Interpretatio graeca is a Latin term for the common tendency of ancient Greek writers to equate foreign divinities to members of their own pantheon. Herodotus, for example, refers to the ancient Egyptian gods Amon, Osiris and Ptah as "Zeus", "Dionysus" and "Hephaestus". Latin is the language that was originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The Greek language (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA // – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of some 3,000 years. ... Bust of Herodotus Herodotus (Greek: ΗΡΟΔΟΤΟΣ, Herodotos) was an ancient historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC - c. ... Map of Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was the civilization of the Nile Valley between about 3000 BC and the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. As a civilization based on irrigation, it is the quintessential example of a hydraulic empire. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Egyptian Museum, Cairo Osiris (Greek, also Usiris, the Egyptian name is Aser or Ausare) is the Egyptian god of Death and the Afterworld. ... In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (creator) (or Tanen or Ta-tenen or Tathenen or Peteh) is a creator god and originally the chief god in the pantheon of Memphis, Egypt. ... Statue of Zeus The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. ... Bacchus by Caravaggio The god Dionysus is occasionally confused with one of several historical figures named Dionysius, a theophoric name that simply means [servant] of Dionysus. ... The Temple of Hephaestus, Athens: western face. ...

The equivalent Roman practice was called interpretatio romana. The first use of this phrase was by Tacitus in his book Germania (ch. 43 (http://wikisource.org/wiki/Germania#43)), in which he reports on a sacred grove of the Naharvali, saying "Praesidet sacerdos muliebri ornatu, sed deos interpretatione Romana Castorem Pollucemque memorant" ('a priest presides in woman's dress, but in the interpretation of the Romans, they worship the gods Castor and Pollux'). Elsewhere (ch. 9 (http://wikisource.org/wiki/Germania#9)) he says that the chief gods of the ancient Germans were Hercules and Mercury—referring to Thor and Odin respectively. Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (c. ... The Germania (Latin title: De Origine et situ Germanorum), written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the diverse set of Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire. ... Sacred groves were a feature of the mythological landscape and the cult practice of Old Europe, of the most ancient levels of Scandinavian mythology, Greek mythology, Slavic mythology, in Rome and among Druidic practice. ... Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux), were in Greek mythology the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ... Hercules and Cacus, by Baccio Bandinelli, 1525 - 1534. ... Mercury is a god, also known as the god of trade, profit and commerce. ... Thors battle against the giants, by Marten Eskil Winge, 1872 Thor, Þórr (ON), Þunor (OE), Donar or Donner (German) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder and lightning in Germanic and Norse Mythology, the son of Odin and Jord. ... Odin, Icelandic/Old Norse Óðinn, Swedish Oden, Anglo-Saxon and Old Saxon Woden, Old Franconian Wodan, Alemannic Wuodan, German Wotan or Wothan Lombardic Godan. ...

Roman culture owed much to the ancient Greeks. The Greek colonies founded in Italy from the 8th century BCE contributed much to the young city, and later, when the Romans conquered the Hellenistic world, they adopted a new wave of Greek beliefs and practices. (See Romans and Greeks for details.) Where the two mythologies shared an origin, the interpretations came naturally; Zeus and Jupiter, for example, were both derived from Dyeus of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. Elsewhere the fit was less precise, and the Roman god might add attributes borrowed from the Greek, but remain distinct: Mars retained his association with agriculture and fertility alongside his warlike attributes and, quite unlike the fearsome Greek Ares, was a benevolent and widely-revered cult figure. Ancient Roman culture evolved throughout the thousand-year history of that civilization. ... (9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC - other centuries) (800s BC - 790s BC - 780s BC - 770s BC - 760s BC - 750s BC - 740s BC - 730s BC - 720s BC - 710s BC - 700s BC - other decades) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Golden age in Armenia Assyria... The term Hellenistic (established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen) in the history of the ancient world is used to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, however scattered geographically, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance... Greeks had settled in Southern Italy and Sicily since the 8th century BC. In this way, Italian tribes came into contact with Greek culture very early on and were influenced by it. ... Statue of Zeus The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. ... Zeus Kroniōn (descendant of Cronus), or simply Zeús or Zdeús (Greek Ζεύς) or Dias (Greek Δίας) (divine king) is the leader of the gods and god of the sky and thunder in Greek mythology. ... Ancient anthropomorphic stone stela (Ukraine), possibly depicting an early variant of a god related to Dyeus *Dyēus is the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The existence of similarities among the gods and religious practices of the Indo-European peoples suggests that whatever population they actually formed had some form of polytheistic religion. ... Mars was the Roman god of war, the son of Juno and a magical flower (or Jupiter). ... This article is about Ares, the Greek god of war. ...

The Romans interpreted Celtic and Near Eastern gods with equal facility. Cernunnos and Lugh were linked to Mercury, Nodens to Mars as healer and protector, and the Anatolian storm god with his double-headed axe became Jupiter Dolichenus, a favorite cult figure among soldiers. A Celtic cross incorporating the Celtic knotwork motif associated with Celtic cultures Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure. ... The Near East is a term commonly used by archaeologists and historians, less commonly by journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing the Levant (modern Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Anatolia (modern Turkey), Mesopotamia (Iraq and eastern Syria), and the Iranian Plateau (Iran). ... Depiction of Cernunnos from the Pilier des nautes, Paris Cernunnos was an important deity of the Celts, essentially a nature god associated with produce and fertility. ... Lug or Lugh is an Irish sun god and king of the Tuatha Dé Danann whose name means light or brightness. His epithets include Lámfhada (long hand), for his skill with a spear or sling, and Samildánach (multi-talented, skilled in many arts). He is handsome, perpetually youthful... Mercury is a god, also known as the god of trade, profit and commerce. ... Nodens or Nodons was a Celtic deity worshipped in Britain. ... Teshub was the Hurrian god of sky and storm. ... Minoan symbolic labrys of gold, 2nd millennium BC: many have been found in the sacred cave of Arkalochori on Crete) The Labrys is a doubleheaded axe. ...

Some Di Indigetes (native Roman gods), such as Janus and Terminus, had no Greek equivalent and so retained an independent tradition; a few, like Bona Dea, did the same despite sharing attributes with a Greek figure (in this case Artemis). Others, like the twelve assistants of Ceres, became mere adjuncts to imported Greek deities (here Demeter). Where the Romans had no equivalent figure, they did not hesitate to add foreign deities to their pantheon. Sometimes they would change the name: when Cybele was adopted from the Phrygians (the Greeks had previously interpreted her as Rhea), she was called Magna Mater deorum Idaea. Sometimes they would not: Apollo was called Apollo in both Greek and Latin. List of Roman gods, goddesses and other beings not present in Greek mythology Most of these are very minor gods that are little more than personifications of an abstract quality. ... In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. ... The word terminus is used in several different contexts including various topics: In transport a terminus is commonly used to describe a bus station/rail station acting as an end destination. ... In Roman mythology, Bona Dea (the good goddess) was a goddess of fertility, healing, virginity and women. ... This article is about the Greek goddess. ... For other uses, see Ceres (disambiguation). ... Dêmêtêr (or Demetra) (DEH-MEH-ter) (mother-goddess or perhaps distribution-mother) is the Greek goddess of agriculture, the pure nourisher of youth and the green earth, the health-giving cycle of life and death, and preserver of marriage and the sacred law. ... Originally a Phrygian goddess, Cybele (sometimes given the etymology she of the hair if her name is Greek, not Phrygian) (Roman equivalent: Magna Mater or Great Mother) was the Earth Mother goddess who was worshipped in Anatolia from Neolithic times. ... In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of the Anatolian highlands, part of modern Turkey. ... Rhea was the Titaness daughter of Uranus and of Gaia. ... In Roman mythology, Magna Mater deorum Idaea (great Idaean mother of the gods) was the name for the originally Phrygian goddess Cybele, as well as Rhea. ... Worship Apollo is considered to have dominion over the plague, light, healing, colonists, medicine, archery, poetry, prophecy, dance, reason, intellectualism and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. ...

See also:

• Greek mythology
• Roman mythology
• Similarities between Roman, Greek, and Etruscan mythologies

Greek mythology comprises the collected legends of Greek gods and goddesses and ancient heroes and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Roman mythology can be considered as two parts. ... Roman mythology was strongly influenced by Greek mythology and Etruscan mythology. ...

External link

• Essay on interpretatio romana (http://www.maryjones.us/jce/interpretatioromana.html)