Its All Greek To Me?
It is sometimes said that the Romans, instead of developing their own culture, simply took over that of the Greeks. This is especially the case for their religion and myths. Indeed, the Romans were not shy in co-opting the stories of the older civilizations around them. They often did this to gain a sense of legitimacy in the world they found themselves in. For example, the Aeneid, written by a Roman, details the story of a Trojan prince who leaves the ruins of his destroyed city behind and travels to Italy. This served to directly tie Rome to the mythological Greek golden age.
The Romans also aggressively identified their gods with Greek counterparts, openly saying certain foreign gods were equivalents of their own. Additionally, Greek colonies present in Italy very early in history ensured that Roman religion gained a very Greek flavour early on. In fact, it is sometimes said that the Roman’s had no gods of their own. This is not completely correct. For example, Janus, the two-headed god of doorways; and Quirinus, a god of the State itself, were very important and yet have no Greek counterparts. Additionally, the prominence the Greeks and Romans gave to specific gods was not always the same. For example, Mars was extremely important to the Romans while Ares seems to play a small role in ancient Greek literature. However, mythic depictions of some Roman gods are almost identical to those of their Greek counterparts.
Probably the best example of this is Zeus and Jupiter. The Romans adopted the mythology of Zeus almost wholesale, and this syncretism is perhaps complete enough to hide any truly Italian traits. However, Roman worship of Jupiter does have some idiosyncrasies. While Zeus and Jupiter are depicted in much the same way, the Greeks also frequently depicted Zeus as a child, such as Zeus Velchanos (“boy Zeus”) in Crete. Roman Jupiter was always shown in the same form of Zeus we think of today: the lightning-wielding King of the Gods.
Linguistic Connections
While at first glance their names do not appear similar, they may be derived from each other. Languages evolve over time and linguistic studies have shown the names Zeus and Jupiter are ultimately derived from Dyews– or Dieus-piter. This roughly means “bright sky father”. Ju-piter comes from the entire title, while “Zeus” stems from the first part Dieus. Additionally, in ancient Greece, Zeus was often called Zeus piter or “Father Zeus”. If you say the constructed words, Dieus-piter, enough times, you can even hear it turn into that.
An Etruscan Cousin
Interestingly, the predecessors of the Romans in Italy, the Etruscans, also seem to have gods inspired by the Greek Olympians. Their version of Zeus, Tinia, is a bearded lightning-wielding sky king and is the father of Hercle. A common figure in Etruscan art, Hercle is shown with a club and dressed in a lionskin just like the Greek Heracles. But, from pictures on ceramic pots, he also has adventures not found in the Greek or Roman myths (see Etruscan Myths by Nancy Thomson de Grummond).
Descent with Modification
Taking all of this together, Roman worship of Jupiter was significantly affected by Greek depictions of Zeus. However, the linguistic evolution of their names, the “Zeus-ness” of Tinia and the uniqueness of Etruscan Hercle suggests a more complicated picture. These eastern and western Mediterranean neighbours were possibly drinking from the same well. Additionally, the names Zeus and Jupiter (Dieus), through the construct Diwos, are linked to Tiwos, an earlier name of the Germanic war god Tyr. Farther afield, the name Dyaus Pitr is also found in the Rigvedas, a collection of ancient Indian hymns.
This not to say that all these gods are directly copied from an original figure. Each society also makes modifications. As a biologist, I like to use the analogy of bacteria. Imagine a microbe dividing over time into several distinct cells. These cells may have their own unique traits. Imagine if they were merged and created new and improved microbes.
A similar thing likely happened with certain mythological figures. Perhaps, early versions of Greek Zeus and Etruscan Tinia may have been inspired by an earlier people’s sky father figure. Roman Jupiter is likely descended from Tinia and also adopted traits from Zeus. Also, an earlier version of Greek Zeus could have influenced Tinia too. During these processes, specific cultures will add or modify certain traits depending upon its own development, over time. Jupiter is especially like Zeus because the Roman civilization was so intent on following in the footsteps of the Greeks. Of course, just like how Roman society developed its own characteristics, their religion, for some gods more than others, did too.
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