Poseidon's Beliefs And Traditions In Ancient Rome

Beliefs and traditions are something that every culture and society establishes. Arguably some of the greatest traditions known to date are those of the ancient Roman Empire. An enormous portion of their foundations as an empire was their faith and belief in various gods, goddesses, and other spiritual beings. Due to the fact that Rome conquered many Greek cities ("Rome (city, Italy)”), Grecian mythology had an incredibly important impact on what the people of Rome believed in. For example, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, often referred to as the “Big Three” in Greek stories due to them controlling the three largest domains in the universe ("Pluto (in Greek religion and mythology)"), hold roles similar to their counterparts in Roman mythology; however,

Arthur Cotterell describes Poseidon as “ruler of the waves, a sea god liable to attacks of tempestuous rage” (179). He also is god of horses and earthquakes, so he was not one that would be good to upset. Poseidon was extremely feared in Greece not just because he had control over every ocean, but mainly because his iconic trident could cause extreme earthquakes (Cotterell 179). For these reasons, he was an extremely important part of Greek mythology; however, his Italian counterpart did not play the exact same role. It makes sense for a large number of cultures to have a sea god, but Italy was not one of these due to them being landlocked. However, they still felt as though they needed a water god, so Neptune began to act as theirs. Although he retained the powerful title as the god of earthquakes, he began as being the god of fresh water, instead of the sea. Neptune also retained being the god of horses, which automatically made him the patron of horse races all over Rome. Neptune also differed in literature as he did not have any myths that were strictly his, just appearances in myths that did not revolve around him until he was later identified with Poseidon for holding a similar role ("Neptune (in Roman religion and mythology)"). Neptune still played an important part in Roman life, however, as he controlled the life force of livestock, crops, and

Hades was not well liked by the people of Greece, so much so that he did not get his own stories. He is most well known from the story of how Persephone, his wife, was kidnapped. A main reason for him being disliked is that he was seen as being extremely bitter at the fact that he was forced to rule the underworld. This bitterness was conveyed explicitly in how he ruled, as he was viewed as being cruel, ruthless, and violent (Cotterell 161). However, as Cotterell explains, the underworld was not only a place of punishment. It was also the location of Elysium and the Fields of Asphodel, which were areas of the underworld where no chastening took place (161). Along with being the ruler of the underworld, Hades was also god of riches. Pluto, remained god of the underworld; however, he was also "identified as a god of the earth's fertility" ("Pluto (in Greek religion and mythology)”). Unlike his Greek counterpart, Pluto was seen as a much more calm and kind leader. He was also more widely known for being the god of riches and wealth, even though both illustrations of him held that title. While Pluto did not take on an aggressive personality when becoming Roman, he did reflect the leadership that might come to be called on in a time of war. This proves once again how the ideals of Rome altered the beliefs that they adopted from