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Roman God:
Jupiter
Greek Name: Zeus
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The Romans loved to tell stories about the magical family who ruled the heavens. The Romans truly believed that their gods could interfere in their lives, to help or hinder them. According to ancient Roman myth, Jupiter was the king of all the gods. Jupiter had two brothers and three sisters. When Saturn, their father, died, the boys - Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto - divided the world up between themselves. Jupiter took all of the heavens, Neptune took the sea, and Pluto took the underworld. Each was quite content with their selection. One of the differences between Greek and Roman myth is that in Greek myth, Zeus was controlled in part by the Fates. His was also an elected position - he could have been ousted by the other gods, not that they ever managed it. But Jupiter, the Roman god, was the god supreme. He ruled heaven and earth and all life. Jupiter listened to his various advisors; especially the other gods who made up the Council of 12; he might even assign one of the other gods to make a decision, but the final word was his. Like the Greek god Zeus, Jupiter had a very jealous wife (named Juno). He also had a whole bunch of kids. Jupiter was very fond of all his children. Each of his children had special magical powers. Jupiter had more powers than anyone. Jupiter could throw his voice, and sound like anybody. He could shape shift, and look like anybody. In fact, he was so good at shape shifting that he could shape shift into the form of an animal. He could throw lightning bolts. His flying horse, Pegasus, carried his lightning bolts for him. Jupiter had a quick temper, a big sense of humor, and lots of girlfriends. He was not afraid of anything except Juno, his wife. There are a great many myths about the famous Jupiter, king of
all the gods. Here are two of them:
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