that she could possibly need
• Epimetheus was Pandoras husband and was given
  the key to the box
• One night Pandora stole the key and opend the box
• Out of it came all the things that make people
  suffer
• Sickness, hatred, greed, poverty, jealousy, and
  distrust
• Pandora did not let hope out, making life
  bearable for humans

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The Ultimate Holiday- New Years!

• The month of March, named after the Roman God of
  War, Mars, was filled with festivals,
  celebrations fasts, and even bloodletting!
• One of the biggest festivals was THE FESTIVAL OF
  ANNA PERNNA to celebrate the news years!
• The festival occurs on the Ides of March.
• The identity of Anna Pernna is unknown, however
  many speculate that she is a personification of
  the new year.
• The festival includes drunk-ness and sexual and
  verbal freedoms typical of carnivalesque holidays
  like Lupercalia.
• An example is the inversion of gender role
• The Romans even needed a holiday just to rest
  from all the activities in march!

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The Mundus is Opened October 5

• One of three times a year when the Mundus (gate
  to the underwolrd is opened)
• The dead may communicate with the living
• No public business could be preformed,
• No battle fought
• No ships set sail
• No marraiges

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Rituals

• Roman rituals and festivals are often longer than
  a single day and could last up to a week.
• Through out the year Romans dedicated days to
  honor each god.During festivals slaves were
  excused from laws and restrictions

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Rituals - Lupercalia (February 15)

• Lupericalia has roots to pre-Roman traditions
• In Rome the ritual was used to purify the people
  from curses, bad luck, and infertility
• The fesival begins with the sacrifice of goats
  and dogs by two chosen young men.
• After the sacrifice, the men wipe the blood on
  their forehead(to symbolize human sacrifice) then
  wipe themselves clean with wool dipped in milk.
• The young men dressed themself in the skin of the
  sacrificed goat and proceeded to run around the
  city walls striking woman with the thong wolf
  skin
• A strike was said to prevent infertility in women

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The objective was to secure the fruitfulnes of
the land, the increase of the flock and the
prosperity of the whole people
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Saturnalia

• December 17
• Like the Christian Christmas it was a serious day
  in that it honored saturn
• However also like Christmas, it was filled with
  celebration that lasted for a week!

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Fire

• Every Roman house had a sacred fire.
• It was believed that the lit fire protected the
  family and if the fire went out, terrible things
  could happen to them.
• Fire had to stay pure no bad thing could be done
  in the presence of the sacred fire.
• Believed it to have the power to bring them good
  health as well as protection.
• In return, the Romans made offerings of flowers,
  wine, victims, and fruit.

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Birth (dies lustricus ? day of purification)

• Naming of baby is far more important than birth
  of baby.
• Babies were given 3 names
• Praenomen First/Personal name
• Nomen Clan of Childs family
• Cognomen Family Branch
• Ex Marcus Tullius Cicero

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Birth

• Bulla locket that contained charms to ward off
  the power of evil.
• Gold ? Wealthy, Leather ? Poor
• Boys only to remove bulla after receiving a
  toga.
• Toga signifies Roman citizenship
• Girls only to remove on wedding day.

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Marriage

• Confarratio oldest and most sacred form of
  marriage
• Divorce was only an option for men incase of
  infertility or adultery.
• Man is master of woman
• Occurred in June-July
• Sacrifices for gods and wedding feasts
• Similar to any other festival of ancient roman
  religion.

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Death

• Once a member of a family died, they became one
  of the family deities.
• The family made many offerings to them and asked
  them for protection.
• Ancient Roman Law  if you stepped on a tomb of
  someone who wasn't in your family you must repent
  or the dead would haunt you. 
• A funeral was a requirement, or the spirits
  ignored and punished families by causing pain and
  diseases until the funeral was established

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What happens when one dies?

• The soul begins the journey to the rivers styx.
• There the dead would be met by Charon the
  ferrymen.
• When someone died a coin would be placed in their
  mouth which would then be given to Charon.
• After crossing the river, the dead passed
  Cerberus, a three headed dog owned by the god of
  the underworld,
• The dog was believed to be a judge of character
• He would become ferocious to people who had
  committed wrong doings in their lifetime.

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What happens when one dies?

• The next stage was judgment
• There were three judges of life
• Usually, one would be given water from the River
  Lethe which the Romans believed made a person
  forget their past life.
• Souls were then sent to different places based on
  their good or bad deeds.
• Elysian Fields. This was a place for warriors and
  heros.
• It was generally believed that good Emperors also
  met their final resting place here.

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Resting Places Continued

• The Plain of Asphodel
• Good people lived as Shades.
• Tartarus was reserved for the evil.
• Punished until one had repaid their debt to
  society.
• The Romans did not adhere to the idea of a Hell
  but this believe correlates with the dogma of
  Purgatory as adhered to by the Roman Catholic
  Church.
• Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld Acted as
  a reprieve .
• She would bribe for a specific soul to be sent
  back across the Styx to life again
• Reincarnation?

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Rituals Parentalia

• February 13-21 Romans remember their dead
• On the 21 of February Romans visited cemeteries,
  placed flowers, milk, and wine on graves
• On the 22 of February Family Reunions where
  offerings were made to household deities

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Mithraism

• Mithras was a Persian God from the Zoroastrian
  pantheon
• Zoroastrianism is a Persian religion based on the
  balance of good and evil
• Mithras was a helper and assistant to the power
  of good against the power of evil
• Mithras was born from a rock
• His main service in the fight against evil was
  the slay of a bull created by the evil lord.
• He killed the bull in a cave, and from its blood
  sprang all life

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Mithras in Rome

• Mithraism came to Rome in the first century BCE
  and gained a following from
• soldiers, public servants and merchants.
• It peaked in the third century before being
  supressed along with every other non-christian
  religion.
• Little is known about Mithraism and it is
  considered a Mystery religion in which the
  meaning of its iconography and rituals was a
  secrete known only to initates

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Mithraism - What we know

• Member had to go through a seven step initiation
• Ceremonies and rituals were held in caves similar
  to the one where Mithras was described killing
  the bull
• Mithraism is known almost entirely from physical
  artifacts and dedicatory inscriptions.
• It is also mentioned in works by Pultarch,
  Porphyry and Origen
• This religion shows that the Romans interacted
  and shared with other cultures!

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Cave Typically Used for Ceremonies
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Mithras Slitting the Cow
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Multiple Choice- Question 1

• All of the following were names of Jupiters
  attempt to make humans EXCEPT
• The Bronze Age
• The Golden Age
• The Glorious Age
• The Heroic Age

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Multiple Choice- Question 2

• What remained in Pandoras Box
• Evil
• Hope
• Success
• Failure

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Multiple Choice- Question 3

• The Festival if Anna Pernna was held on
• The Ides of December
• The Ides of February
• The Ides of March
• The Ides of June

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Multiple Choice- Question 4

• According to the Romans the soul begins its
  journey to what river after death?
• Styx
• Mars
• Charon
• Stones

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Multiple Choice- Question 5

• In the Lupercalia ritual, what two animals are
  sacrificed?
• Goat and Pig
• Wolf and Dog
• Bird and Cat
• Goat and Dog

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Works Cited

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   Web. 18 Sep 2011.
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3. O'Connell, Amanda. "Paganism Past Present."
   Ancient Roman Religion. Oracle, Somerset College,
   1999. Web. 18 Sep. 2011.
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   Bytes. Bizarre Bytes, 18/10/2010. Web. 18 Sep
   2011.
5. Stewart. Roman Mythology. New York Peter
   Bedrick, 1969. Print.
6. Bingham, Jane. Classical Myth a Treasury of
   Greek and Roman Legends, Art, and History.
   Armonk, NY M.E. Sharpe, 2008. Print.
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   (Mensis October)." Major Holidays of Rome
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