The Major Mythical Characters

 

The history of ancient myths, especially Greek and Roman myths play an important role in the field of English literature. Without a clear conception of them, any study of English literature is not possible. For this, here we try to learn about the major mythical characters, animals, and objects of Ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt.  The main theme of all Greek tragedies is man's struggle against fate, though each poet’s conception of the tragedy is different.

The ancient people of every civilization had no clear idea of God and His mysterious powers. The Greeks had some limitations. They were quite dark about others.  They believed in the supernatural powers and their secrets in their ways. But they had one great asset, a beautiful language for the immortal expression of lovely thoughts. The main theme of all Greek tragedies is man's struggle against fate, though each poet’s conception of the tragedy is different. The poets of that time in Greece imagined that there were supernatural beings who controlled the universe. They called them gods and goddesses. They interpreted the mysteries of these unseen powers with their experience of the visible world. These people made their deities in their images. They imagined them as males and females and made Olympus their abode. Thus, Olympus was made into a humanized world. They imagined them as beautiful, friendly, amusing; but fearful and dangerous when they got angry. The gods were immortal, and so, more powerful than human beings. They shared human feelings and sometimes became childish and indecent, losing their sanity. However, they believed that gods and goddesses were sensible despite their occasional nonsensical activities. The Greek and Roman writers used this general concept of the time about supernatural powers in their writings. Thus, they gave better shapes to the myths.

The Greek poets endowed each of the Olympian gods and goddesses with distinct personalities. The Roman poets borrowed the concept of the Olympians from Greek poets and gave them Roman names. The Greek and Roman names of the gods and goddesses and the meaning in

English is given below:

Greek	Roman	English
Aphrodite	Venus	goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, and victory
Apollo	Apollo	a deity associated with a wide range of domains, including music, poetry, healing, archery, prophecy and the sun
Ares	Mars	god of war, a protector of Rome and a figure of military power
Artemis	Diana	goddess of hunt, nature, the moon and childbirth.
Athena/Athena	Minerva	goddess of wisdom, warfare and handicraft.
Cronus	Saturn	Greek god of time. Cronus was a Titan, the youngest son of  Uranus (Heaven/ Sky) and Gaia (Earth) and the king of the Titans.
Demeter	Ceres	the goddess of agriculture, harvest and fertility
Enyo	Bellona	the goddess of war
Eos	Aurora	goddess of dawn
Eros	Cupid	goddess of love, desire and attraction, often depicted winged boy with a bow and arrow
Furies	Dirae	goddess of vengeance and justice
Hades	Pluton/Dis	hades were known for the underworld. His name means the unseen one.
Hebe	Juventas	the goddess of youth or the prime of life.
Hephaestus	Vulcan (Latin: Vulcanis)	the god of fire, forge, volcanoes and metalworking.
Hera	Juno	goddess of marriage, family, childbirth, and women
Hermes	Mercury	god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves, and travel.
Hestia	Vesta	goddess of the heart, home, and family.
Pan	Faunas	nature god , specially associated with the wild, shepherds, and rustic music.
Persephone	Proserpina	goddess of spring, flowers, grain and nature, and also  the queen of underworld.
Poseidon	Neptune	god of sea, earthquake, and horses, and his name is Believed to mean either ’’husband the earth or ‘lord of the earth’
Rhea	Ops	goddess of motherhood, fertility, childbirth and the earth.
Thanatos	Orcus	god of underworld, punisher of broken oaths
Zeus	Jupiter/Jove	the king of gods, the god of sky, thunder, lightning    and justice and is considered the father of all.