"The gods are Angry"
In ancient Rome, if they had bad weather, a fire, or other natural disaster, the Romans would say that the gods are angry. The Pantheon was first dedicated to Venus and Mars. The first time it was burned down. When it was rebuilt again, it was struck by lightening and burned down. The Romans probably thought that the temple needed to be dedicated to all of the gods or maybe they thought that the gods didn't like the way it was built. Whatever it was, the third time the temple was built, it was in a totally different design and it was dedicated to all of the gods. Thankfully the gods were apparently happy with the Pantheon now because it has lasted much longer.
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Venus
Venus is the goddess of beauty, romance, and desire. Venus had many identities before she came to Rome that included Inanna, Ishtar/Astarte, and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. She was married to Hephaestus but she also had many lovers including Mars, Bacchus, Mercury, Neptune, Anchises, Adonis, Butes, Phaon and Phaethon, but her favorite lover was Mars.
The Romans originally worshiped Venus as goddess of fertility. Her fertility powers spread from the garden to humans. The Greek aspects of the love and beauty goddess, Aphrodite, were added on to Venus' attributes later on. |
Mars
Mars was the god of war and second only to Jupiter in importance. In fact, he was the son of Jupiter. He was the protector of Rome, a nation very proud in war. In Roman mythology, Mars did not care who won or lost a battle. He just liked to see bloodshed. Most of the other gods stayed as far away from Mars as possible. He only caused trouble.
The Romans were great soldiers and thought that Mars, was very important. They said that he was the father of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. When Romulus and Remus were babies, they were left to die. But they were found by a mother wolf, who suckled them. Romulus gave his name to the place that he was found by the mother wolf, that's how Rome got it's name. |