Names compared
Greek and Roman gods: names and equivalents
Many Roman gods are matched with a Greek god in the ancient sources: Jupiter is Zeus, Juno is Hera, Minerva is Athena. This page lists every pairing in the archive, shows where the two traditions used the same name, and marks the Roman gods that have no Greek counterpart at all.
A matching name is not the same as an identical god. Roman cult, festivals and priesthoods had their own history, and Roman authors such as Virgil and Ovid wrote about Roman gods using stories borrowed from Greek literature. Where a Roman god was worshipped quite differently from the Greek one, the two profiles say so.
The quick answer: main Greek and Roman pairs
The most commonly searched pairs are below. Each name links to a full profile with the myths, family and ancient sources.
| Greek | Roman | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Zeus | Jupiter | Sky, thunder, law and kingship |
| Hera | Juno | Marriage, women and childbirth |
| Poseidon | Neptune | The sea and earthquakes |
| Demeter | Ceres | Grain and the harvest |
| Athena | Minerva | Wisdom, strategy and crafts |
| Ares | Mars | War |
| Aphrodite | Venus | Love and beauty |
| Artemis | Diana | The hunt and wild nature |
| Hephaestus | Vulcan | Fire and metalwork |
| Hermes | Mercury | Messages, trade and travel |
| Hestia | Vesta | The hearth |
| Dionysus | Bacchus (also Liber) | Wine and ecstasy |
| Hades | Pluto (also Dis Pater) | The underworld |
| Apollo | Apollo | Music, prophecy and healing |
Apollo is the best-known case of one name in both traditions. For the pairs people most often ask about, see the comparisons: Ares and Mars, Athena and Minerva, Demeter and Ceres, Eros and Cupid and Cronus and Saturn.
Complete chart: all 52 entries by group
The same pairings for every entry in the archive, grouped as on the sitemap. Names in the left column link to the profile; for Roman-only gods the Roman name is the link.
The twelve Olympians
| Greek name | Roman name | Main domain |
|---|---|---|
| Zeus | Jupiter (Iuppiter / Jove) | King of the gods, ruler of the sky, weather, thunder, law and universal order. |
| Hera | Juno | Queen of the gods; goddess of marriage, women, childbirth, political counsel and the Roman state. |
| Poseidon | Neptune | Lord of the sea, earthquakes, storms, freshwater springs and horses. |
| Hades | Pluto / Dis Pater (Orcus) | Lord of the underworld, ruler of the dead, guardian of subterranean mineral wealth. |
| Athena (Pallas Athena) | Minerva | Goddess of wisdom, tactical warfare, craftsmanship, justice and civic intellect. |
| Ares | Mars | God of war, physical aggression, military discipline and the protection of the Roman people. |
| Aphrodite | Venus | Goddess of love, beauty, desire, procreation, and the divine ancestry of Rome. |
| Apollo (Phoebus) | Apollo (Phoebus Apollo) | God of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, archery, truth and reason. |
| Artemis | Diana | Virgin goddess of the hunt, wild nature and animals, the moon, chastity and childbirth. |
| Hephaestus | Vulcan (Vulcanus / Mulciber) | God of fire, metallurgy, craftsmanship, volcanoes and industrial skill. |
| Hermes | Mercury | Messenger of the gods; god of commerce, travellers, roads, thieves, eloquence and the guiding of souls. |
| Hestia | Vesta | Virgin goddess of the hearth, the sacred flame, the home and the continuity of the state. |
| Demeter | Ceres | Goddess of grain, agriculture, the harvest, maternal love and the fertility of the earth. |
| Dionysus | Bacchus (Liber Pater) | God of wine, ritual ecstasy, theatre, madness, fertility, rebirth and liberation. |
Primordial powers & Titans
| Greek name | Roman name | Main domain |
|---|---|---|
| Gaia (Gaea) | Terra (Tellus / Tellus Mater) | Primordial personification of the Earth; the universal mother from whom nearly all gods descend. |
| Uranus (Ouranos) | Caelus | Primordial personification of the sky; the first ruler of the cosmos. |
| Nyx | Nox | Primordial goddess of the night and mother of many grim powers. |
| Cronus (Kronos) | Saturn | Titan of time, agricultural bounty, generational succession and a lost Golden Age. |
| Rhea | Ops | Titan mother-goddess of the fertile earth, abundance, motherhood and generation. |
| Atlas | (Atlas) | The Titan condemned to hold up the sky for all eternity. |
| Prometheus | (Prometheus) | The Titan who defied the gods to give humankind fire and the arts of civilisation. |
| Leto | Latona | Titan goddess of motherhood and modesty; mother of Apollo and Diana. |
The underworld & fate
| Greek name | Roman name | Main domain |
|---|---|---|
| Persephone (Kore) | Proserpina | Queen of the underworld and maiden goddess of spring growth and the seasonal cycle. |
| Hypnos | Somnus | God of sleep, slumber and rest. |
| Thanatos | Mors (Letus) | Personification of peaceful, inevitable, non-violent death. |
| Erinyes (Eumenides) | Furiae (Dirae) | Avenging underworld goddesses who punish crimes against blood-kin and the sacred order. |
| Moirai (the Fates) | Parcae (Fata) | The three goddesses who spin, measure and cut the thread of every life. |
Sea, sky & wind
| Greek name | Roman name | Main domain |
|---|---|---|
| Amphitrite | Salacia | Goddess of the open sea; queen and consort of the sea-god. |
| Triton | Triton | Fish-tailed sea-god; herald and trumpeter of the ocean. |
| Eos | Aurora | Goddess of the dawn, morning light, dew and daily awakening. |
| Helios | Sol (Sol Indiges / Sol Invictus) | God of the physical sun, celestial radiance, sight and the measuring of time. |
| Selene | Luna | Goddess of the physical moon, nocturnal light and the monthly cycle. |
| Boreas | Aquilo | God of the cold north wind; bringer of winter. |
| Zephyrus | Favonius | God of the gentle west wind; herald of spring. |
| Aeolus (Aiolos) | Aeolus | Keeper of the winds; the warden appointed to pen and release the storm-winds. |
Love, victory & fortune
| Greek name | Roman name | Main domain |
|---|---|---|
| Eros | Cupid (Amor) | God of erotic love, desire and romantic attraction; in cosmic versions, the primal force that draws all things together. |
| Nike | Victoria | Winged goddess of victory in war, athletics and imperial success. |
| Eris | Discordia | Goddess of discord, strife, chaos, jealousy and rivalry. |
| Tyche | Fortuna | Goddess of luck, chance, fate and unpredictable destiny. |
| Hymenaeus (Hymen) | Hymenaeus (Hymen) | God of weddings and the marriage ceremony; the personified wedding-song. |
| Chloris | Flora | Goddess of flowers, blossom, spring and flowering plants. |
| Enyo | Bellona | Goddess of destructive war, battlefield frenzy, and the formal declaration of foreign war. |
Heroes, healers & the arts
| Greek name | Roman name | Main domain |
|---|---|---|
| Heracles (Herakles) | Hercules | The greatest hero; a mortal son of Jupiter raised to godhood, embodiment of strength and endurance. |
| Asclepius (Asklepios) | Aesculapius | God of medicine and healing; a deified physician. |
| Mousai (the Muses) | Camenae / Musae | The nine goddesses of inspiration in poetry, music, dance and learning. |
| Pan | Faunus (Lupercus) | Horned god of the wild, flocks, forests, prophecy and rustic music. |
Roman divinities without a Greek counterpart
| Greek name | Roman name | Main domain |
|---|---|---|
| (no Greek equivalent) | Janus | Two-faced god of beginnings, gates, doorways, transitions, time and endings. |
| (no Greek equivalent) | Pomona | Goddess of fruit trees, orchards and the ripening of fruit. |
| (no Greek equivalent; loosely Zeus Horios) | Terminus | God of territorial boundaries, boundary stones, property rights and treaties. |
| (no Greek equivalent; the deified Romulus) | Quirinus | Archaic god of the Roman citizen body, the civic assembly and the state in peacetime. |
Syncretic & composite figures
| Greek name | Roman name | Main domain |
|---|---|---|
| Dionysus and Ariadne / Persephone (identified with) | Bacchus's older self: Liber and Libera | Archaic Italian pair of fertility gods of the vine, the seed and human increase, and of personal and civic freedom. |
| Rhea / Gaia (identified with) | Magna Mater (Cybele) | The Great Mother; an Anatolian mountain-goddess of wild nature, wild animals and the protection of the state. |
Gods who kept the same name
For these figures the Greek and the Roman name are the same or only a spelling apart:
Roman gods with no Greek counterpart
A few gods belong to Roman religion and are not simply Roman names for Greek gods. They do not fit into the Greek family tree, and the archive treats them as Roman figures in their own right.
- Janus: Two-faced god of beginnings, gates, doorways, transitions, time and endings.
- Pomona: Goddess of fruit trees, orchards and the ripening of fruit.
- Terminus: God of territorial boundaries, boundary stones, property rights and treaties.
- Quirinus: Archaic god of the Roman citizen body, the civic assembly and the state in peacetime.
Where the match is not exact
- Ares and Mars. The Greek sources treat Ares with suspicion and few temples are recorded outside Sparta and Thrace. In Rome, Mars is honoured as father of the Roman people and as guardian of fields and frontiers, second only to Jupiter. Read the full comparison: Ares vs Mars.
- Athena and Minerva. Minerva came into Roman religion by way of the Etruscan goddess Menrva, and Rome first emphasised her role as patron of craftsmen and teachers. Read the full comparison: Athena vs Minerva.
- Demeter and Ceres. Demeter is central to the Eleusinian Mysteries and to the women's festival of the Thesmophoria. Ceres is closely tied to Rome's plebeians, with her temple as a centre of their political life. Read the full comparison: Demeter vs Ceres.
- Eros and Cupid. In the oldest Greek thought Eros is a primal power older than the Olympians; the Roman Cupid is the winged boy of countless frescoes and tombs, with little formal cult. Read the full comparison: Eros vs Cupid.
- Cronus and Saturn. The Greek sources centre on Cronus's violent rise and fall, while Roman sources bring Saturn to Italy and give him a temple and the Saturnalia. Read the full comparison: Cronus vs Saturn.
- Rhea, Ops and Magna Mater. Rhea is matched with Ops, while Magna Mater (Cybele) is a separate Anatolian mountain goddess whom the Greeks identified with Rhea or Gaia.
- Dionysus, Bacchus and Liber. Bacchus is the Roman name that follows the Greek Dionysus, while Liber (and Libera) is an older Roman wine and fertility pairing, covered at Liber and Libera.
Common questions
Why do Greek and Roman gods have different names?
The two peoples spoke different languages, Greek and Latin, and worshipped their own gods before the traditions met. Romans later matched many of their gods to Greek ones and borrowed Greek myths for them, so the Latin names became labels for the same stories. The match was never complete, which is why some pairs behave differently in cult.
Is Apollo a Greek or a Roman god?
Both. The Romans used the name Apollo for the same god, so there is no separate Roman name. See the Apollo profile.
Is Hades the same as Pluto?
Pluto is the usual Roman name for the god of the underworld, and Roman writers also call him Dis Pater. See the Hades and Pluto profile.
Which Roman gods have no Greek equivalent?
The archive lists four: Janus, Pomona, Terminus and Quirinus.
Which gods are the twelve Olympians?
The usual list is Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Hermes, plus either Hestia or Dionysus. Sources differ, and the explanation is on the page about the twelve Olympians.