In the beginning, there was an idea.

I've loved myths and folktales as long as I can remember. They were among the first material I read as a young child, and knowing them has enriched my sense of spirituality and made me feel like a part of something greater. Being a writer, I tell stories as well, but no matter what I write about, I always feel as though these stories, these ancient tales that were passed down from generation to generation, are more perfect than anything that has come from the mind of a writer in this day and age. So, recently, I began to toy with the idea of sharing these myths with readers all over the world. Only a few days before this blog was created, my mother and I were talking and she suggested I make a blog and gather together information that would otherwise remain scattered over literature and the Internet. Why not myths? Why not make a blog that tells, picks apart, and analyzes popular (and even not-so-popular) myths, stories and folktales from around the world?

Sunday, July 10, 2011

God Profile--By Jove!

When I started this blog, I knew I wasn't going to be able to come up with a myth every day, seven days a week. So I decided to devote every Sunday to a different deity. I've been posting polls on Facebook to decide, since there are so many gods and goddesses out there and it's difficult for me to decide. Majority rules, and a Roman god rules this Sunday.

Most of you know of his greek counterpart Zeus. Or you think of the enormous ball of gas out in space. But Jupiter was the chief god of the Romans, presiding over law and order in the Roman Empire. Following the pattern of chief gods in many cultures, he is a sky god, but he didn't start out as we know him. His worship began as a deified force of nature. As the Romans borrowed more and more from the Greeks, Jupiter gradually adopted the characteristics of Zeus.

And now, everyone sees him as the powerful weather god he's become. Like the Greek gods, Jupiter was given a human personality. He is married to his sister, Juno (known as Hera in Greek mythology), and is the grandfather of Rome's dynamic hero twins Romulus and Remus.


Sources:

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/roman-mythology.php?deity=JUPITER&ds=N

National Geographic essential visual history of world mythology . Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2008. Print.
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