Download Where do the month names come from?

Roman Gods
Jupiter - King of the Gods
Juno - Queen of the Gods
Neptune - God of the Sea
Pluto - God of Death
Apollo - God of the Sun
Diana - Goddess of the Moon
Mars - God of War
Venus - Goddess of Love
Cupid - God of Love
Mercury - Messenger of the Gods
Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom
Ceres - The Earth Goddess
Proserpine - Goddess of the Underworld
Vulcan - The Smith God
Bacchus - God of Wine
Saturn - God of Time
Vesta - Goddess of the Home
Janus - God of Doors
Uranus and Gaia - Parents of Saturn
Maia - Goddess of Growth
Flora - Goddess of Flowers
Plutus - God of Wealth
Monsters
Cerberus - Dog of the Underworld
Gorgon - Turns you to stone
Greek and Roman Mythology has a very complex history. The Greeks developed a
Pantheon of twelve major Gods, who lived in Olympus (which I have translated as
Heaven). These were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares,
Athene, Hermes, Hephaestus and Hestia. Dionysus later took the place of Hestia.
Uranus and Cronos were the previous generations of gods. The gods sometimes
changed their functions. Originally there were different gods of the Sun and Moon,
Helios and Selene, before Apollo and Artemis took them over.
The Romans had their own gods. Although they conquered Greece, they admired
Greek culture, and they identified the Greek gods with their own gods. The Olympic
Twelve became Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo (the only one to stay unchanged),
Diana, Venus, Mars, Minerva, Mercury, Vulcan and Vesta, with Bacchus as the late
one. They played the same game with the Egyptian gods, and with the Northern Gods
(see my page about the Days of the week). Educated Romans spoke and read Greek,
and often rewrote the stories about Greek gods using their own Roman gods' names.
(In fact, I've done the same with these web pages.) So the two groups of gods gradually
merged into one group. Still, you can sometimes see the difference between the Greek
and Roman gods. Juno, for example, is goddess of the family, a stately Roman matron.
Hera, her Greek equivalent, is bad-tempered and her only interest in the family is to
seek revenge on all the single mother families created by Zeus! Some relationships get
confused as well. Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite, but Vulcan (the Roman
equivalent) was married to Maia. When this happens, I don't give the relationship at all.
Some gods are purely Roman, such as Janus and Flora.
The Solar system
The Romans knew of seven bright objects in the sky, the Sun, the Moon and five
planets. They named them after their most important gods. If you click on the Sun,
Moon or planet name, you will go to an outside website so you can find out more
information about the Solar System. If you want to return here, click on the Back button
above. Click on the god's name will take you to my description of the god.
Name
Description
God
Sun
The Sun is the brightest object in
the sky.
Apollo - God of Enlightenment
Moon
The Moon is the next brightest
object.
Diana - Goddess of Hunting, sister of
Apollo
Mercury
Fastest planet
Mercury - Messenger of the Gods
Venus
brightest planet
Venus - Goddess of Love
Mars
the red planet
Mars - God of War
Jupiter
largest planet
Jupiter - King of the Gods
Saturn
slowest planet
Saturn - God of Time
If you compare the gods in the Roman Solar System with the days of the week, you will
see that they are the same. The days of the week are Saxon. They are named after the
Sun, Moon and planets.
There are jewels and metals connected with the planets as well.
Planets discovered in modern times
Planet
Discovered
God
Why?
Uranus
1781
Uranus - Father of
Saturn
next to Saturn and further out
Neptune
1846
Neptune - God of the
Sea
blue planet
Pluto
1930
Pluto - God of Death
coldest planet and furthest from the
Sun
The planet names are the names of Roman gods, except Uranus, who was a Greek
god. You need a telescope to see these planets.
By 2006, astronomers had discovered other things in the solar system which were
bigger than Pluto, so they decided to make Pluto a dwarf planet instead. This means
that there are now 8 planets (including Earth) rather than 9.
Month Names
Where do the month names come from?
Name
Comes
from
Who or what?
Why?
January
Janus
God of Doors
This month opens the year.
February
februo
purify
This was a Roman month of sacrifices
and purification.
March
Mars
God of War
Start of year for soldiers (no fighting
during winter)
April
aperire
open
This is the month when trees open their
leaves.
May
Maia
Goddess of
Growth
This is the month when plants really start
to grow.
June
Juno
Queen of the
Gods
July
Julius
Caesar
Ruler of Rome
He reorganised the calendar.
August
Augustus
Ruler of Rome
He thought he was at least as important
as Julius Caesar!
September
septem
seven
Seventh month (counting from March)
October
octo
eight
Eighth month (counting from March)
November
novem
nine
Ninth month (counting from March)
December
decem
ten
Tenth month (counting from March)
When you look at September, October, November and December, it seems as if the
Romans couldn't count! But their year used to start in March. When Julius Caesar
reorganised
Names of the Days of the Week
Where do the names of the days of the week come from?
In English, we call our days of the week after Saxon gods, apart from Saturday. The
French call their days of the week after Roman gods. But the Saxon and Roman gods
who look after the same day are the same type of god.
The English 'Saturday' is called after a Roman god, not a Saxon one. In Scandinavia,
the word for Saturday is Lördag or Lørdag. It is an ancient word meaning "bath".
Apparently the Vikings took one bath a week and it was on Saturday, so they called it
"bath day". Perhaps the Saxons didn't like baths, so they preferred to use the Roman
day name!
English
Saxon
Title of God
Roman
French
Monday
Mona
The Moon
Moon
Lundi
Tuesday
Tiu
God of War
Mars
Mardi
Wednesday Woden
The Cunning God
Mercury Mercredi
Thursday
Thor
Thunder God
Jove
Jeudi
Friday
Freya
Goddess of Love
Venus
Vendredi
Saturday
---
God of Time
Saturn
Samedi
Sunday
Sunne
The Sun
Sun
Dimanche
The Roman months were the same as ours, but the weeks were not. The Romans had
eight days in their week, with a market day instead of a weekend, so they didn't use
these names. Eventually, the Roman empire became Christian, and the Christians did
have a seven day week, with the seventh, Sunday, being a holy day. The Romans
seem to have named the days of the week after the planets, sun and moon.
The Seven Wonders of the World
Name
Great
Pyramid
Hanging
Gardens
Statue of
Zeus
(Jupiter)
Place
Giza
Babylon
Olympia
Temple of
Artemis
(Diana)
Ephesus
Tomb of
King
Mausolus
Colossos
- statue of
Helios
(Apollo)
Pharos
(lighthous
e)
Modern
Country
laste
Date
d
Comments
built (year
s)
Egypt
258
0
BC
Iraq
?60
0
BC
Greece
433
BC
Turkey
560
BC
Halicarnass
us
Turkey
353
BC
Rhodes
Island in
Mediterrane
an
280
BC
Alexandria
Egypt
280
BC
4500
so
far
Only
Wonder to
survive
?
Perhaps
never
existed
?
Site of
Olympic
Games
(not Mt
Olympus)
800
Largest
temple
of
Classical
Times
1700
Gives
name to
"mausoleu
m"
54
Gives
name to
"colossal"
1600
Alexandria
was built
by
Alexander
the Great.
The Seven Wonders of the World were described by Antipatros, a Greek historian, in
the second century BC. None of them were Roman, but the Romans would have known
about them. Only the Great Pyramid survives today. The Hanging Gardens may never
have existed. The Colossos lasted a very short time, and nothing of it remains today.
Zeus' statue has disappeared, although the temple ruins remain. There are ruins of the
temple at Ephesus and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The Pharos was demolished,
but some of the stones were used to build a fort on the same site.