As the stories from Homer and Virgil, in the versions here given, can only be looked upon as introductory to more extended reading, and are, consequently, something with which scholarship can have little if any quarrel, it has seemed desirable to make them as simple and clear as possible. For this reason the Latin names for the gods and goddesses of the Greek mythology have been used throughout. These names have been handed down to us in the works of Shakespeare, Milton, Keats, and many others, and usage has made them familiar. Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Diana and Neptune, are old friends whose attributes are recognized at once, while to many the Grecian Zeus, Hera, Ares, Artemis and Poseidon are strangers whose names might have to be looked up in the classical dictionary. With the exception of a word here and there, there has been no editing of the stories, but occasional passages that delayed the movement of a story have been omitted.
William Patten.
THE PRINCIPAL GODS AND GODDESSES
MENTIONED IN THESE PAGES WITH THEIR LATIN AND GREEK NAMES
| Latin | Greek | |
|---|---|---|
| Cybele | The Great Mother of the Gods, Mother of Jupiter and Juno. | Rhea |
| Saturn | Father of Jupiter (the greatest Olympian God), of Pluto, and of Neptune. The world was divided between the three brothers; Pluto was given the lower world, Neptune the sea, and Jupiter the heavens and upper regions of the air. | Cronus |
| Pluto | Son of Saturn and Cybele, king of the lower world. Metals and all the productions of the earth are his gifts. | Aïdoneus or Hades |
| Proserpina | Daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, wife of Pluto and queen of the lower world. | Persephone |
| THE TWELVE OLYMPIAN GODS | ||
| Jupiter | The greatest of all, king of heaven. | Zeus |
| Juno | Wife of Jupiter and queen of heaven, goddess of love, marriage, and births. | Hera |
| Mars | Son of Jupiter and Juno, god of war. | Ares |
| Vulcan | Son of Jupiter and Juno, god of fire. | Hephaestus |
| Mercury | Son of Jupiter and Maia (daughter of Atlas), the messenger of the gods. | Hermes |
| Neptune | Son of Saturn and Cybele, god of the sea. | Poseidon |
| Minerva | Daughter of Jupiter and Metis, protectress of the state, and of all useful arts. A friend of the Greeks in the Trojan War. | Athene |
| Diana | Daughter of Jupiter and Latona, sister of Apollo, generally represented as a huntress. | Artemis |
| Apollo | Twin brother of Diana, god of prophecy, of song and music; the god who gives help and turns away evil. | Apollo |
| Vesta | Daughter of Saturn and Rhea, goddess of the hearth. | Hestia |
| Ceres | Daughter of Saturn and Rhea, goddess of the earth. | Demeter |
| Venus | Daughter of Jupiter and Diöne, though some say she sprang from the foam of the sea; the goddess of love. | Aphrodite |