| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| God name "Inuus" | Roman | An ancient protector of livestock, one of the di indigetes, indigenous gods. He was probably a god of fertility or sexual intercourse, as his name was thought by some to be connected with the word inire, "to copulate". He was also sometimes identified with the Roman god Faunus. Roman |
| Planet name "Jupiter" | Roman | Jupiter is, properly speaking, a derivation of Jove and pater (Latin for father) The name of the god was also adopted as the name of the planet Jupiter, and was the original namesake of the weekday that would come to be known in English as Thursday (the etymological root can be seen in French jeudi, from Jovis Dies). The Indo-European deity who also evolved into the Germanic Tiwaz (after whom Tuesday was named), the Greek Zeus, and Dyaus Pita of the Vedic religion. Jove is a vocative form of the name, evolved from Dyeus. Roman |
| Deities name "Lares" | Roman | Hearth deities. The lares are a peculiarly Roman innovation. Two children, born of a liaison between the god Mercury and a mute naiad, Lara, whose tongue had been cut out by Jupiter, became widely revered by Romans as house guardians. Iconographically they are depicted in the guise of monkeys covered with dog skins with a barking dog at their feet.See also LARUNDA, MERCURIUS.... |
| Goddess name "Larunda" | Sabine | Chthonic goddess. An early Italic earth mother who, in Roman times, according to some traditions, became the mother of the LARES. Also Lara (Roman).... |
"Lua" | Roman | Also called Lua mater or Lua Saturni, one of the early Italian divinities, whose worship was forgotten in later times. Roman |
| Goddess name "Luna" | Roman | moon goddess. She derives from the Greek model of SELENE, but is also comparable with HEKATE. She enjoyed a major temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome.... |
| God name "MITHRA (friend)" | Persian / Iran | God of the upper air. Originating in India, Mithra is a god of light who was translated into the attendant of the god AHURA MAZDA in the light religion of Persia; from this he was adopted as the Roman deity Mithras. He is not generally regarded as a sky god but a personification of the fertilizing power of warm, light air. According to the Avesta, he possesses 10,000 eyes and ears and rides in a chariot drawn by white horses. In dualistic Zoroastrianism, which effectively demoted him, Mithra is concerned with the endless battle between light and dark forces; he represents truth. He is responsible for the keeping of oaths and contracts. He was born from a rock and, according to legend, engaged in a primeval struggle with Ahura Mazda's first creation, a wild bull, which he subdued and confined to a cave. The bull escaped, but was recaptured by Mithra, who slit its throat. From the blood sprang plant life on earth. His chief adversary is AHRIMAN, the power of darkness. Mithra is not generally worshiped on his own, but as an integral part of the Mithraic worship of Ahura Mazda, where he acts as an intercessor between gods and men. In the Hellenic period he was transformed more closely to the role of a Sun god. See also AHURA MAZDA.... |
| God name "Mabon (son)" | Celtic / Welsh | God of youth. The son of an earthly mother, MODRON. According to legend he was abducted when three days old. Also a god of hunters and fishermen. He is known particularly from northwestern Britain and his cult extends along the region of Hadrian's Wall. Known from many Romano-Celtic inscriptions and syncretized with the Romano-Greek god APOLLO.... |
| Goddess name "Maia" | Greco - Roman | Chthonic or earth goddess. Originally, in pre-Homeric times, a mountain spirit who subsequently became a minor consort of ZEUS. The Romans worshiped her as an obscure goddess of the plains who became briefly a consort of JUPITER, and they perceived her as the mother of the messenger god Mercury. Her cult was åśśociated with that of VulcanUS. Possibly the origin of the name of the month of May.See also MERCURIUS.... |
| Goddess name "Mandulis [Greek]" | Nubian | Sun god. Mandulis was chiefly revered in a Greco-Roman cult. His most important sanctuary was at Kalabsha, close to the Aswan High Dam, and now relocated. A sanctuary was also constructed on the Greek island of Philae where he seems to have enjoyed an åśśociation with the goddess ISIS. Also Merwel (Egyptian).... |
| Spirit name "Manes" | Greek | I.e. "the good ones" [mana], is the general name by which the Romans designated the souls of the departed but as it is a natural tendency to consider the souls of departed friends as blessed spirits, the name of Lares is frequently used as synonymous with Manes, and hence also they are called dii Manes, and were worshipped with Divine honours. Greek |
| God name "Men" | Phrygian / Turkey | moon god. Ruler of both upper and lower worlds. Probably also a god of healing, he was subsequently adopted by the Greeks and Romans. The cult was popular during the imperial period, but its inscriptions were written in Greek.... |
| God name "Men Ascaenus" | Antioch - near - Pisidia | Local tutelary god. Possibly originating as a Persian moon god and known chiefly from a description by Strabo. He enjoyed a substantial cult including a temple some 1,200 meters above sea level. His symbol is the head of a bull above a crescent moon and wreath; it appears on local coinage circa AD 200. The popularity of the cult earned antagonism from the Roman occupation.See also MEN.... |
| God name "Midir" | Celtic / Irish | Chthonic god. Appears in polymorphic form. According to legend the consort of Etain and ruler of the land of Mag Mor. He lost an eye when hit by a hazel wand; the eye was replaced by DIANCECHT, the physician god. In Roman times he became more of an underworld deity. Also Mider.... |
| God name "Mitra (friend)" | Hindu / Vedic / Puranic | Minor Sun god. An Aditya, one of six descendants of ADITI, he was originally åśśociated with VARUNA (Vedic), ruling the day while Varuna ruled the night. It is from this model that first MITHRA (Persian) and then MITHRAS (Roman) were derived. He is also the god of intimate friendship. Attributes: two lotuses, trident and a sacrificial drink or soma.... |
| God name "Moccus" | Roman / Celtic / European | Local swine god. Assimilated with Mercury.See also MERCURIUS.... |
| Spirit name "Naiades" | Greco - Roman | Animistic water spirits. Female personalities åśśigned the guardianship of fresh waters by the great gods, and invoked locally at sacred pools and springs. They were also regarded as minor patrons of music and poetry.... |
"Necessitas" | Roman | The personification of destiny, unalterable necessity and fate. She was also the mother of the Moirae. Roman |
Table of Gods
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