Difference between revisions of "Neptune (mythology)" - New World Encyclopedia
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==Mythology== | ==Mythology== | ||
| − | Much like Poseidon in the Greek tradition, Neptune was also conceived by the Romans as a particularly lascivious character, entertaining innumerable conquests of both goddesses and human females. Even when his attempts were not successful, Neptune was not hesitant to take the female he was pursuing by forced. This included his sister Ceres, the goddess of plants, who he raped after assuming the form of a horse. This encounter resulted in the birth of a daughter as well as a black mare. All in all, Neptune's numerous extramarital affairs bore him numerous sons and daughters, including notable figures such as [[Atlas]], [[Orion]] and the Pegasus. His own wife [[Salacia]] bore by most accounts bore Neptune three children, including Triton, the merman, who wielded a trident much like his father. | + | Neptune was a son of [[Ops]], the earth mother, and [[Saturn]], the prevailing sky god who ruled over the rest of Roman pantheon. He was swallowed by his father immediately after his birth, as were the rest of his brothers and sisters. He was eventually saved by his mother who tricked Saturn by offering him a large stone wrapped in [[swaddling]] clothes in place of her sixth child, Jupiter. Saturn was forced to disgorge Neptune and the rest of Jupiter's siblings in the process of ridding the stone from his digestive system. In alternative versions, he was at birth thrown into the sea by his father. Either way, Neptune went on to play a key role in assisting Jupiter in overthrowing their tyrannical father Saturn and the rest of the Titans. |
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| + | Much like Poseidon in the Greek tradition, Neptune was also conceived by the Romans as a particularly lascivious character, entertaining innumerable conquests of both goddesses and human females. Even when his attempts were not successful, Neptune was not hesitant to take the female he was pursuing by forced. This included his sister Ceres, the goddess of plants, who he raped after assuming the form of a horse. This encounter resulted in the birth of a daughter as well as a black mare. All in all, Neptune's numerous extramarital affairs bore him numerous sons and daughters, including notable figures such as [[Atlas]], [[Orion]] and the Pegasus. His own wife [[Salacia]] bore by most accounts bore Neptune three children, including Triton, the merman, who wielded a trident much like his father. | ||
==Function== | ==Function== | ||
Revision as of 20:55, 10 May 2007
Neptune (Latin: Neptūnus) is the god of the sea in Roman mythology. He is most identifiable by the trident, with which he is almost always depicted. Like many of the figures of Roman mythology, Neptune was appropriated from the Greek tradition, and so he is analogous but not identical to Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. The Roman conception of Neptune was inspired just as much if not more so by the Etruscan god Nethuns.
Origins
The theonym neptune seems to have derived from the Proto-Indo-European base *(e)nebh- or "moist", which forms the base for the Latin nebula, referring to "fog, mist, cloud." [1] Theologically, the Roman conception of Neptune owed a great deal to the Etruscan god Nethuns, who held jurisdiction over wells and later on all bodies of water. Originally Neptune was an Italic god paired with Salacia, possibly the goddess of the salt water. At an early date (399 B.C.E.) he was identified with the Greek Poseidon, when the Sibylline books ordered a lectisternium in his honour (Livy v. 13).
Mythology
Neptune was a son of Ops, the earth mother, and Saturn, the prevailing sky god who ruled over the rest of Roman pantheon. He was swallowed by his father immediately after his birth, as were the rest of his brothers and sisters. He was eventually saved by his mother who tricked Saturn by offering him a large stone wrapped in swaddling clothes in place of her sixth child, Jupiter. Saturn was forced to disgorge Neptune and the rest of Jupiter's siblings in the process of ridding the stone from his digestive system. In alternative versions, he was at birth thrown into the sea by his father. Either way, Neptune went on to play a key role in assisting Jupiter in overthrowing their tyrannical father Saturn and the rest of the Titans.
Much like Poseidon in the Greek tradition, Neptune was also conceived by the Romans as a particularly lascivious character, entertaining innumerable conquests of both goddesses and human females. Even when his attempts were not successful, Neptune was not hesitant to take the female he was pursuing by forced. This included his sister Ceres, the goddess of plants, who he raped after assuming the form of a horse. This encounter resulted in the birth of a daughter as well as a black mare. All in all, Neptune's numerous extramarital affairs bore him numerous sons and daughters, including notable figures such as Atlas, Orion and the Pegasus. His own wife Salacia bore by most accounts bore Neptune three children, including Triton, the merman, who wielded a trident much like his father.
Function
Neptune was originally a minor god in the Roman pantheon, responsible for fresh water and irrigation, in opposition to Oceanus, god of the enormous river which was believed in classical antiquity to circle the world. However, his status among the other gods was bolstered significantly once he came to be identified with the Greek Poseidon in 399 B.C.E. From this point on, Neptune held jurisdiction over the sea and all things related to it. Although in earlier times it was the god Fortunus who was thanked for naval victories, Neptune had supplanted him in this role by at least the 1st century B.C.E., when Sextus Pompeius dubbed himself "son of Neptune". Like Poseidon, Neptune was also worshipped by the Romans as a horse god, under the name Neptune Equester, patron of horse-racing.
Worship
Two temples in Rome were dedicated to Poseidon. The first, built in 25 B.C.E., stood near the Circus Flaminius, the Roman racetrack, and contained a famous sculpture of a marine group by Scopas. Its location is no doubt influenced by Neptune's connection to horses. The second, the Basilica Neptuni, was built on the Campus Martius and dedicated by Agrippa in honour of the naval victory of Actium. Generally, Neptune received the main thrust of his patronage at these temples from seafarers, who prayed to him in hopes that he would ensure their voyages were safe.
Neptune was the central figure of Neptunalia, a civic festival which celebrated control of the catchments of water and drainage. The festival was held quite fittingly on the 23rd of July, during the peak of the summer when drought was most imminent. Little is known about the nature of the festival, other than the fact that people constructed tents or huts from the branches of trees, which they most likely used for feasting and drinking. Also, during this day committees of citizens could vote on civil or criminal matters.
Legacy
While the characteristics and function of Neptune were borrowed almost entirely from Poseidon, the former god is perhaps the most readily alluded to in the Western world. Not only has Neptune been related to all things involving the water, but he as also become a synonym for the sea or the ocean itself, as in colloquial phrases such as that which refers to "Neptune's mighty roar." [2] The name of the god was given to the planet Neptune, eighth planet from the sun.
Notes
- ↑ Neptune. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Neptune&searchmode=none (accessed: May 10, 2007).
- ↑ Neptune. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Neptune (accessed: May 10, 2007).
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Lenardon, Robert J, et al. A Companion to Classical Mythology. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0195147254
- Morford, Mark P. O. & Lenardon, Robert J. Classical Mythology. Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0195153446
- Osborn, Kevin. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Classical Mythology. Alpha, 1998. ISBN 978-0028623856
- Scheid, John. An Introduction to Roman Religion. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-253-21660-5
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