overlooked roman gods

emperorclaudiusofficial:

candlestickwitch:

some gods and goddesses that are overlooked in common mythos, or don’t have Greek counterparts and are often ignored!!

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Caelus: father of the sky and heavens, consort of Terra/Gaia. counterpart of Uranus

Carmenta: goddess of childbirth, motherhood, prophecy, and technological innovation. supposedly created the Latin alphabet. although similar to Hera and Leto, no Greek counterpart

Dis Pater: god of agriculture and underground riches, later became an underworld god, often confused with Pluto/Hades, the husband of Proserpina/Persephone (Pluto also was her husband, but Pluto is featured in the abduction of Proserpina myth, while Dis and Proserpina seem to have had a consensual and loving relationship). Dis, Orcus, and Pluto became conflated as a later version of Pluto, who was the counterpart of Hades

Feronia: goddess of wildlife, fertility, health and abundance. also was seen as the goddess who granted freedom to slaves

Flora: goddess of flowers, fertility, youth, and springtime. counterpart of Chloris

Furrina: goddess of springs and bubbling water, according to Varro (a Roman writer/scholar). it’s actually unknown if this is true or not but based on the origins of her name, it’s likely that it is true

Janus: god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, doorways, duality, most often portrayed with two faces, looking to the future and the past. probably the most famous Roman god with no Greek counterpart

Liber: god of wine, fertility, freedom, speech. sometimes associated with Dionysus/Bacchus but not equivalent

Ops: goddess of fertility and the earth. wife of Saturn/Cronus, and mother of Jupiter/Zeus, Neptune/Poseidon, Pluto/Hades, Juno/Hera, Ceres/Demeter, and Vesta/Hestia. counterpart of Rhea

Orcus: a god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths, often confused with Dis and Pluto. Dis, Orcus, and Pluto became conflated as a later version of Pluto, who was the counterpart of Hades

Pales: deity/deities of shepherds, flocks and livestock. not much is known about Pales, but some regard them as male, some as female, and grammatically could refer to more than one deity, so their gender (or multiplicity too I guess) is really up to interpretation

Pomona: goddess of fruit, gardens and orchards. may have been a wood nymph. although associated with Demeter, no Greek counterpart

Portunus: god of keys, doors, livestock, and seaports. originally had no counterpart, but later became synonymous with Palaemon

Salus: goddess of the safety, welfare, health, and well-being of the Roman state and people. sometimes associated with the Greek Hygieia, but has no actual counterpart

Summanus: god of nocturnal thunder and lightning, as opposed to Jupiter, the god of diurnal thunder. it’s thought that at one point, Summanus was more revered than Jupiter, but later, Jupiter surpassed him

Terra: mother earth, consort of Caelus/Uranus. counterpart of Gaia

Vertumnus: god of seasons, plant growth, and vegetables(?). tricked and seduced Pomona 

Volturnus: god of the Tiber river, and possibly all rivers

can I add some of my favourites 

Carna: Goddess of door-hinges 

Fornax: Goddess of baked goods

Mefitis: Goddess of farts (actually of all sulphurous gasses) 

Fascinus: god of Dicks

Mutunus Tutunus: god of dicks

Priapus: yeah he’s another god of dicks