AboutIrulan Serena Expertise Able to answer any question dealing with Greco-Roman mythology. Experience comes from teaching classical literature in all levels of the school curriculum from middle school to university level for thirty-eight years.
Question I've been trying to read up on the similarities and differences between Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian mythology, and I don't really understand it too well. For example, what are some of the characteristics of Greco-Roman gods which set them apart from the Judeo-Christian concept of God? Or, what are the differences and similarities between Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian religious traditions and practices? How do they differ in their concepts of divination?
Answer First of all let me clarify that the Judeo-Christian religions were founded in an area of the world where savior religions survive for thousands of years before the infusion of the Judeo Christian religion. Much of the symbolism and many of the stories in the Bible can be compared and matched to earlier myths of the Persians, Egyptians, and other people from the near east. Under Constantine when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity the festivals and stories were further infused with the traditions of the earlier Roman pagan religion.
Constantine himself worshipped both Jesus and the sun god Sol Invitus, the Romanized version of Mithra, until he died. It is, therefore, crucial to the proper understanding of the Bible to understand the influence that these ancient religions had on the early Jews and Christians when they were forming what was to become the Jeudo-Christian tradition.
SOME CHARACTERISTICS:
Judeo Christian mythos was based on monotheism – belief in only one god whereas Greco-Roman mythos was based on polytheism – belief in many goods. This is one of the basic differences.
The nature of the Gods was also an important difference. While Greco Romans believed the gods to be as human men with the same natures as human men and the same feelings and faults while the Judeo-Christians believed their god to be perfect in every way, without faults or human foibles, thus making their god beyond reach of human understanding and perception thus the Judeo-Christian approached their god with great fear.
The Romans viewed their gods as approachable since their natures were the same with the one and only difference mortality, this made the Roman gods a approachable and better understood than the Judeo-Christian god thus the Romans approached their gods as almost equals and lacked the great fear that the Judeo-Christian felt for their god.
Another difference was the equality of the sexes.
Roman mythos viewed the female as an honorable partner of the male and as such honored her and revered in the form of many of the Goddess such as Hera, Minerva, Ceres, Vesta, Diana, Venus, etc.
Here is a list of the Roman gods…as you can see there are as many female gods as there are male whereas in the Judeo-Christian god there is NO mention of the female which are excluded from divinity.
Jupiter
- King of the Gods
Juno
- Queen of the Gods
Neptune
- God of the Sea
Pluto
- God of Death
Apollo
- God of the Sun
Diana
- Goddess of the Moon
Mars
- God of War
Venus
- Goddess of Love
Cupid
- God of Love
Mercury
- Messenger of the Gods
Minerva
- Goddess of Wisdom
Ceres
- The Earth Goddess
Proserpine
- Goddess of the Underworld
Vulcan
- The Smith God
Bacchus
- God of Wine
Saturn
- God of Time
Vesta
- Goddess of the Home
Janus
- God of Doors
Uranus
- Father of Saturn
Maia
- Goddess of Growth
Flora - Goddess of Flowers (see Maia)
Plutus - God of Wealth (see Pluto)
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES:
1 SACRIFICE – both offered sacrifices however, the Romans' sacrifice was to honor their gods while the Judeo Christians was to appease and pacify – again the evidence of fear that the Romans andother pagan religions lacked.
2 STRUCTURES - Both erected ‘great houses' [temples churches and synagogues] to house their gods however the embellishments were very different. Romans were almost stoic in their decorations of these great houses for the gods, large in proportions but sparse in decorations whereas the Judeo Christians heaped gold, jewels and other embellishments again with the purpose of appeasing and pacifying.
3 CONCEPT OF THE FEMALE:
In Roman mythology the female was revered, respected and honored whereas in the Judeo Christian mythos the female was viewed as object of revulsion, rejection and defilement. The bible contains multiple examples of this change of attitude towards the portion of the population which was and still is viewed and measured as less than equal to the male portion of the population.
4 SAVIOUR WHO IS KILLED AND RESURRECTS: Preceding religions such as Mithraism which was a Persian religion adopted by the Romans also contains the same concept. As a matter of fact the story of Jesus Christ is almost a point by point retelling of the story of Mithras. See the following link:
DIVINATION:
Divination to the ancient Romans was part and parcel of their religion…. but to the Judeo-Christian it was not. It was viewed as element of the occult religions [pagan tradition] thus viewed with suspicion, fear and thus forbidden.
Am including some links that will hopefully help you in further researching this topic.
